Spatial Representations and Spatial Data Infrastructures

The use of capabilities, including hardware, software and data, to manipulate and process data for user requirements. Applications are designed to perform a specific function directly for the user or, in some cases, for another application program.

Ascribing the production of the data to a specific data custodian.

A centralized service with a user interface that allows a user to query distributed catalogue services through their metadata descriptions.

A system that defines the coordinate space such that the coordinate values are unambiguous.

A temporary monopoly granted over a work. Copyright protects a number of different rights over a work, chief of which is the right to create copies. The creator (or "author") of a work retains rights to that work but can transfer some or all of the rights to others. Re-creating a significant portion of a copyrighted work without permission is illegal.

Distinct pieces of factual information, especially information organized for analysis or used to reason or make decisions. Data are usually formatted in a special way and presented in a variety of forms.

Data that has one or several common elements and that has been assembled by these common elements to form a data set.

A commonly agreed specification on how data should be recorded and described

A gateway website through which people can search, discover, access, and visualize the geospatial resources within a SDI

The ability of different geographic information systems to share, exchange, and operate (heterogenous) geospatial data and functions