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Frequently Asked Questions

What is Geomatics?

Geomatics is the science and technology of gathering, analyzing, distributing and using information related to Earth. Geomatics includes a broad range of disciplines that together create a detailed but understandable picture of the physical world and our place in it. It is a generic term which covers the disciplines of surveying (geodetic, cadastral, engineering and marine) and includes global positioning systems (GPS); mapping (photogrammetry, radargrammetry, cartography, automated mapping/facilities management and charting); remote sensing (data acquisition and application); as well as creating and maintaining Geographic Information Systems. It can also include the spatial component of Earth-related processes (e.g. meteorology), social characteristics (e.g. census data), and economic activity (e.g. transportation of commodities).

What is Geospatial Data?

Geospatial data provides a representation of real world phenomenon, or features associated with a location relative to Earth. Geospatial data answers the question, "Where on, above or below the Earth is it?", whether "it" is a thing, a concept, an idea, a direction or a trend. Geospatial data can also be called .geo-info., .geographic data., .geospatial information., .spatial information., or .location-based data.. Examples of geospatial data include: topographic maps, aeronautical and nautical charts, geological, agriculture and forestry maps, legal surveys, property cadastre, aerial photography, satellite imagery, and other location-based products.

Geospatial data as collections of information can be mapped, or located, so that people can use computers to research, analyze and plan. For example, geospatial data can not only show where forests, electoral districts, census areas, shorelines, ports, and others are, but also reveal how they interrelate, and how that interrelation changes with time.

Who uses Geospatial Data and Services?

Business and industry use geospatial data and services in countless ways from analyzing markets, to deciding where to locate new plants and offices, to planning delivery systems. Scientists use geospatial data sets as research tools. Governments use them to manage resources and create policy. Anyone with Internet access can use geospatial data and services to plan a holiday, find a new place to live, or just satisfy curiosity about the world in which we live. Geospatial data and services allow users to mix and mingle data by time as well as space, concept as well as location, relationships, as well as values. Geospatial data can be used to plan and predict by extrapolating trends and postulating changes. It can also be used in emergencies when snow, water, ice or weather obscure conventional landmarks, to track health concerns, climate and habitat changes . indeed, the uses are as varied and extensive as the questions raised by users.

What can be done with Geospatial Data and Services?

The primary uses and applications of geospatial data and services are to support policy development and analysis, and business activities, for research and education. The following are some examples of how geospatial data and services can be used in various applications.

  • Health Emergency Services: Emergency services can offer shorter response times and greater efficiency by using geospatial data to pinpoint where the emergency is, monitor traffic and transportation, and determine the best route to the situation.

  • Policing and Public Safety / Law and Order: Geospatial capabilities can be used to model and track criminal activity so that mitigation strategies can be implemented to reduce crime incidences. By identifying patterns of activity and high incidence areas in terms of geography, police can be despatched more effectively.

  • National Emergency / Disaster Relief: Emergency response and disaster relief can be made more effective by integrating and co-ordinating geospatial information. For example, in 1998 when the Red River flooded, military and civilian disaster-response teams combined satellite imagery and topographic information with population data, to identify who should be evacuated. Later, similar techniques were used to monitor health risks due to increased sewage and soil contamination.

  • Business Sector: Geospatial data helps Canadian businesses run more efficiently by making them better able to compete more effectively in global markets. Geospatial capabilities allow for informed decisions about whether to locate a new business by analyzing where competitors are located, where to distribute advertizing to reach a niche market, or where a company should draw the boundaries of their representatives. territories. The transportation industry can save fuel costs and reduce emissions by improving how routes are chosen. Business applications are the fastest growing GIS market segment.

  • Local / Regional Government: Public transport becomes more efficient when planners use geospatial data to integrate information about streets, population distribution and traffic flow to improve routing and minimize duplication. Using geospatial data and technology, on-board computers can display bus routes, show location of buses, and estimate times of arrival for destinations along the route.

  • Public Policy: Data about health and sickness can be combined with information about the location and character of contaminants to assess actual and potential impacts on nearby communities. Geospatial data can help construct "What if?" scenarios, and communicate public policy more effectively.

  • Public Safety Hazards: Geoscience information can identify earthquake hazards, provide expertise on landslide and terrain stability, and delineate permafrost distribution as well as other hazards that affect health and safety.

  • Aviation Safety: The aviation industry depends on digital geospatial data, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

  • Northern Infrastructure Development: Geospatial data allows safe and accurate development in the North. Environmentally sound development in northern communities and resource development sites (e.g., mines) depends on surficial geology maps and information pertaining to permafrost, slope stability and soil and water geochemistry.

  • Land Use Decision-Making: Geospatial data on natural resources (e.g., ecozone, biodiversity, mineral potential) can be used to select land for protected spaces, parks, non-renewable resource development, transportation corridors, land claims, urban development, and many other uses.

  • Climate Change: Climatologists analyze climate change, establishing trends over time. Using geospatial data and geomatics applications, they can create and test global weather circulation maps as well as climate change adaptation maps. They can integrate maps and information on soils, vegetation, surface and subsurface water resources and climate (rainfall, temperature) to derive both paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental maps as a basis for their understanding of climate processes and outcomes.

What is the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI)?

The CGDI encompasses the policies, standards, technology, access systems and institutional arrangements necessary to harmonize Canada.s geospatial data and services to make them available on the Internet.

The Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure provides a basis for the discovery, evaluation and application of geospatial data and services by users and providers. All levels of government, commercial and non-profit sectors, academia and Canadians can benefit from the CGDI.

A spatial data infrastructure, like the CGDI, is a reliable, supportive environment that facilitates access to geographically-related information using a minimum set of standard practices, protocols and specifications. Like roads and wires, a spatial data infrastructure facilitates the conveyance of virtually unlimited packages of geographic information. For more information see: http://www.geoconnections.org/en/aboutcgdi.html

What is the difference between GeoConnections and the CGDI?

Led by Natural Resources Canada, GeoConnections is the national partnership initiative to build the CGDI. In partnership with the federal, provincial, territorial and private sector partners, GeoConnections enables governments, private sector, non-governmental organizations and academia to work together to build the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure, ensuring fast, consistent and harmonized access to geospatial information and services for all Canadians.

How do I use the CGDI?

There are many ways to use the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure, depending on what you are looking for and/or what you have to offer to others interested in geospatial information and services.

If you would like to find (or discover) particular geospatial data or services, you can use various discovery mechanisms within the CGDI to locate providers of data and/or services.

If you have geospatial resources to share with others, you can publish them for use by the international geomatics community by registering with a CGDI discovery mechanism of your choice.

If you would like to develop your application using geospatial data and technologies, you can use various resources the CGDI makes available to developers, including framework data, Web map services, development toolkits and gazetteers.

For additional information on the CGDI and how to use it:
http://www.geoconnections.org/publications/training_manual/e/

How do I find, share and develop geospatial data and services?

The GeoConnections Discovery Portal is a gateway to millions of geospatial data products, and is the prime discovery and access component of the CGDI. The GeoConnections Discovery Portal is a free online service that allows individuals and organizations to find geospatial data products and services from around the world. Through a central resource directory, users can discover, evaluate and access geospatial resources. http://geodiscover.cgdi.ca/gdp/

How can GeoConnections support your project/idea?

GeoConnections can participate in your projects in numerous ways; through partnerships, funding, and outreach/awareness activities.

Where do I learn about projects/activities that GeoConnections is involved in?

For additional information see contacts page. http://geoconnections.org/en/contact.html