Improving geospatial data discovery by enhancing public metadata catalog search service

Abstract

Most public geospatial data is served via standard compliant Web Mapping Servers and Web Feature Servers available globally. However, it is quite complicated to search and locate the relevant data if the exact data source name and other parameters are unknown. Catalog servers, which store metadata and provide search protocols provide a standard way to handle this problem, but only a few Catalog servers exist which limits the usefulness of such servers for adhoc geospatial data discovery. This paper looks at the advantages of making available metadata of geospatial data through Catalog Servers for adhoc geospatial data discovery. It looks at the limitations oj searching geospatial data using Web Mapping Servers and Web Feature servers and search engines such as Google, and presents a case for having increased Catalog Servers. It then looks at a novel way of building metadata from existing Web Mapping Servers using common data base techniques, which could then lead to more metadata in Catalog Servers, which would in turn lead the way to better and more efficient Geospatial Data Discovery. It then looks at a specialized client that is used to search catalog servers over the web, providing domain experts with a powerful tool to accurately search for data.