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GeoBase is a federal, provincial and territorial government initiative that is overseen by the Canadian Council on Geomatics (CCOG). It is undertaken to ensure the provision of, and access to, a common, up-to-date and maintained base of quality geospatial data for Canada. Through the GeoBase, users with an interest in geomatics have access to quality geospatial information at no cost and with unrestricted use. [1]
These are the fundamental principles that GeoBase operates under and that direct the decision making process on a regular basis:
Provincial, territorial, and municipal stakeholders agreed to work together to ensure the availability of high-quality geospatial data covering the entire Canadian landmass. This data is collected once and maintained closest to the source and provided free through the GeoBase with no restrictions for users.
GeoBase has partnerships with federal, provincial, territorial, municipal government, and private companies, with the dual goals of eliminating data duplication and optimizing collectively available resources. GeoBase partners are involved in different levels of the data production process such as project funding, sharing of source data or by working on data collection and data processing. [2] [3]
All GeoBase data must conform to the following technical characteristics:
The purpose of this layer is to store names and their attributes that have been approved by the Geographical Names Board of Canada (GNBC) and to make these authoritative records available for government and public use. [4] These records include the names of over 70,000 populated places and administrative areas; 300,000 water features; and 115,000 terrain features (e.g., mountains and peninsulas). [5]
Since 2003, GeoBase has provided a consistent, accurate, and current NRN. The first edition of the NRN depicted the centerline of over 1.1 million kilometers of non-restricted use roads in Canada. In the fall of 2007, the second edition of the NRN was launched. NRN 2.0 includes place names, street names, and address ranges between intersections. [7]
Road network data provides the framework for many geomatics applications such as mapping, geocoding, geographic searching, and area delineations. NRN data can be used in a wide variety of activities, including managing road operations, business development and marketing, transportation, and government services delivery (e.g. census and elections). [8]
The following organizations are 'closest to the source' partners actively working as the authoritative data providers of GeoBase's National Road Network:
This data layer contains the international, inter-provincial, and territorial boundaries, as well as the boundaries of Canada’s exclusive economic zone. It is not intended for legal use, and should be utilized for cartographic purposes only. The dataset is composed of three files: an administrative boundary file, an administrative areas file, and a metadata file. [9]
The authoritative data source providers for this data layer are:
The NHN focuses on providing a quality geometric description and a set of basic attributes describing Canada’s inland surface waters. It provides geospatial digital data describing hydrographic features such as lakes, reservoirs, rivers, etc., as well as a linear drainage network and the toponymic information (geographical names) associated to hydrography. [10]
GeoBase is joined by the following provincial/territorial partners for this data layer:
The Canadian Geodetic Network data has created a dynamic infrastructure to serve both present and future needs for positioning. As well as being a GPS control network, the Geodetic Network can serve as a monitoring network for deformation studies of the Canadian landmass. [11]
GeoBase Orthoimage 2005–2010 is made from SPOT 4/5 earth observation data covering Canada's landmass south of the 81st parallel; approximately 5000 images will be acquired during the period 2005–2010. Each orthorectified satellite image covers an area of approximately 3 600 km², or 60×60 km of the Earth’s surface. In addition, Landsat 7 provides a complete set of cloud-free orthoimages covering the Canadian landmass. [12]
The GeoBase SPOT 4 and SPOT 5 orthoimagery can be used in a wide variety of applications including: mapping; agriculture; forestry; geology; land-use planning and management; maritime monitoring; disaster management and mitigation; and in defence, intelligence, and security.
GeoBase SPOT orthoimagery is aligned with, and can be integrated with, other GeoBase data layers. It can also be used in combination with other remotely sensed data. [13]
With funding support from GeoConnections, the following federal and provincial/territorial agencies jointly contributed to the production of the orthoimages:
Canadian Digital Elevation Data (CDED) consists of an ordered array of ground elevations at regularly spaced intervals. The source digital data for CDED is extracted from the hypsographic and hydrographic elements of the National Topographic Data Base (NTDB) or various scaled positional data acquired from the provinces and territories. [14]
Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and the following provincial agencies jointly produced the CDED files, with funding support from GeoConnections:
Natural Resources Canada | Canadian Forest Service; Earth Sciences [15] |
A process is required for the acceptance of a new data theme into GeoBase. The objectives of having such a process are:
The World Geodetic System (WGS) is a standard used in cartography, geodesy, and satellite navigation including GPS. The current version, WGS 84, defines a reference system with its fundamental and derived constants; describes the associated Earth Gravitational Model (EGM) and World Magnetic Model (WMM); and includes a list of local datum transformations. The standard is published and maintained by the United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.
A GIS file format is a standard of encoding geographical information into a computer file. They are created mainly by government mapping agencies or by GIS software developers.
Geomatics is defined in the ISO/TC 211 series of standards as the "discipline concerned with the collection, distribution, storage, analysis, processing, presentation of geographic data or geographic information". Under another definition, it consists of products, services and tools involved in the collection, integration and management of geographic (geospatial) data. It is also known as geomatic(s) engineering. Surveying engineering was the widely used name for geomatic(s) engineering in the past.
The National Map is a collaborative effort of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and other federal, state, and local agencies to improve and deliver topographic information for the United States. The purpose of the effort is to provide "...a seamless, continuously maintained set of public domain geographic base information that will serve as a foundation for integrating, sharing, and using other data easily and consistently".
Geoinformatics is the science and the technology which develops and uses information science infrastructure to address the problems of geography, cartography, geosciences and related branches of science and engineering, such as Land Surveying.
A GIS software program is a computer program to support the use of a geographic information system, providing the ability to create, store, manage, query, analyze, and visualize geographic data, that is, data representing phenomena for which location is important. The GIS software industry encompasses a broad range of commercial and open-source products that provide some or all of these capabilities within various information technology architectures.
A geodetic control network is a network, often of triangles, which are measured precisely by techniques of terrestrial surveying or by satellite geodesy.
The Vector Map (VMAP), also called Vector Smart Map, is a vector-based collection of geographic information system (GIS) data about Earth at various levels of detail. Level 0 coverage is global and entirely in the public domain. Level 1 is only partly in the public domain.
The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo), is a non-profit non-governmental organization whose mission is to support and promote the collaborative development of open geospatial technologies and data. The foundation was formed in February 2006 to provide financial, organizational and legal support to the broader Free and open-source geospatial community. It also serves as an independent legal entity to which community members can contribute code, funding and other resources.
In geography, statistics and archaeology, a settlement, locality or populated place is a community in which people live. The complexity of a settlement can range from a minuscule number of dwellings grouped together to the largest of cities with surrounding urbanized areas. Settlements may include hamlets, villages, towns and cities. A settlement may have known historical properties such as the date or era in which it was first settled, or first settled by particular people.
Geospatial metadata is a type of metadata applicable to geographic data and information. Such objects may be stored in a geographic information system (GIS) or may simply be documents, data-sets, images or other objects, services, or related items that exist in some other native environment but whose features may be appropriate to describe in a (geographic) metadata catalog.
The International Cartographic Association (ICA), is an organization formed of national member organizations, to provide a forum for issues and techniques in cartography and geographic information science (GIScience). ICA was founded on June 9, 1959, in Bern, Switzerland. The first General Assembly was held in Paris in 1961. The mission of the International Cartographic Association is to promote the disciplines and professions of cartography and GIScience in an international context. To achieve these aims, the ICA works with national and international governmental and commercial bodies, and with other international scientific societies.
A geoportal is a type of web portal used to find and access geographic information and associated geographic services via the Internet. Geoportals are important for effective use of geographic information systems (GIS) and a key element of a spatial data infrastructure (SDI).
The Canadian Council on Geomatics (CCOG) was created in 1972. It is the major federal-provincial-territorial consultative body for geographic information management. CCOG meets twice a year to discuss programs, developments, legislation, and issues relevant to geomatics. CCOG oversees the GeoBase initiative.
GeoBase may refer to:
Hexagon Geospatial's GeoMedia Professional is a geographic information system (GIS) management solution for map generation and the analysis of geographic information with smart tools that capture and edit spatial data. GeoMedia is used for: creating geographic data; managing geospatial databases; joining business data, location intelligence and geographic data together; creating hard and soft-copy maps; conduct analysis in 'real-time'; base platform for multiple applications, geographic data validation, publishing geospatial information and analyzing mapped information.
The Spatial Archive and Interchange Format was defined in the early 1990s as a self-describing, extensible format designed to support interoperability and storage of geospatial data.
The National Register of Electors is a continuously updated permanent database of eligible electors for federal elections in Canada maintained by Elections Canada. It was established in December 1996 when Bill C-63 was granted royal assent by the Governor General of Canada, and the preliminary National Register of Electors was populated with data in April 1997 during the final Canada-wide enumeration. It replaced a system which required door-to-door enumeration of eligible electors for each electoral event. The database contains basic information about electors: name, address, sex, and date of birth. An elector may register or update their personal information between elections, or may request to be excluded from it per the Canada Elections Act.
The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), an international voluntary consensus standards organization, originated in 1994. In the OGC, more than 500 commercial, governmental, nonprofit and research organizations collaborate in a consensus process encouraging development and implementation of open standards for geospatial content and services, sensor web and Internet of Things, GIS data processing and data sharing.
The Osoyoos Division Yale Land District is one of the 59 land districts of British Columbia, Canada, which are the underlying cadastral divisions of that province. All land titles and surveys use the Land District system as the primary point of reference, and entries in BC Names for placenames and geographical objects are so listed.