OneGeology-Europe – a general overview, data specification, and an example of a contribution from Slovenia

OneGeology-Europe is a project which originated in the global initiative OneGeology. It started in September 2008 and will conclude in October 2010. It is a truly multilateral and multinational project with 29 partners from 20 European countries. The aim of this ECfunded project is to make geological spatial data held by surveys and national geological institutes discoverable and accessible. It will do this through a uniform data model, and create dynamic digital geological map data of Europe. The results of the project will allow researchers, consultants, environmentalists, construction and water industries, planners and local, regional and central governments, to make more informed decisions about the resources and hazards in Europe. It will also provide a means of seeing just what lies beneath your feet!
   Major objectives and achievements for OneGeology-Europe include:
   • A web-accessible, interoperable, geological spatial dataset for the whole of Europe at 1:1 million scale.
   • Accelerating the development and deployment of the emerging international interchange standard language for geological information (GeoSciML).
   • Removing barriers and making it easier for a wide range of both public and private sector organizations to use geological data through codes of practice on licensing.
   • Creating a common language that helps to acquire geological knowledge and move it closer to end-users for a greater public impact.
   • Making substantial progress in the implementation of the INSPIRE European Directive in the geoscience domain.
   In addition to the work in the field of informatics, a challenging and important task was the development and agreement of a common geological data specification. The project is delivering a specification for geological spatial data and an interoperable 1:1 million scale dataset for the whole of Europe - an essential platform for the whole project. This foundation includes at its core a vocabulary to describe lithology, age and genesis of the rocks and the tectonic structures and term definitions and their relations. Generic and specific geometric and semantic harmonisation issues were identified. Existing national datasets were then “reworked” to make significant progress towards a harmonised dataset – a crucial step towards INSPIRE goals. The standards, architecture and framework developed by the project can then be “upscaled” to more detailed levels and progressively deployed for higher resolution geological data. The Geological Survey of Slovenia is one of more than 24 data providers in the project. To deliver the Slovenian contribution an existing geological map at a scale of 250000 was edited and simplified to fit the requirements of 1:1 million scale target map. The spatial data were mapped into the common data model and were also party harmonized with neighbouring countries. An additional benefit of Slovenia’s participation in the project will be a new printed geological map of the country in scale 1:1.