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mGIS IN ACTION
<br />Germany's State Government Integrates GIS as a Core Technology
<br />lorthrine- Westfalials Department of Agriculture
<br />Distributes Geodata to Thousands of Employees
<br />Germany's state of Northrne-Wesifalin (NRW) administrative boundaries, and much more.
<br />has a large Department of Agriculture with The Institute for Agricultural and Forestal
<br />thousands of employees. In 1998, die depart- Informatics (aft) of the University of Munster in
<br />tent realized that it needed a way to distribute NRW analyzed the implementation of GIS for the
<br />its geographic data departmentwide. The depart- Department of Agriculture. The department then
<br />men( possesses many kinds of basic data such as recognized that GIS was capable of handling the
<br />topographic maps (scales from 1.200,000 to 1: many spatial tasks that it needed accomplished
<br />5,000), a digital elevation model (scale 1:5,000, and decided to integrate GIS as a core technology
<br />vertical nceuracy of 10m, horizontal accuracy of within its already existing information lechnul-
<br />+/-20 cm), and aerial photography (30 em resolu- ogy (IT) structure in all fields of application.
<br />lion). It also houses specific data such as environ- Since then, of and its partners have formed
<br />inertial protection area boundaries, soil maps, the Competence Center —GIS for Agriculture and
<br />European Union
<br />Mandates GIS for Agribusiness Aid
<br />The member /state delegate sovereignty of the European Union (EU) currently comprises 15
<br />members and is preparing for the accession of 13 more. EUS Common Agriculture Policy
<br />(CAP) has a set of rules that regulates agricultural production and markets. Since 1964, EU
<br />has made funding available for the development of rural areas. CAP has been successful in
<br />stabilizing and developing European agricultural economies, and over the years, its policies
<br />have evolved to meet the demands of modern economic structures.
<br />CAP's Agenda 2000 institutes radical reforms that create a sound basis for future devel-
<br />opment defined by the concept of sustainable development. To accommodate the massive
<br />amounts of information generated by the growing EU community, Agenda 2000 includes a
<br />component that requires members to incorporate information technology (IT) systems into
<br />government agencies. An element of this mandate is GIS. For example, council regulation
<br />1593/2000 (amending European council regulation 3508/92), article 4 states the follow-
<br />ing: "An identification system for agricultural parcels shall be established on the basis of
<br />maps or land registry documents or other cartographic references. Use shall be made of
<br />computerized graphical information system techniques including preferably aerial or spatial
<br />orthoimagery, with a homogenous standard guaranteeing accuracy at least equivalent to
<br />cartography at a scale of 1:10,000."
<br />Because GIS is recognized as a key component in today's IT systems, EU requires that it be a
<br />part of the cote technology of its members. When the Agenda 2000 regulation fully adopted
<br />establishing GIS into an integrated administration and control system for certain European
<br />community aid schemes, concentration on GIS dramatically increased. The regulation further
<br />stipulates that GIS be used to establish a land parcel identification system (e.g., field units,
<br />agricultural parcel) by 2005.
<br />EU's grants have enabled EU's departments of agriculture to plan a strong GIS integration
<br />strategy. The strength of this strategy has made it possible for many concerned departments
<br />to begin developing a valuable field unit coverage. This field unit coverage data set is defini-
<br />tively seen as the crucial factor for integrating GIS into agriculture. If this type of geospatial
<br />agridata is accessible, then an industry agrigeobusiness can successfully commence.
<br />In the near future, farmers seeking EU funding will be required to apply for aid through
<br />a procedure wherein they must use GIS technology somewhere in the application process.
<br />One method of application will be by means of Internet/intranet -based GI5 applications.
<br />For many people, adapting to the new EU requirements will not be a challenge. Some
<br />farmers are already employing GIS. For example, large farms in the eastern German states
<br />are currently using GIS for field documentation. Georeferencing fields is useful to large
<br />agricultural businesses. Some large farm businesses even have their own GIS analysts. Using
<br />online GIS applications to apply for CAP funding will merely be another step in this techno-
<br />logical evolution,
<br />Since it is important to develop data sets that can be accessed by others both currently
<br />and in the future, data standards are needed. For example, basic data from the Land Survey
<br />and Mapping Agency is topographic and aerial; land surveying on one side requires that the
<br />geodatabase be based on Open GIS Consortium (OGC) and International Organization for
<br />Standardization (ISO) standards. The Competence Center —GIS for Agriculture and Forestry
<br />(CC—GIS), therefore, is adamant about incorporating geospatial data standards of the OGC
<br />and ISO and attaching metadata to data. Agricultural geospatial services based on these
<br />international standards are a vital qualifier for disbursement and access to geodata.
<br />A nationwide GIS user group is forming because the German Agricultural Administra-
<br />tion has recognized a need for the use of GIS technology within the agricultural application
<br />domain. A commission of the German Agricultural Ministry, which is responsible for the
<br />establishment of a general information system for food, agriculture, and forestry, founded a
<br />special task force in November 2002. The task force coordinates and stimulates the overall
<br />use of GIS in agriculture in Germany. The task force works in full cooperation with the Insti-
<br />tute for Agriculture and Forestal Informatics at the University of Munster.
<br />For more information, visit Europa, the European Union's online information service, at
<br />europa.eu.int on the Web.
<br />Forestry (CC —GIS). CC —GIS consortium mem-
<br />bers include aft; con terra GmbH (Munster), an
<br />ESRI Business Partner and software vendor, the
<br />Institute for Gcoinformalics (IF01) of the Univer-
<br />sity of Whither; and pro -Plant Company (Mun-
<br />ster), a designer of crop consultancy software,
<br />CC —GIS had a mission to establish GIS as a core
<br />technology for NRW's agriculture and forestry,
<br />The results have been impressive. The core of
<br />the integration is a geodataserver, comprising the
<br />Oracle relational database management system
<br />and ArcSDE 8.2 for storing and maintaining all
<br />geospatial data in a central location. ArcIMS 4 is
<br />used to distribute all geodata departuentwide to
<br />thousands of department employees.
<br />Olaf Nolte, project manager and CIS coor-
<br />dinator at afi, says, "At ati, we have finished an
<br />agricultural geoduta layer for our state called
<br />than site - location coverage. Using GIS, we now
<br />have access to information about every farm
<br />in Northrine- Westllin (eppmximately 60,000
<br />locations). Nearly all agricultural aefivities are
<br />auachcd to the agricultural parcel, or field umil;
<br />therefore, the field unit is integral to the govern-
<br />ment agribusiness incorporation of GIS. We
<br />have developed a method to partially derive field
<br />panels automatically using official caldastral data
<br />and aerial photographs produced by the state's
<br />Laud Survey and Mapping Agency."
<br />Mille states, "Besides the implementation of a
<br />fundamental GIS such as ANSDE, we are innplc-
<br />muning specific GIS applications liar studies such
<br />as watershed Inanagnnent, erosion protection,
<br />agricultural planning, environmental protection,
<br />and mobile acquisition of soil samples. We are
<br />now migrating from ArcView 3.x to AreGIS.
<br />while incorpdaraing additional tools such as
<br />ArcPud."
<br />The Rigger Picture
<br />In a 20W mandate from the European Union
<br />(EU), all I'xnnes of member states are required
<br />to use GIS when file), apply to EU far agricultural
<br />funding (stir sidebar). The intent of the mandate
<br />is to else the burden of paperwodc and m increase
<br />accuracy and analysis through updated technol-
<br />ogy. 1b make this possible for all in the agri-
<br />business industry, GIS Web services tare being
<br />developed to assist firnxrs.
<br />The EU regulatory order liar GIS has become
<br />one of the most important driving forces tut'
<br />M
<br />the use of GIS within Germany's agricultural
<br />domain. To support regulation compliance by its
<br />affiliates, EU is providing graumb to dcpartuents
<br />of agriculture all other agencies that will enable
<br />them to integrate the GIS technology they need.
<br />Because of EU's economic support and legal
<br />thrust. for example, several German state agen-
<br />cies already have itcodoaaser vet :s up and operat-
<br />ing. As a consequence, departments of agriculture
<br />of, mrnnber states consider the correct application
<br />of GIS a necessity far the integrated administru-
<br />lion and l'UIt101 System for ugrieultural funding.
<br />Although EU has issued the mandate 10 its
<br />members. it leaves the method of meeting these
<br />requirements at the member state level. The state
<br />of Nnrtlrine- Wesdalia is responding with a Ible-
<br />sight than not only looks to n GIS that offers Ell
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