Monitoring the Environment with Sensor Web Services

Abstract

The human impact on the environment is causing global change, resulting in an increase of natural hazards and depleting natural resources. Real-time information on our man-earth system is essential both in terms of improving our understanding of its condition and dynamics and of enabling more sustainable management of our activities which interact with the environment. Sensor networks are among the most important tools for gathering such (real-time) information. One point focused on by sensor networks is the development of software standards and implementations for web services that facilitate the integration of sensors and sensor data into a wide range of applications. Standardisation of these web services is required because the diversity of sensor concepts and interfaces represents a significant obstacle for the integration of sensor networks into environmental information systems. This paper presents examples how 52° North sensor web services are being used in constructing environmental monitoring systems. 52° North Initiative for Geospatial Open Source Software is an international R&D platform aiming at fostering the innovation process in the field of spatial data infrastructures.