Overview
SIST EN ISO 19108:2005 (ISO 19108:2002), titled "Geographic information - Temporal schema," is an international standard focused on defining the concepts necessary to describe the temporal aspects of geographic information. Developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and adopted by the Slovenian Institute for Standardization (SIST), this standard establishes a common framework for representing time-related characteristics of geographic data. It leverages existing IT standards for temporal information exchange, ensuring interoperability and consistency across different geographic information systems (GIS) and datasets.
The standard is particularly relevant for applications where understanding the "when" of geographic features is critical, emphasizing valid time-the period when information is true in the real world-over transaction time, which refers to when data is recorded in a database.
Key Topics
- Temporal Concepts and Schema: SIST EN ISO 19108 introduces fundamental concepts for describing temporal characteristics, including temporal feature attributes, operations, and associations.
- Temporal Reference Systems: The standard supports various ways of referencing time, such as calendars, ordinal eras, and temporal coordinate systems.
- Temporal Geometric Primitives: Concepts like instants (points in time) and periods (intervals between instants) are standardized to facilitate temporal data modeling.
- Temporal Associations: Methods for linking features and events through time-based relationships, allowing for the detailed tracking of changes and succession.
- Temporal Metadata: Guidance on how to capture and describe temporal aspects in geographic metadata, ensuring temporal information is accessible for discovery, search, and use.
- Conformance Classes: The document details requirements for data transfer schemas, feature catalogues, and metadata specifications to ensure consistency and quality.
Applications
The adoption of SIST EN ISO 19108:2005 is valuable in a wide variety of fields where temporal dynamics of geographic features are important:
- Geospatial Data Analysis and GIS: Enables more robust temporal queries, simulations, and modeling of changes (e.g., urban growth, land cover, or infrastructure development).
- Environmental Monitoring: Essential for tracking events over time (e.g., weather phenomena, climate change, natural disasters).
- Historical GIS: Useful for managing datasets where historic validity periods are essential, such as archaeological sites or administrative boundaries.
- Smart Cities and Urban Planning: Supports time-based analysis of resources, transportation, and land use patterns.
- Remote Sensing and Tracking: Assists in managing time-stamped imagery and sensor data for precise temporal analysis.
- Metadata Management: Standardizes how temporal properties are captured in geographic metadata, benefiting data sharing and interoperability.
Related Standards
SIST EN ISO 19108:2005 is part of the broader ISO 19100 series on geographic information/geomatics. Key related standards include:
- ISO 19107 - Geographic information: Spatial schema (defines spatial objects and their relationships)
- ISO 19115 - Geographic information: Metadata (details requirements for metadata, including temporal components)
- ISO 8601 - Representation of dates and times (widely used for date/time formats)
- ISO 19109 - Rules for application schema (provides a framework for developing application schemas in geographic information)
- ISO 19110 - Methodology for feature cataloguing (organizes and describes geographic features)
- ISO/IEC 11404 - Language-independent data types (supports consistent data interchange across IT systems)
Practical Value
Implementing the concepts and models from SIST EN ISO 19108:2005 ensures that temporal information in geospatial datasets is consistently described and exchangeable, leading to improved data quality, interoperability, and utility. Organizations handling complex geospatial data benefit from clear temporal schema definitions, which enable advanced temporal analytics, foster collaboration, and support compliance with international standards.
Incorporating this standard is crucial for any entity-government agencies, private sector, or research institutions-seeking to manage, analyze, and share geographic information with a temporal dimension efficiently and accurately.
