Revision History | |
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Revision 1.7 (svn rev 2420) | 2014-12-19 17:31:57 |
Stable public version. Please consult the appendix entitled Main Changes for an overview of the main changes between the different revisions of the document. |
Abstract
This document is a specification of the data and metadata model to be applied by the ESPON Projects providing Key Indicators Datasets for the ESPON 2013 Database during the Phase 2.
Table of Contents
Dataset Information
ElementDataset Information
ElementName
PropertyProject
PropertyAbstract
PropertyResource Type
PropertyResource Locator
PropertyUnique Resource Identifier
PropertyDataset Language
PropertyMetadata Language
PropertyMetadata Date
PropertyTopic Category
PropertyKeyword
PropertyTemporal Reference
Composite PropertyLineage
PropertyConformity
Composite PropertyConstraints
Composite PropertyResponsible Party
PropertyMetadata Contact
PropertyDistributor
PropertyPoint of Contact
PropertyIndicators Aggregation
PropertyDataset Information
ElementSpatial Binding
ElementIndicator Identification
ElementTwo Levels of Indicators Representation
Indicator Aggregation
Policy
PropertyCore
PropertyMethodology
PropertyTheme
PropertyKeyword
PropertyTemporal Extent
PropertyIndicator Value Nature
propertyData Type
propertyIndicator Identification
ElementSource Reference
ElementMD_Metadata
NodeidentificationInfo
NodecontentInfo
Nodeextent
NodeList of Figures
Dataset Information
element structureSpatial Binding
element structureIndicator Identification
element structureSource Reference
element structureContact
element structureMD_Metadata
nodeidentificationInfo
nodeList of Tables
Dataset Information
element descriptionName
property descriptionProject
property descriptionAbstract
property descriptionResource type
property descriptionResource locator
property descriptionUnique Resource Identifier
property descriptionDataset Language
property descriptionMetadata Language
property descriptionMetadata Date
property descriptionTopic Category
property descriptionKeyword
property descriptionTemporal Reference
property descriptionTemporal Extent
property descriptionUpload date
property descriptionCreation Date
property descriptionRevision Date
property descriptionLineage
property descriptionConformity
composite property descriptionConformance
property descriptionSpecification
property descriptionSpecification Date
property descriptionConstraints
composite property descriptionUse Constraint
property descriptionAccess Condition
property descriptionOther Constraints
property descriptionAccess Classification
property descriptionResponsible Party
property descriptionMetadata Contact
property descriptionDistributor
property descriptionPoint of Contact
property descriptionIndicators Aggregation
property descriptionSpatial Binding
element descriptionGeographic Location
property descriptionNomenclature
property descriptionNomenclature Name
property descriptionNomenclature Version
property descriptionNomenclature Level
property descriptionIndicator Identification
Code
property descriptionName
property descriptionAbstract
property descriptionCode
property descriptionPolicy
property descriptionCore
property descriptionMethodology
property descriptionTheme
property descriptionKeyword
property descriptionTemporal Extent
property descriptionIndicator Value Nature
property descriptionData Type
property descriptionType Identifier
property descriptionDescription
property descriptionUnit of Measure
property descriptionNumerator Name
property descriptionDenominator Name
property descriptionNumerator Scale
property descriptionDenominator Scale
property descriptionRanking
property descriptionMin
property descriptionMax
property descriptionUnique
property descriptionOrdered
property descriptionEnum Value
property descriptionValue Label
property descriptionValue Description
property descriptionPosition
property descriptionSource Reference
element descriptionLabel
property descriptionPublication
property descriptionTitle
property descriptionURI
property descriptionReference
property descriptionProvider
property descriptionName
property descriptionURI
property descriptionDate
property descriptionCopyright
property descriptionEstimation
property descriptionQuality Level
property descriptionAccess Rule
property descriptionMethodology
property descriptionContact
element descriptionIndividual Name
property descriptionOrganization Name
property descriptionPosition
property descriptionRole
property descriptionPhone Number
property descriptionEmail Address
property descriptionAddress
property descriptionDelivery Point
property descriptionCity
property descriptionAdministrative Area
property descriptionPostal Code
property descriptionCountry
property descriptionMethodology
property descriptionDescription
property description
Formula
property description
URI
property descriptionKeyword
property descriptionKeyword Value
property descriptionVocabulary
property descriptionTemporal Extent
property descriptionMD_Metadata
node descriptionfileIdentifier
node descriptionlanguage
node descriptioncharacterSet
node descriptionhierarchyLevel
node descriptioncontact
node descriptiondateStamp
node descriptiondistributionInfo
node descriptionlinkage
node descriptiondataQualityInfo
node descriptionreport
node descriptionlineage
node descriptiontitle
node descriptiondate
node descriptionidentifier
node descriptioncollectiveTitle
node descriptionabstract
node descriptionpointOfContact
node descriptiongmd:descriptiveKeywords
node descriptiongmd:useConstraints
and gmd:otherConstraints
nodes descriptiongmd:classification
and gmd:useLimitation
nodes descriptiongmd:language
node descriptiongmd:topicCategory
node descriptionesponMD:indicatorsAggregation
node descriptionesponMD:indicatorIdentification
node descriptionesponMD:code
node descriptionesponMD:name
node descriptionesponMD:abstract
node descriptionesponMD:core
node descriptionesponMD:theme
node descriptionesponMD:keyword
node descriptionmethodology
node descriptiontemporalExtent
node descriptiondescription
node descriptionesponMD:integerData
node descriptionesponMD:floatData
node descriptionesponMD:textData
node descriptionesponMD:enumData
node descriptionesponMD:booleanData
node descriptionesponMD:flaggedData
node descriptionesponMD:otherData
node descriptionesponMD:sourceReference
node descriptionesponMD:label
node descriptionesponMD:provider
node descriptionesponMD:publication
node descriptiondate
node descriptioncopyright
node descriptionesponMD:accessRule
node descriptionestimation
node descriptionqualityLevel
node descriptionmethodology
node descriptiongmd:geographicElement
node descriptiongmd:temporalElement
node descriptionDataset Information
element layoutContact
element layoutSpatial Binding
element layoutIndicator Aggregation
element layoutIndicator Identification
element layoutIndicator Identification
element layout for several indicator with shared propertiesTemporal Extent
property covering one yearTemporal Extent
property for a time instanceData Type
elementData Types
layoutData Type
layoutData Type
layoutData Type
layoutData Type
layoutData Type
layoutSource Reference
element layoutScarcity of data documentation within the ESPON program has been seen as an important impediment to the building and use of the ESPON database. Difficulties stemmed from uncertainties about legal constraints, sources, units, etc...
In the ESPON Database 2013 project Phase 2, the ESPON database will be further enriched and expanded in the time, spatial and thematic dimensions. Information about the data made available is thus even more crucial. Building a rich database would be useless without a strong effort to describe precisely the data that have been gathered and integrated within the database. This information about data is known as metadata. Creating and organizing metadata is therefore an additional, important and transversal challenge for the ESPON community.
To be useful for ESPON projects and other end-users, data should always be accompanied by metadata, including information about their quality and sources. It is also particularly important that the metadata are created in a manner that is consistent with international (ISO) and European (INSPIRE) standards so as to ensure the use of the database in the longer-run and to make it compatible with other national and international database initiatives.
The present document is a specification of the metadata model to be applied by the ESPON Projects providing data for the ESPON 2013 Database during the Phase 2. Firstly, it describes the generic conceptual model of the ESPON Metadata (called as the Abstract Metadata Model). Secondly, it presents the implementation of the abstract model using the international standards (ISO-19115 and INSPIRE Directive). Finally, it explains the implementation of the abstract model in a tabular file format, that was the most used during the Phase 1, but has been completely revised for the Phase 2.
To ensure correct data processing and integration into the ESPON 2013 Database, the present Specification must be carefully respected by all the data providers participating in the projects and by the organizations/persons who intend to create new software implementations interacting with the ESPON Database.
Table of Contents
Dataset Information
ElementDataset Information
ElementName
PropertyProject
PropertyAbstract
PropertyResource Type
PropertyResource Locator
PropertyUnique Resource Identifier
PropertyDataset Language
PropertyMetadata Language
PropertyMetadata Date
PropertyTopic Category
PropertyKeyword
PropertyTemporal Reference
Composite PropertyLineage
PropertyConformity
Composite PropertyConstraints
Composite PropertyResponsible Party
PropertyMetadata Contact
PropertyDistributor
PropertyPoint of Contact
PropertyIndicators Aggregation
PropertyDataset Information
ElementSpatial Binding
ElementIndicator Identification
ElementTwo Levels of Indicators Representation
Indicator Aggregation
Policy
PropertyCore
PropertyMethodology
PropertyTheme
PropertyKeyword
PropertyTemporal Extent
PropertyIndicator Value Nature
propertyData Type
propertyIndicator Identification
ElementSource Reference
ElementThe Abstract Metadata Model is a part of the ESPON Data and Metadata Specification developed for the Second Phase of the ESPON 2013 Database project. It describes the abstract structure of the ESPON Metadata independently of the various ways and formats allowing to store and exchange metadata. It gives explicit definitions of all pieces of information that compose the ESPON Metadata, explains the relationship between them and gives instructions to the persons who intend to create an implementation of any ESPON Metadata storage/exchange format. The respect of these instructions aims at creating a fully compatible and valid implementation of the ESPON Metadata structure, that can facilitate the use and the distribution of the data coming from different ESPON projects.
The approach of creating an abstract metadata model allows to generalize the representation of data and metadata and to establish the common rules that can be used in each case when a particular implementation need exists. For example, the implementations of this abstract model are already made for the normalized ISO-19115, INSPIRE-compatible XML document (Chapter 2) and for a tabular (i.e. Microsoft Excel) document (Chapter 3). Both the formats use the same abstract model, but the implementations are different:
the schema-constrained XML has several elements that do not need to be present in the Excel tabular file, because only the international norm (ISO-19115) behind the XML requires these elements.
the Excel document is aimed at letting the user edit the metadata without the need to have a knowledge of XML.
In the context of the statistical results produced by different ESPON projects, data are represented by sets of socio-economic indicator values that have spatial, temporal and source bindings. The values of the indicators represent the data in the most strict meaning of the term. Each value of an indicator is linked to a statistical unit, it is valid for a particular period or instant of time and must refer to its source of production. These bindings are bridges to the metadata, where the spatial, temporal, ontological and source contexts are detailed. The relationship between the Data and the Metadata can be summarized in Figure 1.1.
The present version of the ESPON Metadata is developed taking into account the requirements of the INSPIRE Directive[1] and the particular features of the data coming from different ESPON projects. The model of the metadata represents a complex system of pieces of information grouped into several hierarchical elements that have distinct semantic roles. The main elements of this system are shown as an UML diagram in Figure 1.2.
According to the present specification, all metadata entities can be divided into two major groups: elements
and properties
:
Metadata elements
are composite entities forming an autonomous semantic concept.
They correspond to classes onto a UML diagram.
Metadata properties
are values that characterize elements
.
They correspond to attributes or fields of a class in a UML diagram.
children elements
, and the element where they are used is their parent element
.
The Figure 1.2 shows that the DatasetInformation
element is the parent element for
SpatialBinding
, IndicatorIdentification
and SourceReference
elements. All of them
are defined by their own properties, among which there are other composite elements, also described by the present specification.
The Dataset Information
element groups general metadata properties describing the entire dataset. It is the main element of the
metadata model and the root of the metadata elements hierarchy.
The Spatial Binding
element describes the nomenclature(s) of statistical/spatial units used by the dataset and their geographical
extent.
The Indicator Identification
element provides metadata on the indicators existing in the dataset.
The Source Reference
element gives details about the origin(s) of the indicator values in the dataset.
All the listed higher-level elements of the metadata model are characterized by their specific properties and, in some cases, by inner elements with special semantic roles. Some of the elements of the Metadata model are created following the requirements of the INSPIRE Directive[1]. Others represent ESPON-specific data structures. The present document, when possible, establishes the links between the elements of the ESPON Metadata model and the INSPIRE Directive. The following section introduces the layout of the tables used by the present document to describe all the elements of the metadata model and their properties.
The present chapter describes all existing elements and properties of the Abstract Metadata Model. It uses a homogeneous layout to present the information. This layout was partially borrowed from the one used in INSPIRE Metadata Implementing Rules[2].
The elements and properties composing the ESPON Metadata model are described using template shown in Table 1.1.
Table 1.1. Table template used to describe the Metadata model elements and properties
ESPON Metadata | Name | [The name of the element in the ESPON Metadata model.] |
Name literal | [The recommended name literal to be used in ESPON Metadata implementations. This name literal is not case sensitive, because its usage depends on the naming conventions used in the language context of the implementation. In most cases, the literal reproduces the name of the property/element without spaces.] | |
Parent | [The name of the parent element of this element or property.] | |
Obligation / condition | [The constraint showing if the entity is mandatory or optional and, if any, the conditions of the existence of the entity.] | |
Multiplicity |
[The minimum and the maximum number of occurences of the entity relatively to its parent element. The most used multiplicities are:
| |
Description | [The full description and explanation of this entity meaning and role.] | |
Data type | [The expected data type.] | |
Example(s) | [An example of a valid value, for properties only.] | |
INSPIRE | Reference | [The reference to the equivalent of this element in the European Commission Regulation on INSPIRE Directive[3].] |
Name | [The name of this element in the INSPIRE Metadata Implementing Rules.] | |
Observations | [Additional observations and remarks on the entity, if any.] |
The Dataset Information
element is a composite element, the root of the entire metadata model.
It wraps all the properties used to describe an ESPON Dataset.
Table 1.2. Dataset Information
element description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Dataset Information |
Name literal | DatasetInformation | |
Parent | None. This is the root element of the Abstract Metadata Model, it does not have parents. | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description |
Gives the most general information about the data produced by an ESPON project. Wraps all the elements that represent the metadata of an ESPON dataset. | |
Data type | This is a composite element grouping sub-elements and properties | |
Example(s) | - | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 1 |
Name | MD_Metadata | |
Observations |
A Dataset Information
element can be described with the properties explained in the
following sections.
Table 1.3. Name
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Name |
Name literal | Name | |
Parent | Dataset Information | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | Name of the dataset. This is a brief expression that gives an idea about the dataset contents. We encourage all dataset providers to produce the most short and meaningful dataset names that reflect directly the data semantics. | |
Data type | Character string with max length of 128 characters | |
Example(s) | "Demographic trends", "Climate Change Data" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 1.1 |
Name | Resource title | |
Observations | This property should not have a length of more than 150 characters. |
Table 1.4. Project
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Project |
Name literal | Project | |
Parent | Dataset Information | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | ESPON project in which the dataset was produced. This must be an acronym of one of existing ESPON projects. Please consult the possible values of acronyms for all referenced ESPON projects in Appendix C. | |
Data type | Character string with max length of 32 characters | |
Example(s) | "DEMIFER", "TIPTAP" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | collectiveTitle | |
Observations |
Table 1.5. Abstract
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Abstract |
Name literal | Abstract | |
Parent | Dataset Information | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | Free-text description of the contents of the dataset, in a more detailed way than it can be made by the name of the dataset. | |
Data type | Character string with max length of 1024 characters | |
Example(s) | Contains data on internal migration trends and demographic changes on NUTS3 level for all European countries, from 2010 to 2015. | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 1.2 |
Name | Resource abstract | |
Observations |
This property must not duplicate the expression used in the name of the dataset.
It should provide more detailed information on the contents than the |
Table 1.6. Resource type
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Resource Type |
Name literal | ResourceType | |
Parent | Dataset Information | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | Type of the resource. This property is a requirement of the INSPIRE Directive. For any ESPON dataset, the value of this property must always be "dataset". | |
Data type | Character string | |
Example(s) | "dataset" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 1.3 |
Name | Resource Type | |
Observations | This property is a constant value that must be present in the metadata. |
Table 1.7. Resource locator
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Resource Locator |
Name literal | ResourceLocator | |
Parent | Dataset Information | |
Obligation / condition | Optional | |
Multiplicity | 0... * | |
Description |
If the dataset has a public URL, it must be mentioned in the metadata so as the users could "obtain more information on the resource and/or access services". The URL value of this property must point to the location where the dataset and/or its documentation are published. | |
Data type | URL with max length of 256 characters | |
Example(s) | http://www.espon.eu/report/report001.pdf | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 1.4 |
Name | Resource locator | |
Observations |
According to the INSPIRE Metadata Implementing Rules, page 17, if a URL for the resource exists, it must be mentioned in the metadata. |
Table 1.8. Unique Resource Identifier
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Unique Resource Identifier |
Name literal | UniqueResourceIdentifier | |
Parent | Dataset Information | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | Code that represents a unique identification of the dataset. Please see the observations below for the recommended URI code scheme. | |
Data type | Character string with max length of 256 characters | |
Example(s) | "DEMIFER_LaborForce_v2_20111021_corrected" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 1.5 |
Name | Unique resource identifier | |
Observations |
The recommended value for this property should be a merged character string referring to the originating project, shortened dataset name, publication date and version, for example: {ProjectAcronym}_{DatasetName}_{UploadOrCreationDate}_{version}[_{OtherOptionalInfo}]. This value must contain only alphanumeric characters, the spaces must be replaced with underscores. The value of this property should be used as the main component for the names of the files related with the dataset. |
Table 1.9. Dataset Language
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Dataset Language |
Name literal | DatasetLanguage | |
Parent | Dataset Information | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | ISO/TS 19139 alpha-3 (three characters) code denoting the language in which the textual information of the dataset is presented. According to ESPON working languages, the only value for this property is "eng" and the only language of the textual information in ESPON datasets is the English language. | |
Data type | Character string of 3 characters | |
Example(s) | "eng" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 1.7 |
Name | Resource language | |
Observations | This property is a constant value that must be present in the metadata. |
Table 1.10. Metadata Language
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Metadata Language |
Name literal | MetadataLanguage | |
Parent | Dataset Information | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | ISO/TS 19139 alpha-3 (three characters) code denoting the language in which the textual information of the metadata is presented. According to ESPON working languages, the only value for this property is "eng" and the only language of the textual information in the metadata is the English language. | |
Data type | Character string of 3 characters | |
Example(s) | "eng" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 10.3 |
Name | Metadata language | |
Observations | This property is a constant value that must be present in the metadata. It represents a so-called "metadata on metadata". It describes the metadata, but not the dataset. |
Table 1.11. Metadata Date
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Metadata Date |
Name literal | MetadataDate | |
Parent | Dataset Information | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | Date when the metadata for this dataset was created. This is a requirement of the INSPIRE Directive. | |
Data type | Date | |
Example(s) | 2011-08-21 | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 10.2 |
Name | Metadata date | |
Observations |
This property represents a so-called "metadata on metadata". It describes the metadata, but not the dataset. Please see the Calendar Date Values Constraints for dates format. |
Table 1.12. Topic Category
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Topic Category |
Name literal | TopicCategory | |
Parent | Dataset Information | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1... * | |
Description | Generic theme(s) associated with the dataset. The theme must be taken from the INSPIRE Directive theme list available in Appendix F. At least one code of Table F.1 must be specified. The maximum number of topic categories is bound to the 19 currently existing ones. | |
Data type | Character string restricted to a list of values | |
Example(s) | "Society", "Transportation", "Health" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 2.1 |
Name | Topic category | |
Observations | The topic categories defined in INSPIRE Directive are different from the ones of the ESPON
Thematic Classification and must not be confused. At Dataset Information level, the INSPIRE
topic categories must be applied, while the ESPON classification is used on
Indicator Identification level. |
Table 1.13. Keyword
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Keyword |
Name literal | Keyword | |
Parent | Dataset Information | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1... * | |
Description | Please see the shared Keyword property. | |
Data type | This is a composite property | |
Example(s) | - | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 3 |
Name | Keyword | |
Observations |
This composite property covers several values grouped because they all correspond to temporal references of the dataset.
Table 1.14. Temporal Reference
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Temporal Reference |
Name literal | TemporalReference | |
Parent | Dataset Information | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | Groups values representing temporal bindings of the entire dataset. These bindings are the union of all the time periods covered by the indicator values, the date when the dataset was uploaded on the ESPON Web server and, optionaly, the dates of creation and revision of the dataset. | |
Data type | This is a composite property | |
Example(s) | - | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 5 |
Name | Temporal Reference | |
Observations |
The Temporal Reference
composite property define Temporal Extent
,
Upload Date
,
Creation Date
and Revision Date
properties.
The Temporal Extent
property at the Dataset Information
level defines the global temporal extent
of all the indicator values present in the dataset. This is the start and the end marks of the union of all the time periods covered
by the indicator values. For example, if the indicator values existing in the dataset cover the years
2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008, the TemporalExtent
property must have the value
[2005, 2008]
.
Table 1.15. Temporal Extent
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Temporal Extent |
Name literal | TemporalExtent | |
Parent | Temporal Reference | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description |
Please see the Temporal Extent shared property description. | |
Data type | List of one or two dates: [startDate[, endDate]] | |
Example(s) | [2001-01-01, 2020-12-31] | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 5.1 |
Name | Temporal extent | |
Observations |
Please see the Calendar Date Values Constraints for dates format. |
Table 1.16. Upload date
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Upload Date |
Name literal | UploadDate | |
Parent | Temporal Reference | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | Date when this dataset was uploaded to the ESPON server. This date is considered to be equivalent to the publication date of the dataset. | |
Data type | Date | |
Example(s) | '2010-10-31', '2011-08-12', '2012-01-01' | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 5.2 |
Name | date | |
Observations |
Please see the Calendar Date Values Constraints for dates format. An upload date is considered to be equivalent to a publication date. |
Table 1.17. Creation Date
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Creation Date |
Name literal | CreationDate | |
Parent | Temporal Reference | |
Obligation / condition | Optional | |
Multiplicity | 0... 1 | |
Description | The date when the dataset was created. | |
Data type | Date | |
Example(s) | 2011-08-19 | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 5.4 |
Name | Date of creation | |
Observations |
Please see the Calendar Date Values Constraints for dates format. |
Table 1.18. Revision Date
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Revision Date |
Name literal | RevisionDate | |
Parent | Temporal Reference | |
Obligation / condition | Optional | |
Multiplicity | 0... 1 | |
Description | Date of the last revision of the dataset. For a dataset that has never had a revision, this date may be dropped. | |
Data type | Date | |
Example(s) | 2011-08-19 | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 5.3 |
Name | Date of last revision | |
Observations |
Please see the Calendar Date Values Constraints for dates format. |
Table 1.19. Lineage
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Lineage |
Name literal | Lineage | |
Parent | Dataset Information | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | General explanation of the data producer’s knowledge about the lineage of the dataset. | |
Data type | Character string without length restriction | |
Example(s) |
This dataset was produced by aggregating data from the following sources: [...]. After the data aggregation, they were checked with [...] and processed by [...]. The missing indicator values have been interpolated using the method of [...]. The data was then validated by [...]. | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 6.1 |
Name | Lineage | |
Observations |
This property is required by the INSPIRE Directive and must provide a general description of the lineage for the entire dataset. |
Table 1.20. Conformity
composite property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Conformity |
Name literal | Conformity | |
Parent | Dataset Information | |
Obligation / condition | Optional | |
Multiplicity | 0... * | |
Description | Information on the degree of conformity with the implementing rules provided in Art.7-1 of INSPIRE Directive. | |
Data type | This is a composite property | |
Example(s) | - | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 7 |
Name | Conformity | |
Observations |
If the conformity of the data and/or the metadata was evaluated against one or more specifications,
the results of the evaluations must be provided by the |
The Conformity
property groups three properties: Conformance
,
Specification
and
Specification Date
.
Table 1.21. Conformance
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Conformance |
Name literal | Conformance | |
Parent | Conformity | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | Shows if the data and/or metadata are conformant to the cited specification. | |
Data type | Boolean | |
Example(s) | true , false | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 7.2 |
Name | Degree | |
Observations |
Table 1.22. Specification
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Specification |
Name literal | Specification | |
Parent | Conformity | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | Title of the specification against which the data and/or metadata were evaluated. | |
Data type | Character string with max length of 128 characters | |
Example(s) | "INSPIRE Metadata Implementing Rules" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 7.1 |
Name | Specification | |
Observations |
Table 1.23. Specification Date
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Specification Date |
Name literal | SpecifDate | |
Parent | Conformity | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | Date when the conformity check against the cited specification was made. | |
Data type | Date | |
Example(s) | 2011-05-12 | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 7.1 |
Name | Specification | |
Observations |
Please see the Calendar Date Values Constraints for dates format. |
Table 1.24. Constraints
composite property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Constraints |
Name literal | Constraints | |
Parent | Dataset Information | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1... * | |
Description | Defines the use and access constraints applied to the entire dataset. This property is required by the INSPIRE Directive. | |
Data type | This is a composite property | |
Example(s) | - | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 8 |
Name | Constraint Related To Access And Use | |
Observations |
The Constraints
property wraps four values:
Use Constraint
,
Access Condition
,
Other Constraints
and
Access Classification
.
Table 1.25. Use Constraint
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Use Constraint |
Name literal | UseConstraint | |
Parent | Constraints | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | Access and use constraints applied to ensure the protection of privacy or intellectual property, and any special restrictions or limitations on obtaining the resource. | |
Data type | Character string restricted to a list of values | |
Example(s) | "Copyright", "Patent", "Trademark" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 8.2 |
Name | Limitations on public access | |
Observations | According to [7], the following values can be applied to the
Use Constraint property:
|
Table 1.26. Access Condition
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Access Condition |
Name literal | AccessCondition | |
Parent | Constraints | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | Textual description of the conditions to be applied in order to access and/or use the dataset.
If no conditions apply, should be set to the no conditions apply value. | |
Data type | Character string without length restriction | |
Example(s) | No conditions apply | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 8.1 |
Name | Condition applying to access and use | |
Observations |
Table 1.27. Other Constraints
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Other Constraints |
Name literal | OtherConstraints | |
Parent | Constraints | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | Textual description of any other constraints and legal prerequisites to access and/or use the dataset.
Must be specified especially if the Use Constraint
property is set to otherRestrictions value. If no other constraints are applied, must be set to the
no limitations value. | |
Data type | Character string without length restriction | |
Example(s) | No limitations | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 8.2 |
Name | Limitations on public access | |
Observations |
Table 1.28. Access Classification
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Access Classification |
Name literal | AccessClassification | |
Parent | Constraints | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | Classification of the access rule applied to the dataset. | |
Data type | Character string restricted to a list of values | |
Example(s) | "unclassified", "restricted", "confidential" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 8.2 |
Name | Limitations on public access | |
Observations | According to [7], the following values can be applied to the
Access Classification property:
|
The Responsible Party
property reflects the "identification of, and means of
communication with, person and organization associated with the resource" [INSPIRE Metadata Implementing Rules[2], page 44].
That is the contact point that is considered to be responsible for the entire dataset. The Responsible Party
property is a requirement
of the INSPIRE Directive, Part B 9.
Table 1.29. Responsible Party
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Responsible Party |
Name literal | ResponsibleParty | |
Parent | Dataset Information | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | Organization or person responsible for the entire dataset. | |
Data type | Contact | |
Example(s) | - | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 9.1, part B 9.2 |
Name | Responsible party | |
Observations |
The Metadata Contact
property describes the person who created
the metadata for the dataset. This may be the same person as the Responsible Party
,
but may be a person working on behalf of the responsible party as well.
The Metadata Contact
property is a requirement of the INSPIRE Directive, Part B 10.1.
Table 1.30. Metadata Contact
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Metadata Contact |
Name literal | MetadataContact | |
Parent | Dataset Information | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | Organization or person who created the metadata for the dataset. | |
Data type | Contact | |
Example(s) | - | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 10.1 |
Name | Metadata point of contact | |
Observations | The value of the Role property must be set to pointOfContact
according to the INSPIRE Directive and ISO 19115 standard. |
The Distributor
property describes the contact point that
is responsible for the distribution of the dataset. In ESPON Metadata, this value
is always constant and refers to the ESPON Coordination Unit (ESPON CU) in Luxembourg.
Table 1.31. Distributor
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Distributor |
Name literal | Distributor | |
Parent | Dataset Information | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | Organization that provides the distribution of the dataset. The Address property must
be specified for this contact. | |
Data type | Contact | |
Example(s) | - | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
This property has a constant value in ESPON Metadata, because according to the Terms and Conditions Agreement [9], the ESPON CU provides the distribution of the data published in the ESPON 2013 Database. This contact property must be the following for any ESPON dataset:
|
This property groups the information specifying all the persons or organizations that participated in the creation of the dataset.
This is the only optional Contact
property of the Dataset Information
element.
Table 1.32. Point of Contact
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | PointOfContact |
Name literal | Point of Contact | |
Parent | Dataset Information | |
Obligation / condition | Optional | |
Multiplicity | 0... * | |
Description | Persons or organizations that may be contacted for different issues related to the dataset. | |
Data type | Contact | |
Example(s) | - | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
If a dataset contains aggregated indicators, it must refer to all of these aggregations.
Table 1.33. Indicators Aggregation
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Indicators Aggregation |
Name literal | IndicatorsAggregation | |
Parent | Dataset Information | |
Obligation / condition | Optional | |
Multiplicity | 0... * | |
Description | References all the indicators aggregations that compose semantic groups of indicators. Please see the Section 1.5.2 for more details. | |
Data type | A list of Indicator Aggregation elements | |
Example(s) | - | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
The Spatial Binding
element groups two composite properties (elements) describing the spatial relation between the data
part of the dataset and the statistical/spatial units used. The first property, Geographic Location
declares the geographic
area where all the territorial units of the dataset are located. This property is required by the INSPIRE directive for any spatial dataset.
The second property, Nomenclature
, enumerates the nomenclatures of geographical or statistical units that are used
by the dataset. That property is ESPON-specific and does not have an INSPIRE equivalent.
Table 1.34. Spatial Binding
element description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Spatial Binding |
Name literal | SpatialBinding | |
Parent | Dataset Information | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | Describes the spatial link between the data part of the dataset and the territorial units used. This description is made by specifying the bounding box of the geographic area covered by the entire dataset and by citing details on the nomenclature, version and levels of all the statistical units present. | |
Data type | This is a composite element | |
Example(s) | - | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Table 1.35. Geographic Location
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Geographic Location |
Name literal | GeographicLocation | |
Parent | Spatial Binding | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | The geographic rectangular bounding box to which belong all territorial units referenced by the dataset. This bounding box is defined by the North and South latitude values and by the East and West longitude values (in other words, by the coordinates of the bounding rectangle). | |
Data type | List of 4 geographic coordinates values in decimal degrees: [N, W, S, E]. Longitudes are measured between -180 and 180 degrees (negative for the Western hemisphere); latitudes are measured between -90 and 90 degrees (negative for the Southern hemisphere). | |
Example(s) | [45.22, 5.65, 45.14, 5.81] | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 4.1 |
Name | Geographic bounding box | |
Observations |
Table 1.36. Nomenclature
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Nomenclature |
Name literal | Nomenclature | |
Parent | Spatial Binding | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1... * | |
Description | Describes a statistical nomenclature used to represent spatial units in the dataset. The description details the acronym, the version names and the level labels of each nomenclature present in the data part of the dataset. | |
Data type | This is a composite element | |
Example(s) | - | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Table 1.37. Nomenclature Name
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Nomenclature Name |
Name literal | NomenclatureName | |
Parent | Nomenclature | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | Reference to the official acronym of the nomenclature of territorial statistical units that are used by the dataset. | |
Data type | Character string restricted to a list of values, with max length of 16 characters | |
Example(s) | "NUTS", "WUTS", "LAU" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
The values of this property are restricted to the list of identifiers denoting the nomenclatures actually supported by the Database. This list is available in the Appendix B. |
The Nomenclature Version
and Nomenclature Level
properties are restricted to the values
listed in Appendix B. These values describe the nomenclatures supported by the ESPON Database.
If the nomenclature (its version or level) is not in the list of the supported ones, the integration of the dataset into
the ESPON database will be possible only when the dictionary of the statistical units of the database will be fed up with the
new nomenclature (version, level). If the nomenclature used in the dataset was created by the data provider, this nomenclature
must be described according to the respective documentation[11] and sent to the data
integrators before or at the same time with sending the dataset.
Table 1.38. Nomenclature Version
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Nomenclature Version |
Name literal | NomenclatureVersion | |
Parent | Nomenclature | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description |
Version literal of the nomenclature. Usually, this literal corresponds to the year when the nomenclature was published or applied. | |
Data type | Character string restricted to a list of values, with max length of 32 characters | |
Example(s) | "1999", "2006", "2010" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
A list of supported nomenclature versions is given in the Appendix B.
If there several nomenclature versions are used by the dataset, each one must be mentioned in the
|
Table 1.39. Nomenclature Level
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Nomenclature Level |
Name literal | NomenclatureLevel | |
Parent | Nomenclature | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity |
1... * for hierarchical nomenclatures | |
Description |
Level index of the nomenclature of statistical units used by the dataset. Each nomenclature level used by the dataset must be mentioned. The list of supported levels for each nomenclature is present in the Appendix B. This value is usually a numeric index corresponding to the place of the level in the hierarchy of the parent nomenclature.
If the nomencalture is not hierarchical (does not contain more than one level of units),
the value | |
Data type | Character string restricted to a list of values, with max length of 32 characters | |
Example(s) | "0", "1", "2", "default" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
A list of supported nomenclature levels is given in the Appendix B. |
The Indicator Identification
element describes a socio-economic indicator used in the dataset,
stored in the ESPON Database and characterized by a value of a supported data type.
It can be considered as the most important element of the metadata, because the goal of the ESPON Database is to store values of different socio-economic indicators. A dataset cannot be considered as such if there are no indicators specified in it and not described by the metadata.
The Indicator Identification
element contains two links that establish a relationship between the data and the
metadata part of a dataset. The Code
property maps to the columns where the values of this indicator are stored.
The Temporal Extent
property maps to the time periods covered by the values of the indicator (the same indicator may
exist for more than one time period in a dataset). That is why each unique indicator code present in the dataset must be described
as a metadata Indicator Identification
element. Each time period of the indicator value validity must be
referenced by the indicator metadata. Any couple of indicator Code
+ Temporal Extent
must correspond
to only one column of values in the data part of the dataset.
Before creating metadata for an indicator, data providers should check the existing documentation, in order to see if the indicator already exists in the ESPON indicators classification. In this case, the data provider should use the existing indicator code, since the name and the abstract will be shared in the metadata. If the indicator does not exist in the ESPON documentation, the data provider must specify these properties; that will allow to add the new indicator to the classification.
Table 1.40. Indicator Identification
ESPON Metadata | Name | Indicator Identification |
Name literal | IndicatorIdentification | |
Parent | Dataset Information | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1... * | |
Description | Describes a socio-economic indicator present in the dataset. | |
Data type | This is a composite element | |
Example(s) | - | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
The indicators in the ESPON Database may be represented in two ways, depending on the semantics and the links between the indicators included in the dataset.
Any indicator may be represented separately, as a singular structure having its own content and values. This is the most frequent way of the representation. For example, "Gross Domestic Product per Capita" and "Income per Household, Average" are indicators, each of them may form a complete dataset, if they are associated with value.
But there may also exist groups of indicators that form a semantic unity and that usually come together when providers produce data. This may concern indicators like "Population By Age" (where each age group 0-4 y.o., 5-9 y.o., 10-14 y.o., 15-19 y.o., 20-24 y.o., 25-29 y.o. etc is an indicator, but they all together represent an age pyramid) or "Employment By Sector" (with the indicators "Employment in Industry", "Employment in Services" etc). The indicators in the group are considered as autonomous indicators, but their group also has a semantic role, characterized by some of the attributes of a singular indicator (code, name, abstract). Moreover, in most cases the singular indicators composing a group share a number of properties (units of measure, methodology etc).
Such groups of linked indicators are called Indicators Aggregation
s. They are represented
as a particular case of indicators in the Database.
So, the representation of indicators in the Database is made on two levels. The upper level is shared between
Indicators Aggregation
s and Indicators Idedntification
s and describe
three metadata properties.
Table 1.41. Code
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Code |
Name literal | Code | |
Parent | ||
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description |
Code of the indicator in the ESPON Indicators Classification. If the indicator already exists in the ESPON database (and thus is present in the classification), the value of this property should be taken from the ESPON Indicators classification documentation. Otherwise, a new code must be created. The value of this property must be the same as at least one of the indicator code labels in the data part of the dataset. If this is not the case, the metadata will be invalid. | |
Data type | Character string with max length of 32 characters | |
Example(s) | "pop_t_rtc", "ump_rt_rtp" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Table 1.42. Name
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Name |
Name literal | Name | |
Parent | Indicator Identification | |
Obligation / condition |
Mandatory | |
Multiplicity |
1 | |
Description |
The name of the indicator. A short expression that reflects the meaning of the indicator and respects the style of the naming of the indicators used in the classification. | |
Data type | Character string with max length of 128 characters | |
Example(s) | "Expenditures on dental services", "Gross Domestic Product (GDP)" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Data originators should pay a lot of attention to naming the indicators in order to give the most precise
expressions and to avoid duplicating names with already registered indicators or with other properties of an
For example, naming a new indicator as "Total expenditures on dental services per inhabitant in Euro in EU" is incorrect, because this expression contains a reference to the unit of measure ("Euro" and "per inhabitant"), to the spatial binding ("EU") and to the most generic scope ("Total"). The correct way is to name this indicator simply "Expenditures on dental services". Other properties of the metadata will make the necessary references to the units and spatial extent. Naming an indicator as "GDP in billions of Euros" or "GDP in PPS" is neither a correct way to proceed. Like in the previous example, the units of measure ("billions of Euros" or "PPS") should be specified separately. But the "GDP" acronym should be explained more carefully. A correct name for this indicator should be "Gross Domestic Product (GDP)". |
Table 1.43. Abstract
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Abstract |
Name literal | Abstract | |
Parent | Indicator Identification | |
Obligation / condition |
Mandatory | |
Multiplicity |
1 | |
Description |
The abstract of the indicator. This property must describe the indicator in a more extended way than it is done by the
| |
Data type | Character string without length restriction | |
Example(s) | Data on total population in the specified statistical regions. | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations | The Abstract should be formulated generically, so that it could
be applied to any other indicator having the same name and code in another dataset. It must not mention the spatial or temporal extent or the
measurement of the values. For example, instead of giving the abstract "The total population of Poland regions in 2010 in
thousands of inhabitants according to the last population census", the data provider should generalize the description
transforming it into something like "Data on total population in the specified statistical regions".
No need to repeat the spatial unit, year, unit of measure and data origin references, that will be available at their dedicated fields.
|
An aggregation of indicators is a group of singular indicators described in Section 1.5.1.
The aggregations are not associated with indicator values and act as wrappers for singular indicators with
strong semantic links. Therefore, each aggregation is characterized by a Code
, Name
and an Abstract
property. For aggregations, the names of these properties are prefixed
with the word Aggregate
: Aggregate Code
, Aggregate Name
and Aggregate Abstract
respectively. Each of them describe the common properties
of all the singular indicators in the group.
Each Indicator Aggregation
must also refer to all of the Indicator Identification
elements that compose the group.
Table 1.44. Code
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Code |
Name literal | Code | |
Parent | ||
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 2... * | |
Description |
References all the codes of the | |
Data type | A list of codes of Indicator Identification elements | |
Example(s) | - | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Beginning from this property, all of the properties described below in this chapter belong to the
IndicatorIdentification
element of the metadata model.
Table 1.45. Policy
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Policy |
Name literal | Policy | |
Parent | Indicator Identification | |
Obligation / condition |
Optional | |
Multiplicity |
0... * | |
Description |
The ESPON policy classification of the indicator. The value of this property must correspond to a policy code defined in the list of policy titles established by ESPON. Please see the Policies table for the entire classification. | |
Data type | Character string restricted to a set of values | |
Example(s) | 'EU2020_1', 'TA2020_2' | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Please see the Policies table for the values of this property. |
In conformity with the Core Database Strategy (CDS[10]), before the integration of any new indicator
in the Database, it is classified according to its relevance for the CDS. The indicators
marked as core
ones represent the most precious data in the Database.
Table 1.46. Core
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Core |
Name literal | Core | |
Parent | Indicator Identification | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description |
Shows if this indicator belongs to the list of core indicators of the ESPON Database.
The default value is | |
Data type | Boolean | |
Example(s) | true or false | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
The Indicator Identification
element may define a Methodology
property that can be shared with other indicators or with Source Reference
elements.
Table 1.47. Methodology
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Methodology |
Name literal | Methodology | |
Parent | Indicator Identification | |
Obligation / condition | Optional | |
Multiplicity | 0... 1 | |
Description |
Please see the shared | |
Data type | This is a composite property | |
Example(s) | - | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Table 1.48. Theme
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Theme |
Name literal | Theme | |
Parent | Indicator Identification | |
Obligation / condition |
Mandatory | |
Multiplicity |
1... * | |
Description |
Theme(s) associated with the indicator. It must be a string value coming from the enumeration of themes composing the ESPON Thematic Classification. The full list of existing themes is described in the Appendix E of this document. | |
Data type | Character string restricted to a list of values | |
Example(s) | "populationAndLivingConditions", "Population and living conditions" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
It is recommended to specify, if possible, more than one theme for an indicator, in order to improve thematic search in the database. Please note that the list of themes is very different from the INSPIRE Topic Categories and from the thematic classification used during the first Phase of the project. |
Table 1.49. Keyword
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Keyword |
Name literal | Keyword | |
Parent | Indicator Identification | |
Obligation / condition |
Mandatory | |
Multiplicity |
1... * | |
Description |
Please see the shared | |
Data type | This is a composite property | |
Example(s) | - | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 3 |
Name | Keyword | |
Observations |
The Temporal Extent
property at the Indicator Identification
level lists all the temporal bindings
characterizing the values of this indicator. Semantically, these bindings may exist as time periods or instances (moments in time). Please
see the Temporal Extent for more details.
Table 1.50. Temporal Extent
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Temporal Extent |
Name literal | TemporalExtent | |
Parent | Indicator Identification | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1... * | |
Description |
Please see the Temporal Extent shared property description. | |
Data type | List of one or two dates or year values: [start , end ] | |
Example(s) | ['2001-01-01'[, '2002-12-31']], [2001[, 2002]] | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 5.1 |
Name | Temporal extent | |
Observations |
Please see the Calendar Date Values Constraints for dates format. |
The values of indicators can result from a study where raw data is collected, can be produced by calculations applied on raw data or may result from analyzes, classifications and other methods of production. These methods can be summarized by a property that reflects the nature of an indicator. The nature of the idicator value is defined during the dataset integration process.
Table 1.51. Indicator Value Nature
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Nat Type |
Name literal | NatType | |
Parent | Indicator Identification | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description |
The nature of the indicator value. This must be one of the literals defined in Appendix G. | |
Data type | Character string restricted to a list of values | |
Example(s) | A , AS , RC | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Table 1.52. Data Type
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Data Type |
Name literal | DataType | |
Parent | Indicator Identification | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description |
Type of data that is used to represent the values of the indicator. A restricted list of data types is supported by ESPON 2013 Database. Each type of this list is
characterized by its specific properties, so the structure of This property is used to check the validity of the indicator values in the dataset. | |
Data type | This is a composite property | |
Example(s) | - | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Table 1.53. Type Identifier
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Type Identifier |
Name literal | TypeIdentifier | |
Parent | Data Type | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | String identifier of the data type. | |
Data type | Character string restricted to a list of values | |
Example(s) | "float", "boolean", "enum" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
This property can take the following values: The values in this list may be used in upper or lower case characters.
Each of the |
Table 1.54. Description
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Description |
Name literal | Description | |
Parent | Data Type | |
Obligation / condition |
Optional for all cases except when the | |
Multiplicity |
1 if 0... 1 otherwise. | |
Description | Gives a verbose definition and/or comment of the type of data used to represent indicator values. | |
Data type | Character string without length restriction | |
Example(s) | The value denotes the year when the country ratified the Convention on... | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Indicator values represented by numeric data (2, 3.574, 700.25, 10000 etc) can be classified as integer
or float
data. Numeric data is the most frequent way of data representation in the ESPON Database.
The integer
data type is a numeric data type where indicator values are always represented by natural or negative numbers.
An integer value cannot have a fractional or decimal component: -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3...
The float
data type is a numeric data type where indicator values are represented by real numbers, with a fractional or a decimal part:
-1.5, 2.34, 10.758... An integer
can also be represented as a float
: 1 = 1.0.
The data originator should carefully think about the type of the numeric representation of indicator values. In numerous cases, they can be represented
as integers. The number of inhabitants with 1:1 scale is usually represented by positive integers (normally, an inhabitant cannot be
cut into parts and stay alive to make part of the statistics): 1000, 10200 etc.
A mean number of persons, for example for the "Fertility rate per woman" indicator, can be represented as a float: 1.3, 2.1, 3.5 etc. So, if it is clear that
there cannot be at least one decimal indicator value, the Type Identifier
should be set to integer
. Otherwise
it should be float
.
Any numeric indicator data must be characterized by a unit of measure that describes this numeric data.
Table 1.55. Unit of Measure
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Unit of Measure |
Name literal | UnitOfMeasure | |
Parent | Indicator Identification | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | Unit in which the values of the indicator are measured. This element cites the unit itself and, eventually, its scale of measure. | |
Data type | This is a composite element | |
Example(s) | - | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Table 1.56. Numerator Name
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Numerator Name |
Name literal | NumeratorName | |
Parent | Unit of Measure | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description |
The name of the numerator of the unit of measure. The numerator is the first part of the name of a unit of measure. For example, for "kilometers per hour" the numerator is "kilometers", while "hour" is the denominator. Many units are composed of the numerator only, for example "euros", "inhabitants". This field must always be specified, because any unit of measure has a numerator. | |
Data type | Character string with max length of 64 characters | |
Example(s) | "inhabitants", "Euros", "km2" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
The name must be full (not shortened) and typed using only standard ASCII characters of latin and numeric character set. The powers must be typed as inline digits: "km2", "m3". The use of the multiplication sign "*" is optional: "kW*h" or "kWh".
If the unit of measure contains a standard SI scale multiplier ( |
Table 1.57. Denominator Name
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Denominator Name |
Name literal | DenominatorName | |
Parent | Unit of Measure | |
Obligation / condition | Optional | |
Multiplicity | 0... 1 | |
Description |
The name to use in the denominator part of the fraction that describes the name of the unit of measure. For example, for "kilometers per hour" the denominator is "hour". The "per" preposition or the "/" sign should not be used in this field. Many units of measure do not contain a denominator, for example "Euros", "inhabitants". In this case, this property must not be filled. | |
Data type | Character string with max length of 64 characters | |
Example(s) | "inhabitants", "Euros", "km2" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Please see the observations on the |
Table 1.58. Numerator Scale
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Numerator Scale |
Name literal | NumeratorScale | |
Parent | Unit of Measure | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description |
Integer value representing the right part of the scale multiplier of the value. For example, if the total population of a territory is measured in thousands of inhabitants, the name of the unit should be "inhabitants" and the numerator scale must be expressed by the value of 1000. For units that are traditionally measured with a standard SI multiplier (km, kg), the prefix should be left in the name and the scale is set to default 1. | |
Data type | An Integer representing a multiple of 10 in the range of {10-23... 1023} | |
Example(s) | 1, 10, 1000, 1000000, 1000000000 | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Table 1.59. Denominator Scale
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Denominator Scale |
Name literal | DenominatorScale | |
Parent | Unit of Measure | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory if the Denominator Name property is specified. | |
Multiplicity | 0... 1 | |
Description |
This scale value uses the same principle as the one of
Please see the explanation for the | |
Data type | Integer in the range of {-23... 23} | |
Example(s) | 1, 10, 1000, 1000000, 1000000000 | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Numeric indicator values may semantically represent a ranking of statistical units according to some criteria.
In this case, the values represent the positional indices of the statistical units in the ranking list
and the sum of the values (or even other operations on their set) does not make sense.
For such values, the Ranking
property may be used, which is set to false
by default.
Table 1.60. Ranking
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Ranking |
Name literal | Ranking | |
Parent | Data Type | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory for integer and float data,
does not exist for other data types. | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description |
Shows if the indicator values represent a ranking of statistical units.
The default value is | |
Data type | Boolean | |
Example(s) | true , false | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
If the values of an indicator represent a ranking, there must not be duplicates in the list of values. |
A set of numeric values can be characterized by a range to which all the possible values of the indicator must belong. It can be the case when
the indicator values correspond to academic marks, for example from 0 to 20. In such cases the minimum and the maximum values of the range
must be specified in the metadata. This can be done using the Min
and the Max
properties of the numeric data types.
Table 1.61. Min
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Min |
Name literal | Min | |
Parent | Numeric Data Type | |
Obligation / condition | Optional | |
Multiplicity | 0... 1 | |
Description |
The minimum (inclusive) value that can take the indicator. If this property is not specified, it is supposed that the min value of the indicator is not limited. | |
Data type | Integer or Float, but the same as declared by the Type Identifier value. | |
Example(s) | -100, 1000, 2.5 | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Table 1.62. Max
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Max |
Name literal | Max | |
Parent | Numeric Data Type | |
Obligation / condition | Optional | |
Multiplicity | 0... 1 | |
Description |
The maximum (inclusive) value that can take the indicator. If this property is not specified, it is supposed that the max value of the indicator is not limited. | |
Data type | Integer or Float, but the same as declared by the Type Identifier value. | |
Example(s) | -100, 1000, 2.5 | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Indicator values may be represented by textual data without any restrictions or definitions and not composing a fixed collection of invariable character strings. The only limitation to this type of values is the general restriction on character string values described in the Character Strings Values Constraints. If the string values of the indicator compose a fixed set of values, please use the enum data type.
The only metadata property of the text data type is a boolean value showing if the text values of the indicator can be used as identifiers.
Table 1.63. Unique
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Unique |
Name literal | Unique | |
Parent | Data Type | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory for text data type, inexistent for other types | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description |
Shows if the text values of the indicator can be used as unique identifiers
for the respective "spatial unit - indicator - period" groups.
The default value is | |
Data type | Boolean | |
Example(s) | true , false | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
If the enumerated (enum
) Type Identifier
is specified, all the indicator values of this type
must conform to the predefined list of possible and expected values described in the metadata. For example, an indicator shows
an estimation of an economic activity, which is measured by the list of possible values: VERY HIGH, HIGH,
MODERATE, LOW and VERY LOW. Each of the values in this list must be described
using the Enum Value
property of the Data Type
element.
While the maximum number of possible values in an enumeration is not limited, the minimum number is 2. An enumeration having only one
element does not make sense. If the enumeration consists of only two elements having opposite meanings, the boolean
Data Type
should be considered to describe the values.
Enumerated Data
is characterized by a set of invariable values and by the possibility of these values
to be compared between them.
Table 1.64. Ordered
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Ordered |
Name literal | Ordered | |
Parent | Data Type | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description |
Shows if the elements of the enumeration are ordered between them. This property is set to
For an ordered enumeration, the list of | |
Data type | Boolean | |
Example(s) | true , false | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Table 1.65. Enum Value
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Enum Value |
Name literal | EnumValue | |
Parent | Data Type | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 2... * | |
Description |
Describes a value that an element of the enumeration can take. In a list of enumerated values, all of the items must be unique (no duplicates accepted).
If the There must be at least two values describing an enumeration. An enumeration of just one value does not make sense. | |
Data type | This is a composite property | |
Example(s) | - | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Table 1.66. Value Label
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Value Label |
Name literal | ValueLabel | |
Parent | Enum Value | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description |
Value that can take the indicator in the data part of the dataset.
For example, for the enumeration cited in Section 1.5.10.5,
there must be an | |
Data type | Character string with max length of 32 characters | |
Example(s) | "high", "moderate", "low" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Table 1.67. Value Description
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Value Description |
Name literal | ValueDescription | |
Parent | Enum Value | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description |
Describes or comments the | |
Data type | Character string without length restriction | |
Example(s) | The activity with the index value higher than 100 according to the [...] evaluation formula. | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
The boolean
data type is considered as a usual couple of values (true
or false
)
that can characterize the indicator. But it also can be seen as a special case of an ordered Enumerated Data
having only
two elements possible. The first element of such enumeration correspond to false
or 0 value, while the second is
true
or 1. In fact, any string literals can be specified and used to express different meanings: No - Yes,
Absent - Present, etc. If this is the case for the values of an indicator, the data provider should specify a
custom boolean
type.
For boolean
data, the structure of the Data Type
element is exactly the same as for enum
one,
with the following restrictions:
The Ordered
property is always set to true
.
The number of Enum Value
items is always 2.
The first item in the Enum Value
s list corresponds to the false
value of the boolean.
The second item in the Enum Value
s list corresponds to the true
value of the boolean.
The flagged
data type is also a particular case of character string enumerations, where the meaning of the value is
defined by the positions of the enumerated elements in a character string. For example, the indicator "Change in Net Migration
by Main Components" is defined as follows.
There may be two possible quantitative characteristics of migrations phenomena: increasing ("I")
and decreasing ("D"). In certain cases, it is not possible to characterize the phenomena, which is expressed by the
literal "N". This list of values composes an enumeration of character values { 'I', 'D', 'N' }. The indicator has three
dimensions: the net migration, the internal migration and the international one.
By positioning the enumerated characters in a string, we can characterize the three dimensions of the indicator at the same time. By convention,
we will consider that the first character corresponds to the net migration, the second to the internal and the third to the international
migration. Thus, using this convention, the string 'IDI' means that the net and the international migration are increasing,
while the internal is decreasing. 'DDD' means that the migration is decreasing on the three dimensions. 'INN'
means that the net migration is increasing, but it is not possible to describe the internal and the international migration. If the values
of an indicator follow the same principle, the flagged
Data Type
must be used.
In this case, the main part of the structure of the Data Type
element is the same as for the enum
data type.
It is extended by the Position
property, that represents a list describing the meaning of each position in a character
string of flagged data. There must be at least two values in this list, otherwise the positions of the elements do not make sense.
Each label of the elements of the flagged enumeration must be represented by a single character, otherwise the combined values cannot be processed automatically without ambiguities.
Table 1.68. Position
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Positions |
Name literal | Positions | |
Parent | Data Type | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory for flagged data type, inexistent for other types. | |
Multiplicity | 2... * | |
Description |
Describes the meaning of the position of an element inside a flagged character string.
The index of each value in the
There must be at least two elements in the | |
Data type | Character string without length restriction | |
Example(s) | ["net migration", "internal migration", "international migration"] | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
The other
data type is used when the type of the values of the indicator cannot be classified as one of the existing types
or it is not possible to identify the data type. In this cases, the data originator must specify the mandatory
Description
property.
The value of this property is represented by free text. If the data type can be defined, but it is not possible to do it using the existing means,
the data originator must define the type using this property. If no definition can be made for the data type, the data originator
must provide an explanation of the impossibility to give the data type definition.
The Source Reference
element references the origin of the data existing in the dataset.
Its aim is to refer to the origin of the data, citing the publication,
the organization that produced the data and some other significant pieces of information, always related to its origin.
Table 1.69. Source Reference
element description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Source Reference |
Name literal | SourceReference | |
Parent | Dataset Information | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1... * | |
Description | Describes the source or the origin of indicator values. | |
Data type | This is a composite element | |
Example(s) | - | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Table 1.70. Label
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Label |
Name literal | Label | |
Parent | Source Reference | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description |
Identifies the source in the dataset. All indicator values associated with the same label will be considered as coming from the same source. In the list of sources belonging to the same dataset, each label identifies a source.
This property is very important for the consistency of the entire dataset:
each | |
Data type | Character string with max length of 16 characters | |
Example(s) | "1", "2a", "B", "ref10" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
The value of this property can be represented by any character string, but it is
recommended to choose a numeric or an alphabetic base for them. For example,
|
Table 1.71. Publication
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Publication |
Name literal | Publication | |
Parent | Source Reference | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description |
Title of the publication containing the data, or the name of the data source where values were taken from. | |
Data type | This is a composite property | |
Example(s) | - | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Table 1.72. Title
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Title |
Name literal | Title | |
Parent | Publication | |
Obligation / condition | Optional | |
Multiplicity | 0... 1 | |
Description |
Title of the publication or name of the source where data were taken from, if it exists.
A publication may be made by one or more data Providers.
This property should not be confused with the | |
Data type | Character string with max length of 256 characters | |
Example(s) | "Annual Report on Internal European Migrations", "Switzerland Statistics Public Database" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Table 1.73. URI
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | URI |
Name literal | URI | |
Parent | Publication | |
Obligation / condition | Optional | |
Multiplicity | 0... 1 | |
Description |
Official Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) of the publication. In most cases, this is the URL (Internet address) where the data is available online or can be accessed or obtained. This can also be an ISBN if the source is a paper publication. | |
Data type | Character string restricted to a pattern, with max length of 512 characters | |
Example(s) | "http://www.espon.eu/reports/report001.pdf" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations | Please see the URI Values Constraints for the format of URI values. |
Table 1.74. Reference
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Reference |
Name literal | Reference | |
Parent | Publication | |
Obligation / condition | Optional | |
Multiplicity | 0... 1 | |
Description |
Indicates the part of the referenced publication (page, part, chapter etc) to refer to. | |
Data type | Character string with max length of 64 characters | |
Example(s) | "page 50", "chapter II" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Table 1.75. Provider
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Provider |
Name literal | Provider | |
Parent | Publication | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1... * | |
Description |
Refers to the data provider of the indicator value. The provider may be an institution, an organization or a person who is the originator of the data. This property should not be confused with the reference to the publication source: the data provider is the actor who contributed to the data production or publication. | |
Data type | This is a composite property | |
Example(s) | - | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Table 1.76. Name
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Name |
Name literal | Name | |
Parent | Provider | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description |
Name of the institution, organization or the person acting as the data provider.
If there is more than one data provider for a source, each one must be described
in a separate | |
Data type | Character string with max length of 128 characters | |
Example(s) | "EUROSTAT", "ESPON Database Project" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Table 1.77. URI
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | URI |
Name literal | URI | |
Parent | Provider | |
Obligation / condition | Optional | |
Multiplicity | 0... 1 | |
Description |
Official Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) of the data provider. In most cases, this is the URL (Internet address) of the data provider's site. This property must not represent a reference to the publication, but to the organization or the person who provided the data. For example, this property can take the value "http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat", which refers to the home page of Eurostat. | |
Data type | Character string restricted to a pattern, with max length of 512 characters | |
Example(s) | "http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations | Please see the URI Values Constraints for the format of URI values. |
Table 1.78. Date
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Date |
Name literal | Date | |
Parent | Source Reference | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description |
Date of the publication of the document referenced by the
| |
Data type | Date | |
Example(s) | 2011-08-24 | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Table 1.79. Copyright
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Copyright |
Name literal | Copyright | |
Parent | Source Reference | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description |
Text describing the copyright rules and/or restrictions applied to the data associated with this source. The default value of this property is "(c) ESPON 2013 Database". | |
Data type | Character string with max length of 256 characters | |
Example(s) | (c) ESPON 2013 Database | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Table 1.80. Estimation
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Estimation |
Name literal | Estimation | |
Parent | Source Reference | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description |
Shows if the data coming from this source represents an estimation (approximation),
but not an original statistical indicator value.
By default, all indicator values are supposed to be original, so the initial value of this
property is | |
Data type | Boolean | |
Example(s) | true , false | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Table 1.81. Quality Level
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Quality Level |
Name literal | QualityLevel | |
Parent | Source Reference | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description |
Denotes the evaluation of the precision of the data coming from this source.
This is a subjective value that the data provider may specify at his own choice by
classifying the | |
Data type | Character string restricted to a list of values | |
Example(s) | low , medium , high | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
The following values of this property are expected:
|
Table 1.82. Access Rule
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Access Rule |
Name literal | AccessRule | |
Parent | Source Reference | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description |
Declares the access rule for the data and the metadata originated from this source. By default, both the data and the metadata in ESPON 2013 Database have public access. | |
Data type | Character string restricted to a list of values | |
Example(s) | "public", "public metadata, private data" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
The
|
This property can be shared with an Indicator Identification Methodology
property.
Table 1.83. Methodology
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Methodology |
Name literal | Methodology | |
Parent | Source Reference | |
Obligation / condition | Optional | |
Multiplicity | 0... 1 | |
Description | Please see the Section 1.7.2 for details. | |
Data type | This is a composite property | |
Example(s) | - | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
This section describes the elements (composite properties) that can be shared between several metadata elements in order to optimize the information storage and avoid its duplication.
Contact
elements are used to define contact information for the following dataset properties:
Responsible Party
, Metadata Contact
,
Distributor
and
Point of Contact
.
Table 1.84. Contact
element description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Contact |
Name literal | Contact | |
Parent | Dataset Information | |
Obligation / condition | Depends on the respective property of the Dataset Information element. | |
Multiplicity | Depends on the respective property of the | |
Description | Describes a contact: person and/or organization with an email address that can be used to communicate with. | |
Data type | This is a composite element | |
Example(s) | - | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No direct INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
A Contact
element is characterized by the following properties: Individual Name
, Organization Name
,
Position Name
, Role
, Phone Number
, Email Address
, as well as by a postal address
grouping the necessary values (Delivery Point
, City
, Administrative Area
, Postal Code
and Country
).
Table 1.85. Individual Name
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Individual Name |
Name literal | IndividualName | |
Parent | Contact | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | Name of the person to contact. | |
Data type | Character string with max length of 64 characters | |
Example(s) | "SMEETH, Nathan Edwyn", "KIM, Sabrina" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | None |
Name | - | |
Observations |
The recommended pattern for this property value is the uppercase last name of the person,
followed by a comma and the first names with the initial letters capitalized, for example:
This property exists in ISO 19115 contact element, but not detailed in INSPIRE Directive. In ESPON Metadata model, this property became mandatory. |
Table 1.86. Organization Name
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Organization Name |
Name literal | OrganizationName | |
Parent | Contact | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | Name of the organization with which the person is related. | |
Data type | Character string with max length of 128 characters | |
Example(s) | "Regional Statictical Office", "UNESCO" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | None |
Name | - | |
Observations | This property is made mandatory by the INSPIRE Directive. |
Table 1.87. Position
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Position |
Name literal | Position | |
Parent | Contact | |
Obligation / condition | Optional | |
Multiplicity | 0... 1 | |
Description | Function that the person executes in the cited organization or the function that the person executed in relation with the dataset. | |
Data type | Character string with max length of 128 characters | |
Example(s) | "manager", "analyst" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | None |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Table 1.88. Role
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Role |
Name literal | Role | |
Parent | Contact | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | Status of the contact regarding the dataset. | |
Data type | Character string restricted to a list of values | |
Example(s) | "author", "originator" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | [Part B 9.2] |
Name | [Responsible party role] | |
Observations |
According to [7], the following values can be applied to the
Role property:
|
Table 1.89. Phone Number
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Phone Number |
Name literal | Phone | |
Parent | Contact | |
Obligation / condition | Optional | |
Multiplicity | 0... * | |
Description | Phone number that may be used to contact the person or the organization. | |
Data type | Character string restricted to a pattern, with max length of 32 characters | |
Example(s) | +33476827225 | |
INSPIRE | Reference | None |
Name | - | |
Observations | Phone numbers must be specified in international format: ["+" sign][country phone code][phone number]. No spaces or other characters should be used between the digits composing the phone number. Please see the Phone Numbers Constraints for phone number character string format. |
Table 1.90. Email Address
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Email Address |
Name literal | Email | |
Parent | Contact | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1... * | |
Description | Email address that may be used to contact the person or the organization. | |
Data type | Character string restricted to a pattern, with max length of 128 characters | |
Example(s) | [email protected] | |
INSPIRE | Reference | None |
Name | electronicMailAddress | |
Observations | The value must be a valid existing email address. Please see the Email Addresses Constraints for email character string format. |
The following properties describe the postal address of a Contact
element. Postal addresses are optional in the ESPON Metadata.
The only mandatory occurence of this property is the address indicated for the Distributor
contact. The Address
is made a separate property because all the wrapped values must be specified if an Address
is specified for a Contact
.
Table 1.91. Address
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Address |
Name literal | Address | |
Parent | Contact | |
Obligation / condition | Optional for all Contact s except for the Distributor . | |
Multiplicity | 0... 1 for all, but 1 for Distributor | |
Description | Postal address of the contact point. | |
Data type | This is a composite element | |
Example(s) | - | |
INSPIRE | Reference | None |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Table 1.92. Delivery Point
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Delivery Point |
Name literal | DeliveryPoint | |
Parent | Address | |
Obligation / condition | Optional | |
Multiplicity | 0... 1 | |
Description | Postal point of delivery: number, street, mailbox, etc. | |
Data type | Character string with max length of 64 characters | |
Example(s) | UCRP HT - P.O. Box 144 | |
INSPIRE | Reference | None |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Table 1.93. City
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | City |
Name literal | City | |
Parent | Address | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | City where the contact person or organization is situated. | |
Data type | Character string with max length of 64 characters | |
Example(s) | Esch-sur-Alzette | |
INSPIRE | Reference | None |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Table 1.94. Administrative Area
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Administrative Area |
Name literal | AdministrativeArea | |
Parent | Address | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | Administrative area (ex. region) of the mail address. | |
Data type | Character string with max length of 64 characters | |
Example(s) | Cedex 13 | |
INSPIRE | Reference | None |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Table 1.95. Postal Code
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Postal Code |
Name literal | PostalCode | |
Parent | Address | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | Postal code of the address. | |
Data type | Character string with max length of 32 characters | |
Example(s) | L-4221 | |
INSPIRE | Reference | None |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Table 1.96. Country
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Country |
Name literal | Country | |
Parent | Address | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | Country of the address. | |
Data type | Character string with max length of 64 characters | |
Example(s) | Luxembourg | |
INSPIRE | Reference | None |
Name | - | |
Observations |
The Methodology
property may be shared between
Indicator Identification
and
Source Reference
elements. This may be the case when a long text describes the details
of the methodology and it is difficult or impossible to cut it into
pieces that describe each element separately.
Table 1.97. Methodology
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Methodology |
Name literal | Methodology | |
Parent |
Indicator Identification
or Source Reference
| |
Obligation / condition | Optional | |
Multiplicity | 0... 1 | |
Description |
Describes the methodology used to produce indicator values. This methodology can concern a particular indicator independently of data sources or be specific to a particular source that provided indicator values. | |
Data type | This is a composite property | |
Example(s) | - | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Generally, for an
For a |
The Methodology
property may be specified either directly, either by making a
reference to a URI containing the description, or even using these two ways.
Table 1.98. Description
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Description |
Name literal | Description | |
Parent | Methodology | |
Obligation / condition | Optional | |
Multiplicity | 0... 1 | |
Description | Text explaining the methodology. | |
Data type | Character string without length restriction | |
Example(s) | Values at NUTS2 level are calculated by summarizing the values for NUTS3 children units. | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Table 1.99. Formula
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Formula |
Name literal | Formula | |
Parent | Methodology | |
Obligation / condition | Optional | |
Multiplicity | 0... 1 | |
Description | Formula used to calculate the indicator values. | |
Data type | Character string with max length of 512 characters | |
Example(s) |
V = (X + Y) / N
| |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations |
Table 1.100. URI
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | URI |
Name literal | URI | |
Parent | Methodology | |
Obligation / condition | Optional | |
Multiplicity | 0... 1 | |
Description | Reference to the resource where a detailed description of the methodology is made. This may be a reference to an online/paper publication or to the name of a file attached to the dataset. If this property specifies a file name, it must be present in the package delivered to the data processors, otherwise the data provider will be requested to supply this file. | |
Data type | URI, with max length of 256 characters | |
Example(s) | urn:isbn:1234-5678 | |
INSPIRE | Reference | No INSPIRE reference |
Name | - | |
Observations | Please see the URI Values Constraints for URI character string format. |
A keyword defined in conformity with INSPIRE Directive is a composite element, containing not only the keyword itself, but also mentionning the vocabulary to which belongs the keyword.
Table 1.101. Keyword
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Keyword |
Name literal | Keyword | |
Parent | Dataset Information
or Indicator Identification | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | A keyword or a keyword expression characterizing the metadata element. | |
Data type | This is a composite property | |
Example(s) | - | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 3 |
Name | Keyword | |
Observations |
According to the Part B 3 of the Commission Regulation[3], for datasets, "at least one keyword shall be provided from the general environmental multilingual thesaurus (GEMET[5]) describing the relevant spatial data and theme as defined in Annex I, II or III to Directive 2007/2/EC". Keywors may also exist in free form, without being originated from a vocabulary. |
Table 1.102. Keyword Value
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Keyword Value |
Name literal | KeywordValue | |
Parent | Keyword
or Keyword | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | A word or an expression taken from the controlled vocabulary, characterizing the metadata element and narrowing the indicated topic categorie(s) or themes. | |
Data type | Character string defined by a vocabulary, with max length of 128 characters | |
Example(s) | "natural dynamics", "climate", "forestry" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 3.1 |
Name | Keyword value | |
Observations | In ESPON Metadata model, keywords exist on Dataset Information and
Indicator Identification levels. |
Table 1.103. Vocabulary
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Vocabulary |
Name literal | Vocabulary | |
Parent | Keyword on dataset level
or Keyword on indicator level | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory for keywords taken from a controlled vocabulary. Empty value may be used for free keywords. | |
Multiplicity | 1 | |
Description | Name of the formally registered thesaurus or a similar authoritative source of keywords. | |
Data type | Character string | |
Example(s) | "GEMET", "GEMET - INSPIRE themes version 1.0", "GEMET Concepts version 2.4", "ESPON" | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 3.2 |
Name | Originating controlled vocabulary | |
Observations |
Table 1.104. Temporal Extent
property description
ESPON Metadata | Name | Temporal Extent |
Name literal | TemporalExtent | |
Parent | Temporal Reference
or Indicator Identification | |
Obligation / condition | Mandatory | |
Multiplicity |
1 for 1... * for | |
Description |
At
At
Semantically, a If there is only one year specified, the value is considered to cover the whole year. For example, the value ['2009'] is equal to ['2009-01-01', '2009-12-31'].
Therefore, a The difference between time periods and instances is very important for certain statistical indicators. | |
Data type | List of two dates or year values: [start , end ] | |
Example(s) | [2001-01-01, 2020-12-31], [2010, 2011] | |
INSPIRE | Reference | Part B 5.1 |
Name | Temporal extent | |
Observations |
The entire ESPON Metadata Model can be summarized by the following UML diagram in Figure 1.8.
Table of Contents
MD_Metadata
NodeidentificationInfo
NodecontentInfo
Nodeextent
NodeThe present chapter provides details on the implementation of the Abstract Metadata Model (Chapter 1) in conformity with the ISO-19115 Standard and the INSPIRE Directive. This chapter does not explain the meaning or the structure of the the ESPON Metadata entities, but demonstrates the application of the abstract model in the normalized XML context of the ISO 19115 Standard.
In order to explain the realizations of different metadata entities, this document uses similar table structure for all entities. The template of the table structure is the following:
Table 2.1. Table template describing the ISO 19115 XML implementation of the Abstract Metadata Model
ESPON Metadata | Reference | [The reference to the part of the Abstract Model where the entity is described.] |
Name | [The name of the entity in the Abstract Model.] | |
ISO 19115 | Name | [The name of the entity according to the ISO 19115 standard or declared into its ESPON extension.] |
XPath | [The XPath expression that may be used to select the entity in the XML document.] | |
Observations | [Any comment, remark or observation on the entity implementation.] |
The ISO 19115 Standard is dedicated to represent spatial datasets metadata in XML (eXtensible Markup Language) form, so the present chapter makes a tour of all the nodes of the ISO-conform document and matches them with the Abstract Model.
The present chapter uses following terminology:
The Model. The shortcut name for the Abstract Metadata Model (Chapter 1).
The Implementation. The object of the present chapter (Chapter 2).
Specific Constraint, or SC, followed by a number. The INSPIRE Directive specific constraints enumerated in the INSPIRE Metadata Implementing Rules[2] on pages 10-11.
The MD_Metadata
node is the root node of the XML document. It corresponds to the
Dataset Information
element of the model. This means that there can be only one
dataset metadata per an XML document.
Table 2.2. MD_Metadata
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.3 |
Name | Dataset Information | |
ISO 19115 | Name | MD_Metadata |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata | |
Observations |
The following namespaces must be declared:
The values of the attributes with the namespace and schema URLs should be updated in case of their modifications.
The public URL of the |
According to the ISO 19115 standard, children nodes of the MD_Metadata
have the following
order and multiplicities:
Dataset information
element,
others are adapted for the Spatial Binding
element. Several nodes are not used by the current
implementation, while some of the nodes are extended by the ESPON Metadata Extension of the ISO 19115 Standard
(they introduce Indicator Identification
and Source Reference
elements).
The Implementation does not mention the nodes of the ISO XML schema that are not used.
The order of the children nodes of the MD_Metadata
must be the same as shown in
Figure 2.1 in order to respect the XML schema.
The gmd:fileIdentifier
node is the first child of the XML root node. Its value
identifies the dataset in the ESPON Database with a standard UUID pattern.
This property is not included into the Model, because it characterizes the metadata conformant with the ISO 19115 standard, and especially the XML file that contains the metadata, but does not have enough of meaning for the entire Model.
A UUID is a character string of 32 hexadecimal values, with several hiphen separators:
aaaaaaaa-bbbb-1111-2222-ccccddddeeee
(respectively 8, 4, 4, 4 and 12 digits). There is no general convention or rule for the generation of this kind of
identifiers; it may be a random number with random digits allowing to presume that the risk to generate two
identical values is very low.
Table 2.3. fileIdentifier
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Not used in the Model |
Name | - | |
ISO 19115 | Name | gmd:fileIdentifier |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:fileIdentifier/gco:CharacterString | |
Observations |
The gmd:language
node corresponds to the Metadata Language
property of the Model.
It is cited in the SC1 of the INSPIRE Directive. The value of the node is a constant for all ESPON datasets.
Table 2.4. language
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.3.1.8 |
Name | Metadata Language | |
ISO 19115 | Name | gmd:language |
XPath |
/gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:language/gmd:LanguageCode /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:language/gmd:LanguageCode@codeListValue | |
Observations |
See the SC1.
For more interoperability, the |
The gmd:characterSet
node should be used in the XML document in order to ensure more
interoperability for the data.
The value of this node denotes the character set used by character strings in the data part of the dataset.
Table 2.5. characterSet
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Not used in the Model |
Name | - | |
ISO 19115 | Name | gmd:characterSet |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:characterSet/gmd:MD_CharacterSetCode@codeListValue | |
Observations |
The gmd:hierarchyLevel
node corresponds to the Resource Type
property of the Model.
The specific constraints SC2 - SC4 of the INSPIRE Directive define the use of this node.
For any ESPON dataset stored in the ESPON Database, the value of the node is 'dataset'.
Table 2.6. hierarchyLevel
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.3.1.4 |
Name | Resource Type | |
ISO 19115 | Name | gmd:hierarchyLevel |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:hierarchyLevel/gmd:MD_ScopeCode@codeListValue | |
Observations |
This is a mandatory (INSPIRE) node with a constant value.
This node has |
The gmd:contact
node in MD_Metadata
represents the entry for the
Metadata Contact
property of the Dataset Information
element.
The role of this contact element must be set to pointOfContact
according to the SC16 of the INSPIRE Directive.
Table 2.7. contact
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.3.1.17 |
Name | Metadata Contact | |
ISO 19115 | Name | gmd:contact |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:contact | |
Observations |
The gmd:dateStamp
node of the MD_Metadata
is another part of the
"metadata on metadata". It corresponds to the Metadata Date
property in the model and
must contain the date when the metadata file was created.
Table 2.8. dateStamp
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.3.1.9 |
Name | Metadata Date | |
ISO 19115 | Name | dateStamp |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:dateStamp/gco:Date | |
Observations |
This node is mandatory according to the ISO 19115 standard and the INSPIRE Directive. |
The gmd:identificationInfo
node wraps the most of the contents describing the
Dataset Information
element of the Model. This node is detailed in the
Section 2.3 of the Implementaion.
The gmd:contentInfo
node wraps the information about the indicators and the sources
of the data in the dataset. It is detailed in the Section 2.4 of the Implementaion.
The gmd:distributionInfo
node is the entry for the Distributor
property
of the Dataset Information
element of the Model. It contains the ESPON Coordination Unit
contact data and postal address.
Table 2.9. distributionInfo
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.3.1.18 |
Name | Distributor | |
ISO 19115 | Name | gmd:distributionInfo |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:distributionInfo/gmd:MD_Distribution/gmd:distributor | |
Observations |
The values wrapped in this element are constant and must be present in any ESPON XML metadata document. |
The gmd:linkage
node is a requirement of the INSPIRE Directive for the datasets that have publicly
available URLs and may be accessed through them. If this is the case for an ESPON dataset, its URL must
be cited by the gmd:linkage
node in the distributionInfo
section.
The value of the gmd:linkage
node corresponds to the
Resource Locator
property of the Dataset Information
element.
Table 2.10. linkage
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.3.1.5 |
Name | Resource Locator | |
ISO 19115 | Name | gmd:linkage |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:distributionInfo/gmd:MD_Distribution/gmd:transferOptions/*/gmd:onLine/*/gmd:linkage/gmd:URL | |
Observations |
The gmd:dataQualityInfo
node contains the information about the lineage of the entire
dataset and the conformity of the metadata with the implementing rules of the INSPIRE Directive or other
specifications.
Table 2.11. dataQualityInfo
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.3.1.13 and Section 1.3.1.14 |
Name |
Lineage and
Conformity
| |
ISO 19115 | Name | gmd:dataQualityInfo |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:dataQualityInfo/gmd:DQ_DataQuality | |
Observations |
The
According to the SC6, the contents of the |
The gmd:report
node groups the information about the conformity of the dataset and
the metadata with the implementing rules. This information is mandatory according to the INSPIRE Directive.
Table 2.12. report
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.3.1.14 |
Name | Conformity | |
ISO 19115 | Name | gmd:report |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:dataQualityInfo/*/gmd:report | |
Observations |
The result of the conformance check uses boolean values:
If the conformance result is negative (the metadata or data are not conformant),
the contents of the |
The gmd:lineage
node contains the general lineage describing the evolution of data
processing for the entire dataset.
Table 2.13. lineage
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.3.1.13 |
Name | Lineage | |
ISO 19115 | Name | gmd:lineage |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:dataQualityInfo/*/gmd:lineage | |
Observations |
The gmd:identificationInfo
node groups different pieces of information corresponding mainly
to the Dataset Information
Model element properties.
identificationInfo
node
that are used to implement the Model.
According to the SC5 of the INSPIRE Directive, only the first instance of the identificationInfo
node
is considered in the scope of an INSPIRE-conform XML document.
The gmd:citation
node groups the most general information about the dataset: its name,
publication date and other possible identifiers.
The gmd:title
node specifies the Name
property of the
Dataset Information
element.
Table 2.14. title
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.3.1.1 |
Name | Name | |
ISO 19115 | Name | gmd:title |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:identificationInfo/gmd:MD_DataIdentification/gmd:citation/*/gmd:title/gco:CharacterString | |
Observations |
The gmd:date
node specifies the dates associated with the dataset. This is a property
belonging to the Temporal Reference
property of the Dataset Information
element and may correspond to the Upload
, Creation
or
Revision
date of the dataset. This means that for import metadata,
when the dataset is sent for the first time to the data processors, the Upload
or
Creation
date may be specified. If the data provider makes a correction in a dataset
already uploaded, a Revision
date should be added to the list of dates.
According to the SC7 of the INSPIRE Directive, no more than one Creation
date can be specified.
Table 2.15. date
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.3.1.12.2 or Section 1.3.1.12.3 or Section 1.3.1.12.4 |
Name |
Upload Date or
Creation Date or
Revision Date
| |
ISO 19115 | Name | gmd:date |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:identificationInfo/*/gmd:CI_Citation/gmd:date/*/gco:Date | |
Observations |
The gmd:identifier
node corresponds to the Unique Resource Identifier
property of the Dataset Information
element. This property is required by the INSPIRE
directive and is requested by the SC8.
Table 2.16. identifier
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.3.1.6 |
Name | Unique Resource Identifier | |
ISO 19115 | Name | gmd:identifier |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:identificationInfo/*/gmd:citation/*/gmd:identifier/*/gmd:code/*/gco:CharacterString | |
Observations |
Generally, the expected value of this node should correspond to the one described
in Section 1.3.1.6. Therefore, it can be defined using
the |
The gmd:collectiveTitle
node corresponds to the Project
property
of the Dataset Information
element.
Table 2.17. collectiveTitle
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.3.1.2 |
Name | Project | |
ISO 19115 | Name | gmd:collectiveTitle |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:identificationInfo/*/gmd:citation/*/gmd:collectiveTitle/gco:CharacterString | |
Observations |
The gmd:abstract
node corresponds to the respective property of the
Dataset Information
element.
Table 2.18. abstract
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.3.1.3 |
Name | Abstract | |
ISO 19115 | Name | gmd:abstract |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:identificationInfo/*/gmd:abstract/gco:CharacterString | |
Observations |
The gmd:pointOfContact
node is mandatory according to the SC14 of the INSPIRE Directive.
This node may have multiple occurences and the first of them represents the main contact point for the entire
dataset, that is to say the Responsible Party
property of the Dataset Information
element. The next gmd:pointOfContact
nodes correspond to secondary contact points of the dataset,
listed by the Point of Contact
property.
Table 2.19. pointOfContact
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.3.1.16 and Section 1.3.1.19 |
Name |
Responsible Party and
Points of Contact
| |
ISO 19115 | Name | gmd:pointOfContact |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:identificationInfo/*/gmd:pointOfContact/gmd:CI_ResponsibleParty | |
Observations |
The gmd:descriptiveKeywords
node groups the keywords associated with the entire dataset,
belonging to the same originating vocabulary. All keywords must be grouped according to their vocabularies
and there must be at least one keyword group (with at least one keyword) coming from the GEMET thesaurus,
in respect of the SC17 of the INSPIRE Directive.
Table 2.20. gmd:descriptiveKeywords
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.3.1.11 and Section 1.7.3 |
Name | Keyword | |
ISO 19115 | Name | gmd:descriptiveKeywords |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:identificationInfo/*/gmd:descriptiveKeywords | |
Observations |
Please note that the originating vocabulary is referenced using a |
The resourceConstraints
node is require by the SC12 and corresponds to the
Constraints
property of the Dataset Information
element.
In terms of the ISO 19115 standard, the Constraints
property can be specified using two
instances of the resourceConstraints
node. The first one is dedicated to define the
restrictions of the dataset use. The second specifies the classification of the access to the dataset.
The gmd:useConstraints
and gmd:otherConstraints
nodes correspond
respectively to the Use Constraint
and Other Constraints
properties
of the Model.
Table 2.21. gmd:useConstraints
and gmd:otherConstraints
nodes description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.3.1.15.1 and Section 1.3.1.15.3 |
Name |
Use Constraint and
Other Constraints
| |
ISO 19115 | Name | gmd:useConstraints and gmd:otherConstraints |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:identificationInfo/*/gmd:resourceConstraints/gmd:MD_LegalConstraints | |
Observations |
The gmd:classification
node corresponds to the Access Classification
property of the Model and the gmd:useLimitation
one corresponds to the
Access Condition
property. The gmd:classification
node must be used
inside a gmd:MD_SecurityConstraints
node and corresponds to the
Access Classification
property of the Model. The gmd:useLimitation
may be used as the first child of the gmd:MD_SecurityConstraints
node,
but also can be placed as the first child of the gmd:MD_LegalConstraints
node used
in the Section 2.3.5.1.
Table 2.22. gmd:classification
and gmd:useLimitation
nodes description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.3.1.15.2 and Section 1.3.1.15.4 |
Name |
Access Condition and
Access Classification
| |
ISO 19115 | Name | gmd:useLimitation and gmd:classification |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:identificationInfo/*/gmd:resourceConstraints/gmd:MD_SecurityConstraints | |
Observations |
The gmd:language
node of the identificationInfo
section corresponds
to the Dataset Language
property of the model (not to be confused with the
Metadata Language
described in the Section 2.2.2).
The value of this node is constant for any ESPON dataset. This node is the SC9 of the INSPIRE Directive.
Table 2.23. gmd:language
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.3.1.7 |
Name | Dataset Language | |
ISO 19115 | Name | gmd:language |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:identificationInfo/*/gmd:language/gmd:LanguageCode@codeListValue | |
Observations |
|
The gmd:topicCategory
node corresponds to the Topic Category
property of
the Dataset Information
element. There must be at least one topic category defined for a dataset.
Table 2.24. gmd:topicCategory
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.3.1.10 |
Name | Topic Category | |
ISO 19115 | Name | gmd:topicCategory |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:identificationInfo/*/gmd:topicCategory/gmd:MD_TopicCategoryCode | |
Observations |
The gmd:extent
node is shared both by the Spatial Binding
element and
the Temporal Reference
property of the Dataset Information
element.
This node is detailed in the Section 2.5.
The gmd:contentInfo
node wraps the metadata on the Indicator Identification
and Source Reference
elements of the Model. The XML schema definition of these elements is
given into the ESPON extension of the ISO 19115 XML standard. They are contained by a
esponMD:datasetContentInfo
node, that lists the metadata on indicators first and then the one
on the sources of data.
If the dataset contains aggregations of indicators, their descriptors must be placed at the beginning of the
sequence of children nodes of the esponMD:datasetContentInfo
node.
Table 2.25. esponMD:indicatorsAggregation
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.5.2 |
Name | Indicators Aggregation | |
ISO 19115 | Name | esponMD:indicatorsAggregation |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/esponMD:datasetContentInfo/esponMD:indicatorsAggregation | |
Observations |
An aggregation of indicators is represented as follows:
The esponMD:indicatorIdentification
node introduces the metadata on an indicator
present in the dataset.
Table 2.26. esponMD:indicatorIdentification
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.5 |
Name | Indicator Identification | |
ISO 19115 | Name | esponMD:indicatorIdentification |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/esponMD:datasetContentInfo/esponMD:indicatorIdentification | |
Observations |
The esponMD:code
node corresponds to the respective property of the
Indicator Identification
element.
Table 2.27. esponMD:code
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.5.1.1 |
Name | Code | |
ISO 19115 | Name | esponMD:code |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/esponMD:datasetContentInfo/esponMD:indicatorIdentification/esponMD:code/gco:CharacterString | |
Observations |
The esponMD:name
node corresponds to the respective property of the
Indicator Identification
element.
Table 2.28. esponMD:name
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.5.1.2 |
Name | Name | |
ISO 19115 | Name | esponMD:name |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/esponMD:datasetContentInfo/esponMD:indicatorIdentification/esponMD:name/gco:CharacterString | |
Observations |
Table 2.29. esponMD:abstract
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.5.1.3 |
Name | Abstract | |
ISO 19115 | Name | esponMD:abstract |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/esponMD:datasetContentInfo/esponMD:indicatorIdentification/esponMD:abstract/gco:CharacterString | |
Observations |
Table 2.30. esponMD:core
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.5.4 |
Name | Core | |
ISO 19115 | Name | esponMD:core |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/esponMD:datasetContentInfo/esponMD:indicatorIdentification/esponMD:core/gco:Boolean | |
Observations |
Table 2.31. esponMD:theme
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.5.6 |
Name | Theme | |
ISO 19115 | Name | esponMD:theme |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/esponMD:datasetContentInfo/esponMD:indicatorIdentification/esponMD:theme | |
Observations |
Table 2.32. esponMD:keyword
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.5.7 and Section 1.7.3 |
Name | Keyword | |
ISO 19115 | Name | esponMD:keyword |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/esponMD:datasetContentInfo/esponMD:indicatorIdentification/esponMD:keyword | |
Observations |
Table 2.33. methodology
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.5.5 and Section 1.7.2 |
Name | Methodology | |
ISO 19115 | Name | esponMD:methodology |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/esponMD:datasetContentInfo/esponMD:indicatorIdentification/esponMD:methodology | |
Observations |
The esponMD:temporalExtent
enumerates all the time periods and instances covered by the indicator.
Unlike the Temporal Extent
property of the entire dataset, this property must cite
each time period separately, without making any unions. The time periods for the indicator may appear
in any order. Only one time period may be specified by a esponMD:temporalExtent
node,
so the enumeration of several time periods represents a sequence of esponMD:temporalExtent
nodes.
Table 2.34. temporalExtent
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.5.8 and Section 1.7.4 |
Name | Temporal Extent | |
ISO 19115 | Name | esponMD:temporalExtent |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/esponMD:datasetContentInfo/esponMD:indicatorIdentification/esponMD:temporalExtent | |
Observations |
The Data Type
property of the model is represented in the XML document without specifying
the Type Identifier
value. This is made because the role of the type identifier is taken
by the corresponding XML tags of the ESPON Metadata extension to the ISO XML schema.
The esponMD:decription
node corresponds to the respective property of the
Data Type
element of the Model. This node is mandatory only for
otherData
tag.
Table 2.35. description
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.5.10.2 |
Name | Description | |
ISO 19115 | Name | esponMD:description |
XPath | (depends on each data type - see below) | |
Observations |
Numeric data (Integers and Floats) must contain an esponMD:unitOfMeasure
that corresponds
to the respective metadata property. If the esponMD:description
node is present,
the esponMD:unitOfMeasure
is placed immediately after it, otherwise the latter
must be the first child of an esponMD:integerData
or esponMD:floatData
nodes.
The esponMD:integerData
node must be used to introduce an
Integer
data type definition.
Table 2.36. esponMD:integerData
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.5.10.3 |
Name | IntegerData | |
ISO 19115 | Name | esponMD:integerData |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/esponMD:datasetContentInfo/esponMD:indicatorIdentification/esponMD:integerData | |
Observations |
The esponMD:floatData
node must be used to introduce a
Float
data type definition.
Table 2.37. esponMD:floatData
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.5.10.3 |
Name | FloatData | |
ISO 19115 | Name | esponMD:floatData |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/esponMD:datasetContentInfo/esponMD:indicatorIdentification/esponMD:floatData | |
Observations |
The esponMD:textData
node must be used to introduce a Text
data type definition.
Table 2.38. esponMD:textData
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.5.10.4 |
Name | TextData | |
ISO 19115 | Name | esponMD:textData |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/esponMD:datasetContentInfo/esponMD:indicatorIdentification/esponMD:textData | |
Observations |
The esponMD:enumData
node must be used to introduce an Enumerated
data type definition.
Table 2.39. esponMD:enumData
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.5.10.5 |
Name | EnumData | |
ISO 19115 | Name | esponMD:enumData |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/esponMD:datasetContentInfo/esponMD:indicatorIdentification/esponMD:enumData | |
Observations |
The esponMD:booleanData
node must be used to introduce a Boolean
data type definition.
Table 2.40. esponMD:booleanData
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.5.10.6 |
Name | BooleanData | |
ISO 19115 | Name | esponMD:booleanData |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/esponMD:datasetContentInfo/esponMD:indicatorIdentification/esponMD:booleanData | |
Observations |
The esponMD:flaggedData
node must be used to introduce a Flagged
data type definition.
Table 2.41. esponMD:flaggedData
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.5.10.7 |
Name | FlaggedData | |
ISO 19115 | Name | esponMD:flaggedData |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/esponMD:datasetContentInfo/esponMD:indicatorIdentification/esponMD:flaggedData | |
Observations |
The esponMD:otherData
node must be used to introduce an Other
data type definition.
Table 2.42. esponMD:otherData
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.5.10.8 |
Name | OtherData | |
ISO 19115 | Name | esponMD:otherData |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/esponMD:datasetContentInfo/esponMD:indicatorIdentification/esponMD:otherData | |
Observations |
The esponMD:sourceReference
node introduces the metadata on a data source referenced by the dataset.
Table 2.43. esponMD:sourceReference
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.6 |
Name | Source Reference | |
ISO 19115 | Name | esponMD:sourceReference |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/esponMD:datasetContentInfo/esponMD:sourceReference/ | |
Observations |
The esponMD:label
node corresponds to the respective property of the
Source Reference
element of the Model.
Table 2.44. esponMD:label
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.6.1 |
Name | Label | |
ISO 19115 | Name | esponMD:label |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/esponMD:datasetContentInfo/esponMD:sourceReference/esponMD:label/gco:CharacterString | |
Observations |
The esponMD:provider
node wraps the information on the data provider
(the Provider
and inner properties of the Source Reference
element).
Table 2.45. esponMD:provider
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.6.3 |
Name | Provider | |
ISO 19115 | Name | espoMD:provider |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/esponMD:datasetContentInfo/esponMD:sourceReference/esponMD:provider | |
Observations |
The esponMD:publication
node wraps the information denoting the source of the
data (the Publication
and inner properties of the Source Reference
element).
Table 2.46. esponMD:publication
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.6.2 |
Name | Publication | |
ISO 19115 | Name | espoMD:publication |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/esponMD:datasetContentInfo/esponMD:sourceReference/esponMD:publication | |
Observations |
Table 2.47. date
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.6.4 |
Name | Date | |
ISO 19115 | Name | esponMD:date |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/esponMD:datasetContentInfo/esponMD:sourceReference/esponMD:date/gco:Date | |
Observations |
Table 2.48. copyright
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.6.5 |
Name | Copyright | |
ISO 19115 | Name | esponMD:copyright |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/esponMD:datasetContentInfo/esponMD:sourceReference/esponMD:copyright/gco:CharacterString | |
Observations |
The value of the esponMD:accessRule
node must be taken from the list of the access
rules defined in the Model.
Table 2.49. esponMD:accessRule
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.6.8 |
Name | Access Rule | |
ISO 19115 | Name |
|
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/esponMD:datasetContentInfo/esponMD:sourceReference/esponMD:accessRule | |
Observations |
Table 2.50. estimation
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.6.6 |
Name | Estimation | |
ISO 19115 | Name | esponMD:estimation |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/esponMD:datasetContentInfo/esponMD:sourceReference/esponMD:estimation/gco:Boolean | |
Observations |
The value of the esponMD:qualityLevel
node must be taken from the list of the
quality levels defined in the Model.
Table 2.51. qualityLevel
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.6.7 |
Name | Quality Level | |
ISO 19115 | Name | esponMD:qualityLevel |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/esponMD:datasetContentInfo/esponMD:sourceReference/esponMD:qualityLevel | |
Observations |
Table 2.52. methodology
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.6.9 and Section 1.7.2 |
Name | Methodology | |
ISO 19115 | Name | esponMD:methodology |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/esponMD:datasetContentInfo/esponMD:sourceReference/esponMD:methodology | |
Observations |
The gmd:extent
node of the identificationInfo
one groups the information about
spatial and temporal references of the dataset. For this purpose, it wraps respectively a gmd:geographicElement
and a gmd:temporalElement
nodes.
The gmd:geographicElement
node corresponds to the Spatial Binding
element of the Model. It is also a requirement of the SC10. Its contents must cite the global bounding box
of all the spatial units covered by the dataset. According to the SC13, the geographic coordinates defining
the bounding box may use any reference system with the Greenwich Prime Meridian.
The ISO 19115 contents of this node has been extended by the ESPON extension to the XML schema in order to
adapt the binding to the version of the statistical nomenclature(s) of territorial units used in the dataset.
The node esponMD:spatialBinding
substitutes the gmd:EX_GeographicBoundingBox
node defined in the ISO 19115 standard. The extended node contains the definition of the bounding box and
of the statistical nomenclatures of the dataset.
Table 2.53. gmd:geographicElement
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.4 |
Name | Spatial Binding | |
ISO 19115 | Name | gmd:geographicElement |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:identificationInfo/*/gmd:extent/gmd:EX_Extent/gmd:geographicElement/esponMD:spatialBinding | |
Observations |
The gmd:temporalElement
node describes all the time periods covered by the dataset.
This description represents simply the union of all the time periods covered by the data, without detailing
each of them separately.
Table 2.54. gmd:temporalElement
node description
ESPON Metadata | Reference | Section 1.3.1.12.1 and Section 1.7.4 |
Name | Temporal Extent | |
ISO 19115 | Name | gmd:temporalElement |
XPath | /gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:identificationInfo/*/gmd:extent/gmd:EX_Extent/gmd:temporalElement/gmd:EX_TemporalExtent/gmd:extent/gml:TimePeriod | |
Observations |
Please note that the |
Table of Contents
The present chapter describes the implementation of the Abstract Metadata Model(Chapter 1) in a tabular document layout (Microsoft Excel, Open Office...).
This chapter must be used in conjunction with the Abstract Metadata Model (Chapter 1), because it runs through all of its parts and explains how each of the specified elements or properties must be used in a tabular document with the respect of the conventions established by the Model. This chapter does not explain the meaning or the structure of the the ESPON Metadata entities.
The present chapter uses the following terminology:
The Model. The shortcut name for the Abstract Metadata Model (Chapter 1).
The Implementation. The present chapter (Chapter 3).
Tabular file format. A file format that represents data in tabular form using a layout divided horizontally in columns and vertically in rows. Each division of such layout is called a cell. The most frequent file formats used for this layout are XLS (Microsoft Excel), CSV (Comma-Separated Values), ODS (Open Document Spreadsheet) and others. The Implementation uses the XLS format when citing examples, but they stay valid for other formats as well.
The files containing data and/or metadata must respect some naming conventions that have been created to facilitate the storage of a growing amount of source data and metadata.
Data providers should take into account that during the Second Phase of the ESPON 2013 Database project, when tabular files are used, it is recommended to merge data and metadata into one file, on separate sheets inside the same file.
A tabular file with a dataset must respect the naming convention cited in the Section 1.3.1.6
property of the DatasetInformation
element. The name of a dataset file must contain
only alphanumeric characters, no spaces. The parts of the file name (project acronym, dataset name etc)
must be separated with underscores and the spaces inside the parts must be removed.
For example, the file with a dataset coming from the DEMIFER project, named
Labor Force Data, published on the 28th of April, 2010 in its 3rd version
should be set to DEMIFER_LaborForceData_20100428_v3.xls
.
The information belonging to a dataset (data and metadata) must be presented in a tabular file using a short set of general principles allowing to harmonize data exchanges between ESPON projects and to facilitate automatic data processing. This section enumerates these principles.
In a tabular sheet, the information must be organized in a way that allows, on one hand, the user to read it easily and, on the other hand, the automatic analyzer to parse it without any ambiguity. To reach these objectives, all tabular sheets must respect some conventions when using special tokens or labels. Their role is to mark the position where a piece of information can be read from the document. They must respect the following rules:
They are case insensitive: Name and NAME or name are considered to be equal labels.
Their style characteristics (font, font size, color, etc) are not taken into account by the analyzer. The data provider is free to choose the style characteristics of labels and values to improve the readability of the document.
Their literals must be precise and always respected carefully. They do not tolerate mistypes or spelling errors.
In a horizontal layout, the value must be placed in the next cell that follows immediately the cell with the label on the same row, in the next column (Table 3.1). In a vertical layout, the value is placed in the next cell that follows the cell with the label on the same column, in the next row (see the examples in Table 3.3).
Each label has the same literal in the document as the name of the corresponding element or property in the Model (unlike the XML document, where entity names are sometimes different from the ones in the Model when they are imposed by the ISO 19115 standard).
In a horizontal layout, labels are listed in different rows of the same column. To the right of each label, there is a value cell.
Table 3.1. Horizontal layout of a metadata property
A | B | |
1 | Dataset Information | |
2 | Name | Population of Europe |
3 | Project | Europop Survey |
4 | Upload Date | 2011-07-10 |
5 | Creation Date | 2011-06-01 |
6 | Revision Date | |
7 | Metadata Date | 2011-07-10 |
8 | Abstract | Provides the population data on all European countries from 1990 to 2050 (projections). |
9 | Resource Locator | http://database.espon.eu/data?dataset=35 |
10 | Unique Resource Identifier | Europop_PopulationEurope_20110710_v1 |
11 | Topic Category | Society |
A
column contain labels; the cells in the B
column contain the values of the respective properties.
If a metadata property can take multiple values, the label of the property must be repeated on each row where the values of this property are present:
Table 3.2. Horizontal layout of a metadata property with multiple values
A | B | |
11 | Topic Category | Society |
12 | Topic Category | Economy |
13 | Topic Category | Health |
In a vertical layout, labels are listed in different columns of the same row. The values are grouped by columns on different rows:
Table 3.3. Vertical layout of a metadata property
A | B | C | |
12 | Keywords | Vocabulary | Keyword Value |
13 | GEMET | Social aspects, population | |
14 | GEMET | Demography | |
15 | INSPIRE | population distribution - demography | |
16 | population projections |
A12:C12
contain labels; each cell in B
and C
column
in next rows contain property values.
The vertical layout is introduced to facilitate the specification of composite properties that can take multiple values. It does not need the duplication of labels on each row, as compared with the horizontal one.
The labels used as tokens of elements start have no values associated with them. Each of them occupies a whole row. For metadata sheets, there are only seven labels that can be used as these tokens:
Table 3.4. Metadata element tokens
A | B | |
Dataset Information | ||
Spatial Binding | ||
Responsible Party | ||
Metadata Contact | ||
Point Of Contact | ||
Indicator Identification | ||
Source Reference |
If the property of a metadata element is mandatory, its label and value must be present in the layout of the element.
If it is optional (like Methodology
for Indicator Identification
and Source Reference
), it can be dropped or its value cell may be empty.
Data and metadata must be separated inside a tabular document by placing them on separate sheets inside the file.
The names of data sheets should be prefixed with the "Data
" prefix. For example,
if the dataset has only one data sheet, this sheet should be named "Data
".
If there are several data sheets, the name of each one should begin with the "Data_
" prefix,
followed by an identifier of the sheet, chosen by the data provider.
The data provider is free to choose the names and the number of the metadata sheets, but it is recommended to use three sheets, called "Dataset", "Indicator" and "Source".
The "Dataset" sheet should contain the metadata describing the Dataset Information
element of the Model, as well as the Contact
and the Spatial Binding
ones.
The "Indicator" sheet should contain the metadata describing all the Indicator Identification
elements present in the dataset.
The "Source" sheet should contain the metadata describing all the Source Reference
elements
existing in the dataset.
This three-sheets representation will give the following general structure of the spreadsheet:
For a simple dataset having a low number of indicators and data sources, all the metadata can be presented in a single sheet. That will give the following structure of the spreadsheet:
No sheet of a valid spreadsheet can contain one or more empty columns at the leftmost position, neither one or more empty rows at the upmost position.
If the first row or column in a sheet is(are) empty, the file will be declared as invalid.
In a valid layout, there are no empty start columns or rows:
If there are several metadata elements present on the same sheet, they may be separated with an optional empty row, but there should not be empty rows between the properties of the same element (although, it is tolerated). There must not be any empty columns separating labels from values.
Due to the fact that many datasets do not cover their entire study area completely for all the indicators and time periods, a number of value cells usually does not contain values inside. When the value is missing, data providers are strongly recommended to to fill such cells with one of the identifiers of a missing value.
The N/A (Not Available
) identifier should be used when the value of
the indicator is missing for any reason, such as the study did not cover the statistical unit, it was not
calculated, or even the value is known, but it cannot be published in the dataset.
The N/R (Not Relevant
) identifier should be used when the value
cannot exist theoretically for the statistical unit. For example, this can be done when the indicator
"Highest ski station altitude" concerns a territorial unit where there are no mountains neither ski stations.
Missing values labels may be associated with source references if the data provider
wishes to indicate and describe the reason for the value missing. It can be done using the
methodology
field of the corresponding Source Reference
element,
where the publication and provider data will refer to the dataset and the data originator.
During the automatic analyzis of the dataset, a value cell with no data inside will be considered as a
cell containing the label N/A
.
All the metadata elements specified in an ESPON dataset must be presented in conformity with the Implementation. An incorrect presentation can be the cause of data/metadata losses, invalid interpretations or even impossibility to integrate the dataset into the ESPON Database.
This sectionn describes the layout of all existing metadata elements in a tabular form. For each element, the optional and multiple properties that can affect the layout, are commented.
The order of the labels appearing in the document is strict and must be respected by all tabular files.
The Dataset Information
element must be presented like follows in a tabular sheet:
Table 3.6. Dataset Information
element layout
A | B | C | |
1 | Dataset Information | ||
2 | Name | Population of Europe | |
3 | Project | Europop Survey | |
4 | Upload Date | 2011-07-10 | |
5 | Creation Date | 2011-06-01 | |
6 | Revision Date | ||
7 | Metadata Date | 2011-07-10 | |
8 | Abstract | Provides the population data on all European countries from 1990 to 2050 (projections). | |
9 | Resource Locator | http://database.espon.eu/data?dataset=35 | |
10 | Unique Resource Identifier | Europop_PopulationEurope_20110710_v1 | |
11 | Topic Category | Society | |
12 | Keywords | Vocabulary | Keyword Value |
13 | GEMET | Social aspects, population | |
14 | GEMET | Demography | |
15 | INSPIRE | population distribution - demography | |
16 | population projections | ||
17 | Lineage | Lineage description specified here... | |
18 | Resource Type | dataset | |
19 | Dataset Language | eng | |
20 | Metadata Language | eng | |
21 | Temporal Extent | start | end |
22 | 1990 | 2050 | |
23 | Conformity | Conformance | true |
24 | Specification | INSPIRE Metadata Implementing Rules | |
25 | Specification Date | 2011-05-06 | |
26 | Constraints | Use Constraint | Copyright |
27 | Access Condition | See the Terms&Conditions Agreement of the ESPON Database Web Application | |
28 | Other Constraints | no limitations | |
29 | Access Classification | unclassified |
Optional properties: Resource Locator
and Conformity
.
Multiple properties: Topic Category
and Vocabulary + Keyword Value
.
The values at rows 18-20 (Resource type
, Dataset Language
and Metadata Language
) are constants and must not be modified.
The contact information is represented by the contact elements Responsible Party
,
Metadata Contact
and Point Of Contact
. The first two are mandatory,
while the third one can have multiple optional occurrences in the document.
The contact properties may be presented as follows:
Table 3.7. Contact
element layout
A | B | C | |
31 | Responsible Party | ||
32 | Individual Name | ANDRE, Ronald | |
33 | Organization Name | ESPON Research Centre | |
34 | Role | PointOfContact | |
35 | [email protected] | ||
36 | |||
37 | Metadata Contact | ||
38 | Individual Name | BURTON, Patrick | |
39 | Organization Name | ESPON Research Centre | |
40 | Position | manager | |
41 | Role | PointOfContact | |
42 | [email protected] | ||
43 | Phone | +3312345678 | |
44 | Point Of Contact | ||
45 | Individual Name | BRUCKERS, Stella | |
46 | Organization Name | ESPON Research Centre | |
47 | Position | researcher | |
48 | Role | Author | |
49 | [email protected] | ||
50 | Phone | +3312345679 | |
51 | Distributor | ||
52 | Individual Name | VAN HERWIJNEN, Marjan | |
53 | Organization Name | ESPON Coordination Unit | |
54 | Role | PointOfContact | |
55 | [email protected] | ||
56 | Phone | +352545580700 | |
57 | Delivery Point | UCRP HT - P.O. Box 144 | |
58 | City | Esch-sur-Alzette | |
59 | Postal Code | L-4221 | |
60 | Administrative Area | Cedex 13 | |
61 | Country | Grand-Duché de Luxembourg |
Optional properties: Position
and Phone
.
Multiple properties: Phone
and Email
.
The Spatial Binding
element should follow the Dataset Information
element on the same sheet of the spreadsheet. It classifies the nomenclatures used in the dataset and
lists their respective versions and levels.
This element must respect the following layout:
Table 3.8. Spatial Binding
element layout
A | B | C | |
63 | Spatial Binding | ||
64 | Geographic Location | North | 70.09 |
65 | South | 34.56 | |
66 | West | -10.58 | |
67 | East | 34.59 | |
68 | Nomenclature Name | Nomenclature Version | Nomenclature Level |
69 | NUTS | 2010 | 0 |
70 | 1 | ||
71 | Nomenclature Name | Nomenclature Version | Nomenclature Level |
72 | NUTS | 2006 | 0 |
73 | 1 | ||
74 | 2 | ||
75 | Nomenclature Name | Nomenclature Version | Nomenclature Level |
76 | EFTACC | 2008 | 2 |
Optional properties: none.
Multiple properties: Nomenclature Name
, Nomenclature Version
and Nomenclature Level
.
The dataset of the example contains statistical units of the NUTS nomenclature, of its 2006 and 2010 versions.
The NUTS statistical units of the dataset belong to the 0th, 1st and 2nd levels of the nomenclature.
This dataset also contains units from the EFTACC nomenclature, of its version of 2008. These units are present only
at the 2nd level of the EFTACC nomenclature. Please note that a combination of the values of the Nomenclature Name
and the Nomenclature Level
properties is used to identify units, as shown in Section 3.5.1.
All the Indicator Identification
and Indicator Aggregation
elements
present in a dataset should be put in a single separate
sheet of the spreadsheet. This should be done to facilitate the analyzis of the metadata.
The Indicator Aggregation
element must respect the following layout:
Table 3.9. Indicator Aggregation
element layout
A | B | C | |
1 | Indicators Aggregation | ||
2 | Aggregation Code | POP_BY_AGE | |
3 | Aggregation Name | Population by age | |
4 | Aggregation Abstract | Population divided in age groups | |
5 | Code | POP_0-24 | |
6 | Code | POP_0-64 | |
7 | Code | POP_65+ |
A singular Indicator Identification
element must use the following layout:
Table 3.10. Indicator Identification
element layout
A | B | C | |
1 | Indicator Identification | ||
2 | Code | Name | Abstract |
3 | PCTPD | Population Development, Total | The annual evolution of the total population of the specified territorial unit, both natural and migratory change. |
4 | Policy | EU2020 | |
5 | Core | TRUE | |
6 | Nat Type | RR | |
7 | Theme | Population and living conditions | |
8 | Keywords | Vocabulary | Keyword Value |
9 | GEMET | demography | |
10 | population growth | ||
11 | Methodology | Description | |
12 | Formula | ||
13 | URI | http://espon.eu/reports/report111031.pdf | |
14 | Temporal Extent | start | end |
15 | 2009 | 2009 | |
16 | 2010 | 2010 | |
17 | 2011 | 2011 | |
18 | Data Type | Type Identifier | integer |
Optional property: Methodology
.
Multiple properties: Code
(Name
and Abstract
),
Theme
, Vocabulary + Keyword Value
, start + end
.
The Code
, Name
and Abstract
properties use vertical layout
because it allows to optimize the representation of similar indicators that share all the other fields. This is, for
example, the case of the indicators concerning the population structure by ages, when the indicators "Population, males, 20-24 y.o.",
"Population, females, 20-24 y.o.", etc share all the properties but the three cited ones. In this case
the element can be layouted as follows:
Table 3.11. Indicator Identification
element layout for several indicator with shared properties
A | B | C | |
1 | Indicator Identification | ||
2 | Code | Name | Abstract |
3 | POP_0-24 | Population, young (0 - 24 y.o.) | Total number of persons of 0 - 24 years old. |
4 | POP_25-64 | Population, adult (25 - 64 y.o.) | Total number of persons of 25 - 64 years old. |
5 | POP_65+ | Population, old (65 y.o. and more) | Total number of persons of 65 and more years old. |
6 | Policy | EU2020 | |
7 | Core | TRUE |
Indicators Aggregation
element.
The Temporal Extent
properties may be specified in several ways. If the time period
covers several years, both the start and the end years are mandatory. If it concerns only one year,
it may be specified as follows:
Table 3.12. Layout of a Temporal Extent
property covering one year
A | B | C | |
14 | Temporal Extent | start | end |
15 | 2009 | 2009 | |
16 | 2010 | ||
17 | 2011 |
Table 3.13. Layout of a Temporal Extent
property for a time instance
A | B | C | |
14 | Temporal Extent | start | end |
15 | 2011-09-25 | ||
16 | 2011-09-25 | 2011-09-25 | |
17 | 2011-09-25 |
This section describes the layout to be used to specify the Data Type
property of
the Indicator Identification
element.
The Type Identifier
and Description
properties use the same
layout for all data types:
Table 3.14. Layout of the shared properties of the Data Type
element
A | B | C | |
18 | Data Type | Type Identifier | integer |
19 | Description | The value denotes the year when the country ratified the Convention on... |
Description
property is mandatory only for the Other
data type.
Numeric data (Integer
or Float
) must use the following layout:
Table 3.15. Numeric Data Types
layout
A | B | C | |
18 | Data Type | Type Identifier | integer |
19 | Description | ||
20 | Unit of Measure | Numerator / Denominator Name | inhabitants |
21 | Numerator / Denominator Scale | 1000 | |
22 | Ranking | false | |
23 | Min | ||
24 | Max |
If the numeric data is bound to a range, the minimun and/or the maximum values of the range must be specified.
For the Unit Of Measure
property, name
and scale
properties
are mixed for numerators and denominators of fractional units, which must be separated by the "/" sign or the "per"
preposition in the cell. For example, the fractional unit "births per 100000 inhabitants" must be presented as
"births per inhabitants" or "birth / inhabitants". The scale property must be specified as "1 per 10000"
or "1 / 10000".
For Text
data, the properties to specify are the Unique
boolean (mandatory) and
an optional Description
:
Table 3.16. Text Data Type
layout
A | B | C | |
18 | Data Type | Type Identifier | text |
19 | Description | This text describes the... | |
20 | Unique | FALSE |
If the Enumerated
data are used, the layout must contain the description of all
the elements of the enumeration:
Table 3.17. Enumerated Data Type
layout
A | B | C | |
18 | Data Type | Type Identifier | enum |
19 | Description | ||
20 | Ordered | TRUE | |
21 | Value Label | Value Description | |
22 | VL | Very low rate of activity | |
23 | L | Low rate of activity | |
24 | M | Medium rate of activity | |
25 | H | High rate of activity | |
26 | VH | Very high rate of activity |
The Boolean
data type represents a particular case of an ordered enumeration of two elements:
Table 3.18. Boolean Data Type
layout
A | B | C | |
18 | Data Type | Type Identifier | boolean |
19 | Description | ||
20 | Value Label | Value Description | |
21 | OFF | The machine is switched off | |
22 | ON | The machine is switched on |
The Flagged
data type is an extended enumeration of elements.
Table 3.19. Flagged Data Type
layout
A | B | C | |
18 | Data Type | Type Identifier | flagged |
19 | Description | ||
20 | Ordered | FALSE | |
21 | Value Label | Value Description | |
22 | I | The migration is increasing | |
23 | D | The migration is decreasing | |
24 | N | The rate is impossible to calculate | |
25 | Position | ||
26 | 1 | Characterizes the net migration | |
27 | 2 | Characterizes the internal migration | |
28 | 3 | Characterizes the international migration |
The Other
data type is represented as follows:
Table 3.20. Other Data Type
layout
A | B | C | |
18 | Data Type | Type Identifier | other |
19 | Description | The value represents the name of an image file enclosed to the dataset. |
Description
is mandatory for this data type.
All the Source Reference
elements present in a dataset should be put in a single separate
sheet of the spreadsheet. This should be done to facilitate the analyzis of the metadata.
The Source Reference
element must use the following layout:
Table 3.21. Source Reference
element layout
A | B | C | |
1 | Source Reference | ||
2 | Label | 1 | |
3 | Date | 2011-10-31 | |
4 | Copyright | (c) ESPON | |
5 | Provider | Name | ESPON 2013 Database Project |
6 | URI | http://www.espon.eu | |
7 | Publication | Title | ESPON Report on ... |
8 | URI | http://www.espon.eu/reports/report111031.pdf | |
9 | Reference | page 228 | |
10 | Methodology | Description | |
11 | Formula | ||
12 | URI | http://espon.eu/reports/report111031_method.pdf | |
13 | Access Rule | public | |
14 | Estimation | false | |
15 | Quality Level | high |
Optional properties: URI
, Reference
and
Methodology
.
Multiple properties: Provider
.
This section details the tabular layout of information in the data part of a dataset. In this part of a dataset, the information is represented mostly using the vertical layout: several rows of labels are followed by unlimited number of value rows.
The layout of data sheets is divided in two parts. The left side is dedicated to statistical units references. The right side is dedicated to indicator values.
The links between the data and the metadata parts are made using the values specified in the header of the sheet, in the statistical units part and in the columns referencing data sources. All these links are summarized in the Figure 3.8:
The A Column. The first column of a data sheet must refer to the codes of the spatial
(statistical) units covered by
the dataset. These must be their official codes, in upper or lower case, without
any other characters or spaces added. Only one spatial (statistical) unit can be referenced per cell.
If the indicator values are associations between two or more spatial units, please see their representation
below. The A3 cell must be filled with the label Unit code
.
The B Column. This column must refer to the type of the statistical objects used
and to their level of nomenclature. The B3 cell must contain the label Object Type
.
The values of the cells below must contain character strings composed of the acronym of the nomenclature
and the label of the level of the unit in this row of data, declared in the Spatial Binding
element. For example, possible values for the B column cells in the context of the Spatial Binding
cited above(Section 3.4.2) are NUTS0
, NUTS1
,
NUTS2
and EFTACC2
.
The C Column. This column must refer to the version of the statistical units nomenclature
to which belongs each of the spatial units. The C3 cell must contain the label Version
.
The values of the cells below must contain a nomenclature version name label declared in the
Spatial Binding
element. For example, possible values for the B column cells in the
context of the Spatial Binding
cited above(Section 3.4.2)
are 2006
, 2010
(for NUTS) and 2008
(for EFTACC).
The D Column. This column is the only optional column for statistical units referencing.
It may contain the names of statistical units in order to improve the clearness of the spreadsheet.
If the column with units names is present in the document, the D3 cell must contain the label
Name
.
The cells A1:D2 are empty or may be filled with any additional information. The entire layout of spatial units references may be presented as follows:
Table 3.22. Statistical (spatial) units references in a data sheet
A | B | C | D | |
1 | ||||
2 | ||||
3 | Unit Code | Object Type | Version | Name |
4 | AT1 | NUTS1 | 2006 | Ostosterreich |
5 | AT2 | NUTS1 | 2006 | Sudosterreich |
6 | AT3 | NUTS1 | 2006 | Westosterreich |
7 | CH0 | EFTACC1 | 2008 | Switzerland |
8 | DE1 | NUTS1 | 2006 | Baden-Wurttemberg |
9 | DE2 | NUTS1 | 2006 | Bayern |
10 | DE3 | NUTS1 | 2006 | Berlin |
11 | DE4 | NUTS1 | 2006 | Brandenburg |
12 | DE5 | NUTS1 | 2006 | Bremen |
Several ESPON indicators have values that characterize associations between two or more statistical units (this may be useful, for example, to denote distances between units, or amounts of commercial flows, etc). The Implementation takes into account such associations in order to implement the support of this type of indicators in the ESPON Database. If the indicator represents an association between statistical units, the data layout must respect the following rules:
The columns containing references to statistical units are followed by columns with statistical data, that are represented as follows:
Data are presented on two columns. The first one is a column with indicator values. The second column contains references to the data sources.
The first cell of the column with indicator values references the code of the indicator. This is a link
between the data sheet and the metadata: each unique indicator code cited in the data sheet must be
described by the Indicator Identification
elements of the metadata.
The two cells below the indicator code define the time period for which the value of the indicator is valid. The cell in the second row denotes the start year (or date) of the period; the cell in the third row denotes the end year (or date) of the period. If there is only one year mentioned, a period covering this single year is considered for the indicator values. If there is only one date mentioned, the temporal extend of the values in this column is considered as an instant of time.
Each time period covered by an indicator in the data sheet must be referenced using the
Temporal Extent
property of the Indicator Identification
element.
The cells below the covered period (beginning from row 4) contain the values of the indicator.
The data type of the values must be described by the corresponding property of the
Indicator Identification
element.
To the right of each indicator value (in the "source" column), there must be a reference to the source
of the data. This reference is made using the Label
property of the
Source Reference
element of the metadata. Each unique reference present
in the "source" column must be described in the metadata.
Here is a full layout of a data sheet, covering 14 countries of the European Union in NUTS nomenclature of 2006 version at the 0 level, for the indicator having the code "pop_tot" ("Population, total"), calculated for 2005, 2010 and 2015, referencing 5 data sources.
Please note that empty columns (having no values, lables or references) are not accepted in the data sheet. There must not be any empty column between the part referencing statistical units and the data part, neither between values and sources columns, nor between values+sources column pairs. Empty rows are accepted only after the third row of the sheet.
This annex describes the formal constraints that are applied to validate data values for different metadata properties.
The violation of these recommendations can result in rejecting the metadata and returning it to the data provider. Only the metadata that is checked and validated using the ESPON Metadata Tools will be accepted by the data integrators.
Boolean values should use the common literals 'true' and 'false', upper or lower case.
Any metadata property that stores a calendar date value should use the following format: YYYY-MM-DD. The year is composed of four digits, the month and the day are composed of two digits both. For numbers less than 10, a 0 should be added as the first digit.
When the format is not respected, if the numeric value of the month is inexistent (negative, 0 or greater than 12), the value of 01 will be applied. If the numeric value of the day is inexistent (negative, 0 or greater than the number of days in the month), the value of 01 will be applied. So, for example, when the value "2010" is presented as a date, it will be transformed into "2010-01-01".
Any character string value in the metadata must be clean of leading and trailing spaces. No character strings can be fully capitalized, except for acronyms. Any sentence or proper noun must begin with an uppercase letter. If the property value supposes the use of an expression that does not compose a sentence (a single word or a couple of words forming a semantic entity), they should all be at lower case, except for the first letters of proper nouns or units of measure originating from proper names (e.g. Watt).
All the acronyms used in the expressions should be explained in full words at least once in the metadata.
Email addresses mentioned in the metadata must respect the general syntax convention for email addresses, they must exist and be functional. They are not case-sensitive: note that any capitalized letter will be transformed to lower case by the database integration tools.
Phone numbers mentioned in the metadata must respect a format close to the recommendations of the international notation [8]. They must begin with '+' character, followed by the country identification code, and then by the phone number. Optional digits (for example, digits that should not be used when calling from outside the country, but used from inside) should be dropped. The digits of the number must be cited without any common separator characters ('.', '-' or space). Examples of a validly formatted phone number for France: +33476827200.
Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI)
A detailed description of the syntax to use to represent a Uniform Resource Identifier is given at URI - Wikipedia. Therefore, it may be summarized briefly as follows:
URLs can be used directly: http://www.example.com
An attachment to a dataset must be referenced using the following pattern:
file://{relative/path/}{fileName}
, for example:
file://attachment1.pdf
is a .pdf file attached to the dataset and
stored in the same folder with it.
file://methodologies/metho1.pdf
, is a .pdf file stored in the methodologies
folder at the same level than the dataset.
file://methodology.zip/metho2.pdf
, is a .pdf file stored in the methodology.zip
archive placed in the same folder than the dataset.
An ISBN or ISSN code can be referenced as follows: urn:isbn:1234-5678
, respecting the general URI syntax.
The following nomenclature identifiers are expected to be used in the spatial binding elements of a dataset metadata. For further information regarding the supported nomenclatures by the ESPON Database, please consult [12] (supported nomenclatures in the ESPON Database) and [11] (how to propose and define a new nomenclature):
NUTS - Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (extended version for ESPON)
Based on the Eurostat documents about the history of NUTS [13] and EFTACC (European Free Trade Association and Candidate Countries), the following nomenclature versions identifiers are to be used for the ESPON extended NUTS nomenclature:
1999
2003
2006
2010
The following nomenclature levels identifiers are to be used for the NUTS nomenclatures:
0
1
2
3
UMZ - Urban Morphological Zone
This nomenclature based on urban objects matching the UMZ definition has been introduced in June 2013 delivery.
Only one version is available in June 2013: Version_1
. The spatial units of this nomenclature are defined
in one default level only, labeled UMZdefault
in the column "Object type
" of the sheet "Data".
MUA - Morphologic Urban Area
The MUA (Morphologic Urban Areas) database has been created in 2007 and updated in 2011 by IGEAT (Institut de Gestion de l'Environnement et d'Aménagement du Territoire, Unversité Libre de Bruxelles) in order to associate morphological cores to the FUA_Igeat (Functional Urban Areas) database.
Only one version is available in June 2013, labeled 2000
. The spatial units of this nomenclature are defined
in one default level only, labeled MUAdefault
in the column "Object type
" of the sheet "Data".
FUA - Functional Urban Area
The Functional Urban Areas defined by IGEAT (FUA_Igeat) are based on the analysis of commuting patterns towards morphological urban cores in 2000.
Only one version is available in June 2013, labeled 2000
. The spatial units of this nomenclature are defined
in one default level only, labeled FUAdefault
in the column "Object type
" of the sheet "Data".
The project with the acronym "ESPON" and the title "ESPON Programme" is used to wrap all future ESPON projects (coming after December 2014). |
Table C.1. ESPON Projects
Phase | Priority | Acronym | Title |
---|---|---|---|
3 | 0 | ESPON | ESPON Programme |
2 | 1 | ARTS | Assessment of Regional and Territorial Sensitivity |
2 | 1 | ATTREG | Attractiveness of European Regions and Cities for Residents and Visitors |
2 | 1 | DEMIFER | Demographic and Migratory Flows affecting European Regions and Cities |
2 | 1 | ECR2 | Territorial Impact of the Financial and Economic Crisis |
2 | 1 | EDORA | European Development Opportunities in Rural Areas |
2 | 1 | EsaTDOR | European Seas and Territorial Development, Opportunities and Risks |
2 | 1 | ESPON Climate | Climate Change and Territorial Effects on Regions and Local Economies in Europe |
2 | 1 | ESPONMapUpdate | ESPON Map Updates |
2 | 1 | ESPON TANGO | Territorial Approaches to New Governance |
2 | 1 | ET2050 | Territorial Scenarios and Visions for Europe |
2 | 1 | EU LUPA | European Land Use Patterns |
2 | 1 | FOCI | Future Orientation for Cities |
2 | 1 | GEOSPECS | European Perspective on Specific Types of Territories |
2 | 1 | GREECO | Regional Potential for a Greener Economy |
2 | 1 | ITAN | European Neighbor Regions |
2 | 1 | KIT | Knowledge, Innovation, Territory |
2 | 1 | ReRisk | Regions at Risk of Energy Poverty |
2 | 1 | SeGi | Services of General Interest |
2 | 1 | SGPTD | Secondary Growth Poles and Territorial Development in Europe; Performance, Policies and Prospects |
2 | 1 | SIESTA | Spatial Indicators for a ‘Europe 2020 Strategy’ Territorial Analysis |
2 | 1 | TERCO | European Territorial Cooperation as a Fact of Growth, Jobs and Quality of Life |
2 | 1 | TIGER | Territorial Impact of Globalization for Europe and its Regions |
2 | 1 | TIPSE | Territorial Dimension of Poverty and Social Exclusion in Europe |
2 | 1 | TIPTAP | Territorial Impact Package for Transport and Agricultural Policies |
2 | 1 | TOWN | Small and Medium Sized Towns in their Functional Territorial Context |
2 | 1 | TRACC | Transport Accessibility at Regional/Local Scale and Patterns in Europe |
2 | 2 | ADES | Airports as Drivers of Economic Success in Peripheral Regions |
2 | 2 | AMCER | Advanced Monitoring and Coordination of EU R&D Policies at Regional Level |
2 | 2 | BEST METROPOLISES | Best Development Conditions in European Metropolises: Paris, Berlin and Warsaw |
2 | 2 | CAEE | The Case of Agglomeration Economies in Europe |
2 | 2 | EATIA | ESPON and Territorial Impact Assessment |
2 | 2 | ESPON TeDi | Territorial Diversity in Europe |
2 | 2 | EUROISLANDS | The Development of the Islands – European Islands and Cohesion Policy |
2 | 2 | GROSEE | Growth Poles in South East Europe |
2 | 2 | KITCASP | Key Indicators for Territorial Cohesion and Spatial Planning |
2 | 2 | LIVELAND | Liveable Landscapes: a Key Value for Sustainable Territorial Development |
2 | 2 | LP3LP | Landscape Policy for the Three Countries Park |
2 | 2 | METROBORDER | Cross-border Polycentric Metropolitan Regions |
2 | 2 | North Sea Star | North Sea Star – Spreading Transnational Results |
2 | 2 | POLYCE | Metropolisation and Polycentric Development in Central Europe: Evidence Based Strategic Options |
2 | 2 | PURR | Potential of Rural Regions |
2 | 2 | RISE | Identifying and Exchanging Best Practices in Developing Regional Integrated Strategies in Europe |
2 | 2 | SEMIGRA | Selective Migration and Unbalanced Sex Ratio in Rural Regions |
2 | 2 | SMARTIST | Institution Capacity for Territorial Development |
2 | 2 | SS-LR | Spatial Scenarios: New Tools for Local/Regional Territories |
2 | 2 | SURE | Success for Convergions Regions’ Economies |
2 | 2 | TPM | Territorial Performance Monitoring |
2 | 2 | TRANSMEC | Transnational Support Method for European Cooperation |
2 | 2 | ULYSSES | Using Applied Research Results from ESPON as a Yardstick for Cross-border Spatial Development Planning |
2 | 3 | ACC Update | Accessibility (Air and Multimodal) Update |
2 | 3 | BSR-TeMo | Territorial Monitoring in the European Macro Region – A Test for the Baltic Sea Region |
2 | 3 | CityBench | ESPON CityBench for benchmarking European Urban Zones |
2 | 3 | CREA Update | Creative Workforce Update |
2 | 3 | DEMO Update | Demography and Migration Update |
2 | 3 | DeTeC | Detecting Territorial Potential and Challenges |
2 | 3 | ESPON ATLAS | ESPON Atlas on European Territorial Structures and Dynamics |
2 | 3 | ESPON DB | ESPON Database 2013 |
2 | 3 | ESPON M4D | ESPON Database 2013 Phase II - M4D Project |
2 | 3 | ESPON TC | ESPON Typology Compilation |
2 | 3 | ETMS | European Territorial Monitoring System |
2 | 3 | INTERCO | Indicators of Territorial Cohesion |
2 | 3 | LSP Update | Lisbon Strategy Performance Update |
2 | 3 | NH Update | Natural Hazards Update |
2 | 3 | RIMAP | ESPON Online Mapping Tool |
2 | 3 | TEL Update | Telecommunication and IT-Rollout Update |
2 | 3 | TerrEvi | Territorial Evidence Packs for Structural Fund Programmes |
2 | 3 | UESPONH | Update of the ESPON HyperAtlas |
2 | 4 | CADEC | Capitalization and Dissemination of ESPON Concepts |
2 | 4 | ESPON INTERSTRAT | ESPON in Integrated Territorial Strategies |
2 | 4 | ESPONTrain | Establishment of a transnational ESPON training programme to stimulate interest to ESPON2013 knowledge |
2 | 4 | NORBA | Nordic-Baltic Dialogues on Transnational Perspectives in Spatial Planning |
2 | 4 | SCALES | Breakdown and Capitalization of ESPON Results on Different Scales |
1 | 1 | 1.1.1 | The Role, Specific Situation and Potentials of Urban Areas as Nodes in a Polycentric Development (2002-04) |
1 | 1 | 1.1.2 | Urban-Rural Relations in Europe (2002-04) |
1 | 1 | 1.1.3 | Enlargement of the European Union and the Wider European Perspective as Regards Its Polycentric Spatial Structure (2002-06) |
1 | 1 | 1.1.4 | The Spatial Effects of Demographic Trends and Migration |
1 | 1 | 1.2.1 | Transport Services and Networks: Territorial Trends and Basic Supply of Infrastructure for Territorial Cohesion (2002-04) |
1 | 1 | 1.2.2 | Telecommunication Services and Networks: Territorial Trends and Basic Supply of Infrastructure for Territorial Cohesion (2002-04) |
1 | 1 | 1.3.1 | The Spatial Effects and Management of Natural and Technological Hazards in General and in Relation to Climate Change (2002-04) |
1 | 1 | 1.3.2 | Territorial Trends of the Management of the Natural Heritage (2002-04) |
1 | 2 | 2.1.1 | Territorial Impact of EU Transport and Ten Policies (2002-04) |
1 | 2 | 2.1.2 | Territorial Impact of EU Research and Development Policy (2002-04) |
1 | 2 | 2.1.3 | The Territorial Impact of Cap and Rural Development Policy (2002-04) |
1 | 2 | 2.1.4 | Territorial Trends of Energy Services and Networks and Territorial Impact EU Energy Policy |
1 | 2 | 2.1.5 | Territorial Impacts of European Fisheries Policy (2004-06) |
1 | 2 | 2.2.1 | Territorial Effects of Structural Funds (2002-05) |
1 | 2 | 2.2.2 | Territorial Effects of the "AQUIS Communautaire", Pre-Accession Aid and Phare/Tacis/Meda Programmes |
1 | 2 | 2.2.3 | Territorial Effects of Structural Funds in Urban Areas (2002-04) |
1 | 2 | 2.3.1 | Application and Effects of The ESDP in Member States (2004-06) |
1 | 2 | 2.3.2 | Governance of Territorial and Urban Policies from EU to Local Level (2004-06) |
1 | 3 | 3.1 | Integrated Tools for European Spatial Development (2002-04) |
1 | 3 | 3.2 | Spatial Scenarios and Orientations in Relation to the ESDP and EU Cohesion Policy (2004-06) |
1 | 3 | 3.3 | Territorial Dimension of the Lisbon/Gothenburg Process(2004-06) |
1 | 3 | 3.4.1 | Europe in the world |
1 | 3 | 3.4.2 | EU economic policies and location of economic activities |
1 | 4 | 4.1 | Data Navigator |
1 | 4 | 4.1.3 | Monitoring Territorial Development |
The following table reproduces the ESPON Policies Classification and introduces the Policy codes to use in
the metadata (Indicator Identification
element).
Table D.1. The ESPON Policies Classification
Policy group | Policy title | Abstract | Metadata Code |
---|---|---|---|
EU2020 | Europe 2020 - A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth |
Key-reference strategy of the EU towards the year 2020. This strategy aims to turn the EU into a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy delivering high levels of employment, productivity and social cohesion. Europe 2020 sets out a vision of Europe's social market economy for the 21st century. | EU2020 |
Smart growth |
One of the pillars of the Europe 2020 Strategy: Developing an economy based on knowledge and innovation. Keywords are: education, innovation and digital society. | EU2020_1 | |
Sustainable growth |
One of the pillars of the Europe 2020 Strategy: Promoting a more resource efficient, greener and more competitive economy. Keywords are: competitiveness, resource efficiency, climate change and biodiversity. | EU2020_2 | |
Inclusive growth |
One of the pillars of the Europe 2020 Strategy: Fostering a high-employment economy delivering social and territorial cohesion. Keywords are: employment, poverty and exclusion. | EU2020_3 | |
TA2020 | Territorial Agenda of the European Union 2020 |
The Territorial Agenda of the European Union 2020 defined six territorial priorities for the EU which should contribute to the successful implementation of the Europe 2020 Strategy. The TA2020 has been agreed upon by the Ministers responsible for spatial planning and territorial development, in cooperation with the European Commission and with the endorsement of the Committee of the Regions. | TA2020 |
Polycentric and balanced territorial development |
A balanced territorial development policy can foster the competitiveness of the EU territory through a polycentric cooperation pattern, innovative networks of regions and cities, and by reducing polarization and avoiding large regional disparities. | TA2020_1 | |
Integrated development in cities, rural and specific regions |
Interdependence between cities, rural and other specific regions should be recognized through an integrated and multilevel governance and planning based on broad partnership and, where appropriate, focusing on functional regions. | TA2020_2 | |
Territorial integration in cross-border and transnational functional regions |
Support is to be given to trans-national and cross-border integration in order to better use potentials across borders such as valuable natural, landscape and cultural heritage, city networks and labor markets. | TA2020_3 | |
Global competitiveness of the regions based on strong local economies |
Global economic competitiveness can be enhanced by the development of globally integrated economic sectors and strong local economies, using local social capital and territorial assets, and the development of innovation and smart specialization strategies. | TA2020_4 | |
Territorial connectivity for individuals, communities and enterprises |
Affordable access to services of general interest, information, knowledge and mobility is essential for territorial cohesion. | TA2020_5 | |
Ecological, landscape and cultural values of regions |
Well-functioning ecological systems and protected and enhanced cultural and natural heritage are important conditions for long‐term sustainable development. | TA2020_6 | |
Territorial Monitoring | Territorial Monitoring |
| TERMON |
ESPON Synthesis Reports | ESPON Synthesis Reports |
| ESYNTH |
Summer 2010 |
A report synthesizing the results and showing examples from the major Applied Research projects and Targeted Analyzes undertaken by the ESPON 2013 Programme by the end of 2010. With the title "New Evidence on Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Territories" the aim of this report is to support the use of these results by Member States, regions and cities. | ESYNTH_1 | |
Spring 2013 |
| ESYNTH_2 | |
Indicators for Territorial Cohesion | Indicators for Territorial Cohesion |
| INTERC |
Synthetic/composite (headline) indicators |
Deprecated since revision 1.3 of the document. Only available for
compatibility reasons. Please now use metadata codes from | INTERC_1 | |
Headline | INTERC_2 | ||
Core | INTERC_3 | ||
Analytical | INTERC_4 | ||
Other | INTERC_5 | ||
Access to services, markets and jobs | INTERC_6 | ||
Environmental qualities | INTERC_7 | ||
Innovative territories | INTERC_8 | ||
Economic performance and competitiveness | INTERC_9 | ||
Polycentric territorial development | INTERC_10 | ||
Social inclusion and quality of life | INTERC_11 | ||
Territorial Cooperation and Governance | INTERC_12 | ||
Cohesion reports | EU cohesion policy and territorial cohesion |
Every three years the Commission publishes a Cohesion report. These reports provide an update on the progress made towards achieving economic, social and territorial cohesion. | COHREP |
Second Cohesion Report |
Second report on economic and social cohesion (January 2001): "Enlarging solidarity, uniting Europe" | COHREP_1 | |
Third Cohesion Report |
Third report on economic and social cohesion (February 2004): "A new partnership for cohesion: convergence competitiveness cooperation" | COHREP_2 | |
Fourth Cohesion Report |
Fourth report on economic and social cohesion (May 2007): "Growing regions, Growing Europe" | COHREP_3 | |
Fifth Cohesion Report |
Fifth report on economic and social cohesion (November 2010): "Investing in Europe’s future" | COHREP_4 |
The following table introduces the ESPON Thematic Classification, that is to be used in ESPON indicators metadata:
Table E.1. The ESPON Thematic Classification
Code | Theme |
---|---|
economyFinanceAndTrade | Economy, finance and trade |
populationAndLivingConditions | Population and living conditions |
labourMarket | Labour Market |
education | Education |
healthAndSafety | Health and Safety |
informationSociety | Information Society |
agricultureAndFisheries | Agriculture and fisheries |
transportAndAccessibility | Transport and Accessibility |
environmentAndEnergy | Environment and Energy |
scienceAndTechnology | Science and Technology |
governance | Governance |
territorialStructure | Territorial Structure |
In the metadata, either the code or title of the theme may be used to specify the value.
This appendix proposes the possible values for the "Topic Category
" field
described in Section 1.3.1.10. At least one theme must be specified for a dataset,
it must be the "main theme(s) of the dataset" [2] (p 2.3.1).
According to the INSPIRE directive rules [3] (page 10),
the theme must be taken from the INSPIRE Directive theme list. Consequently, the possible codes for the "Topic Category
" field
(see Section 1.3.1.10) are given in the first column of this Table F.1,
whose content is based on the references [2],
[3] and [4].
Table F.1. INSPIRE Topic Category
Code | Category | Description | |
---|---|---|---|
| Farming | Rearing of animals and/or cultivation of plants. | |
| Biota | Flora and/or fauna in natural environment. | |
| Boundaries | Legal land descriptions. | |
| Climatology / Meteorology / Atmosphere | Processes and phenomena of the atmosphere. | |
| Economy | Economic activities, conditions and employment. | |
| Elevation | Height above or below sea level. | |
| Environment | Environmental resources, protection and conservation. | |
| Geoscientific Information | Information pertaining to earth sciences. | |
| Health | Health, health services, human ecology, and safety. | |
| Imagery / Base Maps / Earth Cover | Base maps. | |
| Intelligence / Military | Military bases, structures, activities. | |
| Inland Waters | Inland water features, drainage systems and their characteristics. | |
| Location | Positional information and services. | |
| Oceans | Features and characteristics of salt water bodies (excluding inland waters). | |
| Planning / Cadastre | Information used for appropriate actions for future use of the land. | |
| Society | Characteristics of society and cultures. | |
| Structure | Man-made construction. | |
| Transportation | Means and aids for conveying persons and/or goods. | |
| Utilities / Communication | Energy, water and waste systems and communications infrastructure and services. |
The following table lists the character string values expected for the Nat Type
property of the Indicator Identification
element.
Table G.1. Indicator Values Nature Types
Code | Name | Description | Sub-type Code | Sub-type Name | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
A | Absolute | The values represent absolute count numbers. | AF | Absolute flows | The values represent absolute count numbers of flow phenomena. |
AS | Absolute stocks | The values represent absolute count numbers characterizing the objects of study. | |||
R | Relative | The values represent relative characteristics of the objects of study. | RA | Rank | The values represent rankings of the objects of study among comparable objects. |
RC | Relative Composite | The values are relative calculated composite indexes. | |||
RR | Relative Ratios | The values are relative calculated ratios. | |||
T | Typology | The values represent a typology of the objects of study. | TC | Territory Classification | The values represent a typology of spatial/territorial objects. |
TS | Specific Territories (geography) | The values represent a specific geographical typology of spatial objects. | |||
U | Undefined | The nature of the values cannot be defined. This value is not considered as a valid metadata value and, if used temporarily, will be replaced for data integration by another value in this list. |
The present annex contains a proposal of an XML structure that can be used to store data parts of ESPON datasets.
Actually, the only file format to use to represent data parts of ESPON datasets is a tabular (MS Excel) format. For data processing in Web applications on clients' side, it could be useful to propose rules to represent data in XML format. It has never been done during the first phase of ESPON projects, that is why this annex introduces a possible XML structure for data parts of ESPON datasets.
The XML data structure should make part of the esponMD
name space and extension of the ISO 19115 standard,
to establish more compatibility for external users.
Any data XML file should be separate from the respective metadata
XML, though linked with it
by the corresponding properties described in the Model. In many cases, the size of a data file will be much larger than the one of
a metadata file in a dataset.
We propose the following XML data file structure:
This appendix proposes a listing of main changes that have occurred between the different revisions of this document.
1.8 (r1683) (2014-02-12)
In Appendix C, the project with acronym ESPON entitled ESPON Programme was added in order to represent all ESPON projects coming after December 2014.
1.7 (r1411) (2013-09-23)
In Appendix D, the Territorial Objects policy group has been removed, the INTERCO relevant indicators policy group label has been renamed to Indicators for Territorial Cohesion (this update does not impact the expected codes).
1.6 (r1341) (2013-06-03)
Regarding the ESPON thematic classification, see Appendix E:
Deletion of the column "code" assigning a numeric identifier to a theme. Column names have been renamed.
In older versions, a theme was defined like this: "02" (code), "populationAndLivingConditions" (literal), "Population and living conditions" (theme).
Now, a theme must be defined like this: "populationAndLivingConditions"(code), "Population and living conditions" (theme)
1.5 (r1209) (2013-06-03)
Regarding the policy codes, see Appendix D:
Update of the labels for the INTERCO classification codes INTERC_6
to INTERC_11
.
Add of a new INTERCO topic, labeled Territorial Cooperation and Governance, its code is INTERC_12
1.4 (r1032) (2013-04-23)
Update of the possible values for the nomenclatures references: see Appendix B.
Add of a few constraints for the definition of indicators of type enumeration, see Important: constraints regarding the enumeration type.
1.3 (r997) (2013-04-03)
Main changes in this revision of the document:
The list of ESPON Projects given in Appendix C has been updated.
Some acronyms have changed (example: OMT
is now RIMAP
),
and the list now includes references to the Projects of the ESPON 2006 Program.
The list of policies classifications in Appendix D has been completed
for the INTERCO Relevant Indicators Policy Group. For compatibility reasons,
the previous metadata codes from INTERC_1
to INTERC_5
are still available, but please now use the new items
referenced by metadata codes from INTERC_6
to INTERC_11
, e.g.:
Access to services - INTERC_6
High ecological values - INTERC_7
Innovative territories - INTERC_8
Local economies - INTERC_9
Polycentric development - INTERC_10
Quality of life - INTERC_11
In References, the URLs to the INSPIRE Web Portal have been updated (the previous links
have been unavailable for some months). To avoid any missing external references, the Appendix F
has been added to this document in order to provide the users with the list of possible values for the "Topic Category
"
field described in Section 1.3.1.10.
1.2 (r674) (2012-10-16)
In Table E.1, the theme code 03 has been updated from "Labor Market" to Labour Market". Its associated literal value has also been updated, from "laborMarket" to "labourMarket". The example given in Section 2.4.2.5 has been consequently updated.
[1] INSPIRE Directive. Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community. March 14th, 2007. European Commission Web Portal (last visit: 2011-08-18). .
[2] INSPIRE Metadata Implementing Rules: Technical Guidelines based on EN ISO 19115 and EN ISO 19119 (Revised edition). MD_IR_and_ISO_20090218.pdf (last visit: 2013-04-02).
[3] Commission Regulation (EC) No 1205/2008 of 3 December 2008 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards metadata. Text with EEA relevance. European Commission Web Portal (last visit: 2011-08-18).
[4] View Registry Item - INSPIRE Registry. 164. metadata element - Topic category. https://inspire-registry.jrc.ec.europa.eu/registers/GLOSSARY/items/164 (last visit: 2013-04-02).
[5] General Multilingual Environmental Thesaurus. Eionet Web Portal (last visit: 2011-08-19).
[6] Geographic information - Metadata. ISO 19115. Available in ISO catalog (last visit: 2011-08-18). .
[7] Codelists for description of metadata datasets compliant with ISO/TC 211 19115:2003 and 19139. gmxCodelist (last visit: 2013-04-23).
[8] Notation for national and international telephone numbers. Recommendation E.123. November 1988. http://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-E.123-198811-S/en (last visit: 2011-07-21).
[9] Terms and Conditions of Use. Text of the Agreement (last visit: 2011-08-21).
[10] The Core Database Strategy – A new paradigm for data collection at regional level. 2012. ESPON 2013 DATABASE Web Application. To be published in June 2012..
[11] ESPON Nomenclature Support. ESPON Database Portal (Help section).
[12] ESPON Dictionnary of Spatial Units. ESPON Database Portal (Help section).
[13] History of NUTS. Eurostat portal (last visit: 2011-07-21).
This document is part of the ESPON 2013 Database Phase 2 project, also known as M4D
(Multi Dimension Database Design and Development).
It was generated on the 2014-12-19 17:32:09, from the sources of the m4d
forge imag project at the svn rev 2420.
The main author of this document is Anton Telechev (LIG STeamer, between July 2011 and September 2012), with the contribution of UMS RIATE and LIG STeamer M4D Partners.
For any comment question or suggestion, please contact <[email protected]>
.
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[1] [on line] DocBook.org (last visit: July 2011)
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