Building a semantic based public transportation geoportal compliant with the INSPIRE transport network data theme

Interoperability is becoming essential for the today's geographic information systems. Geographic information is usually available as datasets stored in databases and accessible via GIS. However, these information sources are increasingly heterogeneous and show differences in data formats, database schema and object concepts. To satisfy the increased demand for the use and sharing of geographic data in common applications, considering the heterogeneity and the methods to support interoperability are required by the GIS community. The implementation of Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) such as the European INSPIRE (Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community) enables accessibility and the sharing of geographic data and interoperability among the systems. In addition to this, traditional GIS systems perform spatial queries using a keyword-based method. However, this approach remains incapable of fully expressing the users' needs due to a lack of geographic concepts (semantics) in the dataset. Different terms may refer to similar concepts, while the same terms may refer to different concepts. This causes semantic heterogeneity in the dataset. In this context, the most promising approach is the implementation of geospatial semantics by means of ontology in the geospatial dataset to overcome this kind of ambiguity. The aim of this research is to investigate the implementation of INSPIRE as a SDI standard and the use of Semantic Technology to empower the traditional GIS approach. In this regard, a public transportation geoportal has been developed for the experimental investigation which uses a revised sample transportation data complaint with the INSPIRE Transport Network Data Theme and a developed Transportation Ontology Domain, including concepts, relationships and individuals to provide a semantic spatial search.