Semantic web for geospatial e-government portals

ABSTRACT

This poster paper applies the vision of the Semantic Web to e-government portals that provide searching for geospatial data. Current searching methods yield too many results and also possibly miss the needed data. We propose ontologies and Semantic Web mark-up as a potential solution that allows browsing and query expansion. We suggest using multiple ontologies in addition to a theme-based ontology to include relationships and auxiliary information. We present a framework and an example for enhanced search capabilities.

REFERENCES

• 1: Chen, H., Fellah, S., and Bishr, Y. Rules for geospatial semantic web applications, Web document, 2004, http://www.w3.org/2004/12/rules-ws/paper/31/.
• 2: Geospatial One-Stop, http://www.geodata.gov.
• 3: Hochmair, H. 2005. Ontology matching for spatial data retrieval from Internet portals. In Proceedings of Geospatial Semantics. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2005, 166--182.
• 4: http://loki.cae.drexel.edu/~wbs/ontology/2004/08/fgdc-csdgm.owl.
• 5: http://svinetfc4.fs.fed.us/metadatagateway/explorer.jsp.
• 6: Smith, M., Welty, C., and McGuinness, D. OWL Web Ontology Language Guide, W3C Recommendation 10 February 2004, http://www.w3.org/TR/owl-guide.
• 7: Tang, W. and Selwood, J. Spatial Portals, Gateways to Geographic Information. ESRI Press, Redlands, CA, 2005.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.3 INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL
      H.3.3 Information Search and Retrieval

Additional Classification:
  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.2 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
      I.2.4 Knowledge Representation Formalisms and Methods
          Subjects: Representation languages; Semantic networks

General Terms:
Design, Management

Keywords:
geospatial, government data, ontology, portal, searching, semantic web