Geospatial data infrastructure: The development of metadata for geo-information in China
Stores of geoscience records are in constant flux. These stores are continually added to by new information, ideas and data, which are frequently revised. The geoscience record is in restrained by human thought and technology for handling information. Conventional methods strive, with limited success, to maintain geoscience records which are readily susceptible and renewable. The information system must adapt to the diversity of ideas and data in geoscience and their changes through time. In China, more than 400,000 types of important geological data are collected and produced in geological work during the last two decades, including oil, natural gas and marine data, mine exploration, geophysical, geochemical, remote sensing and important local geological survey and research reports. Numerous geospatial databases are formed and stored in National Geological Archives (NGA) with available formats of MapGIS, ArcGIS, ArcINFO, Metalfile, Raster, SQL Server, Access and JPEG. But there is no effective way to warrant that the quality of information is adequate in theory and practice for decision making. The need for fast, reliable, accurate and up-to-date information by providing the Geographic Information System (GIS) communities are becoming insistent for all geoinformation producers and users in China. Since 2010, a series of geoinformation projects have been carried out under the leadership of the Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR), including (1) Integration, update and maintenance of geoinformation databases; (2) Standards research on clusterization and industrialization of information services; (3) Platform construction of geological data sharing; (4) Construction of key borehole databases; (5) Product development of information services. "Nine-System" of the basic framework has been proposed for the development and improvement of the geospatial data infrastructure, which are focused on the construction of the cluster organization, cluster service, convergence, database, product, policy, technology, standard and infrastructure systems. The development of geoinformation stores and services put forward a need for Geospatial Data Infrastructure (GDI) in China. In this paper, some of the ideas envisaged into the development of metadata in China are discussed.
Spatial Database Management System of China Geological Survey Extent
The spatial database management system of China geological survey extent is a social service system. Its aim is to help the government and the whole social public to expediently use the spatial database, such as querying, indexing, mapping and product outputting. The management system has been developed based on MAPGIS6. x SDK and Visual C++, considering the spatial database contents and structure and the requirements of users. This paper introduces the software structure, the data flow chart and some key techniques of software development.
Continuity, Legitimacy, and Agricultural Development: Conclusions
This chapter aims at bringing together the principal conclusions of the volume, emphasising some particular aspects and questions. Policy continuity in relation to the late 1980s was rightly defined by the Aylwin government policymakers as an essential instrument for further agricultural growth. But in a democratic environment the Aylwin policies, in part precisely because of their strong element of continuity, could be implemented only if they were perceived as legitimate by the majority of the rural population, and by the poor in particular. This means that substantial improvements in agricultural income distribution, and in the quantity and quality of the social services provided to the rural poor, were unavoidable. In order to achieve legitimacy it was, and is, necessary to introduce changes. A lucid, creative combination of continuity and change was the only guarantee of success for the Aylwin policies, and for those of future democratic administrations. Continuity and legitimacy are the fundamental pillars for democratic agricultural development.