This page is outdated and just kept for history.

The purpose of task NA-D 3.7 of the SYNTHESYS project is to provide itinerary related services.

Introduction and background information

Many georeferenced records are served through the GBIF and BioCASE networks. In several reviewing processes and end-user need assessments, a high interest to use the now accessible geo referenced primary data for various purposes has been identified. In order to  use this data in an efficient way, end-users need additional information and tools to assess the "fitness for use" of the available information.

As a matter of fact, many of the georeferenced data available have been collected during expeditions and surveys. Some itineraries which followed the collecting campaigns are well known for historical reasons (i.e. famous expeditions in the Belgian Congo or in Polar regions), but many others are only poorly known or documented. Such information is often hidden in field notebooks, which will need to be digitised and analysed.

Goal of the activity

The goal of this task is to detect itinerary patterns in georeferenced primary data presumably collected during a collecting event.

A first validation approach is to use georeferenced primary information from well-known itineraries and to evaluate if itineraries obtained from the coordinates and collecting date correspond to what is known from  literature. This will be done with several specially selected datasets considered as complete and reliable.

In a second step, the defined algorithms will be tested and applied to georeferenced primary data available in the GBIF and BioCASE network in ABCD and DarwinCore , where the expeditions route are less documented or even completely unknown.

It is likely, depending on the accuracy of the available data, that several possible alternative expedition routes will be extrapolated. These routes and the related collecting points will be shown to the end users on online maps using GIS services. These latter tasks will be done in close collaboration with SYNTHESYS NA 3.6. The same tools and data standards will be used, most probably Deegree, OGC webservices and Open Standards like WMS, WFC, WCS and GML.

Deliverables:

May 31 2006 milestone report
This report describes the background and philosophy of the NA-D 3.7 itinerary project, the analytical work that has been done, and the technical choices that were made. It thus provides a clear overview of what the RMCA's work on the project is.

Contact:

  • Danny Meirte (Danny.Meirte at africamuseum.be)
  • Patricia Mergen (Patricia.Mergen at africamuseum.be)
  • Bart Meganck (Bart.Meganck at africamuseum.be)
  • Frank Theeten (Frank.Theeten at africamuseum.be)