A method for checking the quality of geographic metadata based on ISO 19157

Abstract

With recent advances in remote sensing, location-based services and other related technologies, the production of geospatial information has exponentially increased in the last decades. Furthermore, to facilitate discovery and efficient access to such information, spatial data infrastructures were promoted and standardized, with a consideration that metadata is essential to describing data and services. Standardization bodies such as the International Organization for Standardization have defined well-known metadata models such as ISO 19115. However, current metadata assets exhibit heterogeneous quality levels because they are created by different producers with different perspectives. To address quality-related concerns, several initiatives attempted to define a common framework and test the suitability of metadata through automatic controls. Nevertheless, these controls are focused on interoperability by testing the format of metadata and a set of controlled elements. In this paper, we propose a methodology of testing the quality of metadata by considering aspects other than interoperability. The proposal adapts ISO 19157 to the metadata case and has been applied to a corpus of the Spanish Spatial Data Infrastructure. The results demonstrate that our quality check helps determine different types of errors for all metadata elements and can be almost completely automated to enhance the significance of metadata.

Quality of Metadata in Open Data Portals

“…The method proposed by Ureña-Cámara et al [12] analyzes a wide range of metadata aspects such as completeness, accuracy, and consistency according to the quality elements proposed by ISO 19157. 'Quality element' is the expression used by ISO 19157 to refer to quality dimensions, an expression more commonly used in other approaches cited in section II.…”

“…Therefore, we could consider SDIs as Open Data portals specialized in spatial data. With respect to the analysis of metadata quality in SDI catalogs, Ureña-Cámara et al [12] have proposed a method based on ISO 19157 to evaluate different quality dimensions of ISO 19115 geographic metadata [22]. The ISO 19157 standard for geographic information quality [11] proposes a general data quality description framework for spatial data.…”

“…The ISO 19157 standard for geographic information quality [11] proposes a general data quality description framework for spatial data. Ureña-Cámara et al [12] redefine ISO 19157 to evaluate metadata instead of data by proposing 16 metrics (which can be particularized for different types of metadata properties) associated with 12 quality dimensions in 6 different categories: completeness, with commission and omission dimensions; logical consistency, including conceptual, domain, format and topological dimensions; temporal quality, containing temporal consistency and temporal validity; thematic accuracy, which includes thematic classification correctness and non-quantitative attribute correctness; and two separate categories, out of ISO 19157, including positional correctness and quality of free text.…”

“…The ISO 19157 based method proposed by Ureña-Cámara et al [12] adapts the ISO 19157 standard for geographic information quality to the metadata case. Apart from completeness and consistency, this quality standard reviews exhaustively the correctness of temporal, positional, and attribute information.…”

Calidad en datos geográficos, geoservicios y productores de datos: análisis crítico

“…legibilidad, etc.) tampoco puede incorporarse adecuadamente a los elementos de calidad actualmente existentes (véase Ureña-Cámara et al, 2018). ISO 19157 está centrada en productos de datos, no tanto en datos, lo que dificulta su aplicación desde la perspectiva de los procesos actuales de generación de productos y publicación de servicios por integración de datos de muy distintas fuentes.…”