International Journal of Spatial Data Infrastructures Rsearch, Vol 5

IJSDIR is a peer-reviewed journal published exclusively on line by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. The aim of the Journal is to further the scientific endeavor underpinning the development, implementation and use of Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs). These are defined as frameworks of technologies, data, policies, institutional arrangements, and people aimed at increasing the availability, understanding, and use of spatial data and services to support policy, business, research, and society at large. The Journal is published free of charge and adheres to the Open Archives Initiative, which aims to facilitate the dissemination of electronic content. Authors submitting their work will therefore be also required to submit harvestable metadata. Authors publishing on IJSDIR retain full but non-exclusive rights in their articles, and will be required to use one of the Creative Commons licenses for submitting their work (http://creativecommons.org). The Journal requires authors not to submit their works to other publishers for review while the article proceeds through the IJSDIR review process. During this process however, the article will be already posted in the IJSDIR web site under the "Articles under Review" section to facilitate the timely exchange of ideas and progress of science. As soon as the article is accepted for publication, it will be moved to the Published section of the Web site. This process ensures that articles are published as quickly as possible and do not suffer the usual delays of journals in print.JRC.H.6-Digital Earth and Reference Dat