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Geoinformation technology and data models

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 Piotr Cichociński, Agnieszka Dawidowicz, Monika Mika, Marek Ogryzek, Tomasz
Salata, Monika Siejka, Marek Ślusarski, Ada Wolny














GEOINFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
AND DATA MODELS
























Zagreb, Croatia, 2015






Reviewers

Jarosław Bydłosz
Ryszard Źrobek



Scientific Editors

Agnieszka Dawidowicz
Ada Wolny













Published by:
Croatian Information Technology Society, GIS Forum
10 000 Zagreb, Ilica 191e, Croatia


Copyright ©
Croatian Information Technology Society, GIS Forum, Croatia
All rights reserved
Number of copies: 100



ISBN 978‐953‐6129‐44‐7 Nacionalna knjižnica, Zagreb, Croatia

2
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 4
1. MODEL OF DATA QUALITY COLLECTED IN THE TOPOGRAPHIC DATABASE .. 6
1.1. Database of topographic objects (BDOT10k) as a source of spatial information ....... 8
1.2. Data quality model BDOT10k .......................................................................................................... 11
1.3. Evaluation of the quality of data collected in BDOT10k – experimental studies ..... 16
1.4. Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................. 20
2. ANALYSIS OF FREE SOFTWARE CAPABILITIES IN ENSURING TOPOLOGICAL
CORRECTENESS OF SPATIAL DATA .................................................................................... 22
2.1. Geometry issues .................................................................................................................................... 23
2.2. Topology ................................................................................................................................................... 24
2.3. The procedure ........................................................................................................................................ 25
2.4. Free software .......................................................................................................................................... 27
2.4.1. QGIS ................................................................................................................................................... 27
2.4.2. gvSIG CE ........................................................................................................................................... 28
2.4.3. OpenJUMP ....................................................................................................................................... 28
2.5. Implementation of the procedure in featured programs .................................................... 29
2.5.1. OpenJUMP ....................................................................................................................................... 29
2.5.2. GvSIG CE .......................................................................................................................................... 32
2.5.3. QGIS ................................................................................................................................................... 37
2.6. Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................. 40
3. UPDATING OF LOCAL DATABASES AT THE COMMUNE LEVEL USING GPS TOOLS
......................................................................................................................................................... 42
3.1. Observations and methods ............................................................................................................... 45
3.2.Results and discussion ........................................................................................................................ 54
3.3. Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................. 56
4. ANALYSIS OF POLISH SDI WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF NEEDS OF REAL ESTATE
DEVELOPERS ............................................................................................................................... 59
4.1. Methodology ........................................................................................................................................... 60
4.2. SDI as a network and an enabling platform .............................................................................. 62
4.2.1. GEOPORTAL.GOV.PL .................................................................................................................. 66
4.2.2. Atlas of Warmia and Mazury .................................................................................................. 69
4.2.3. MSIPMO ............................................................................................................................................ 70
4.2.4. SIP Stawiguda ................................................................................................................................ 74
4.3. Assessment of the NSDI ..................................................................................................................... 77
4.4. The use of GIS systems for real estate market investors .................................................... 81
4.4. Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................. 83
5. SOFTWARE, TOOLS AND INSTRUMENTS USED FOR THE PRESENTATION
(VISUALIZATION) OF RESULTS OF SPATIAL ANALYSIS IN GIS .................................... 85
5.1. Materials and methods ....................................................................................................................... 86
5.2. Results and discussion ....................................................................................................................... 88
5.3. Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................. 96
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................... 98
LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... 105
LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................... 107
NOTES ON THE AUTHORS .................................................................................................... 109 

3
INTRODUCTION

As the demand for spatial information grows rapidly there is a need for utilizing,
improving geoinformation systems and adapting tools based on IT. This book discusses
application of information collected in SDI systems like spatial data quality, topicality
of information and topological correctness of spatial data. It also presents SDI systems
development as well as helpful tools such as GIS software and GPS tools for analysis
within the use of spatial data.

Spatial information is used in decision‐making processes concerning the functioning of
states and quality of life of citizens. The number of institutions recording data and
amount of collected information is increasing. Topographic objects database is one of
the basic databases covering the whole country area. That is why a key component of
any official spatial database is the management of the quality of data collected there.
Wherefore the quality of data elements is characterized by varying degrees of
significance and by assigning weights to them. The use of weights is particularly
important when using the data sets characterized by internal diversity of the criteria
for assessing the quality of data.

With the aim of improving full use of different data in geographic information systems,
this book introduces also a procedure of utilizing tools available in free GIS software to
convert CAD drawings into fully‐fledged spatial data sets. This requires finding and
testing tools verifying topological correctness of entered data and determining the
order of their launching. Indicating ways to transform text elements into attributes of
objects is also necessary. The use of free software enhances possibilities of broad
implementation of proposed procedures and thus can speed up the process of
converting data into useful formats.

Moreover, this study presents the practical aspects concerning the creation and
updating of databases on the commune administrative level, that is, the development of
the highest possible accuracy for GIS data. Such created databases can be widely used,
for example in administrative procedures performed before or during building
development and in the coordination of crisis intervention staffs in the area of
development. The creation of such an infrastructure within the use of GPS tools
enables access to spatial data and services relating to a given area as well as provides
resource management and use of geoinformation.

Having regard to diversity of SDI systems this book includes a demonstration of the
evaluation of activity in developing local and regional GIS. As local and regional GIS
may be used for different purposes, there is a variety of participants involved in their
creation and users interested in obtaining information for their needs. That is why
another purpose of this elaboration is to show usefulness of geographic information
systems within the context of needs of real estate investors ‐ spatial information
essential on different stages of development process.

Finally, this monograph presents the possible application environment GIS software
for a variety of spatial analysis, achieved by assigning the target groups of different
instruments GIS software. With the aim of modernization of existing records map by

4
defining a set of required features on new layers, the occurrence of which affects the
needs of a variety of spatial analysis. Analysis are carried out such tools as in ArcGIS,
MapInfo, EWMAPA, AutoCAD, which belongs to a group of software GIS. Available Web‐
based versions of GIS software allow performing analysis and presentation the results
of spatial analysis.

Enjoy the reading.


Scientific Editors
Agnieszka Dawidowicz
Ada Wolny

5
 1. MODEL OF DATA QUALITY COLLECTED IN THE
TOPOGRAPHIC DATABASE
Computer revolution in the second half of the twentieth century initiated the era of
information, in which the collected data resources are held by computer systems.
These systems allow easy sharing of data, and perform complex analyzes in order to
provide processed data. After a brief period of unconsciousness, that computer
databases store reliable information, the research on the computer data quality in the
broad sense began.
According to REDMAN (2001) the data are of high quality if they can be used in
operational processes, decision‐making and planning. The features of good quality data
are: accessibility, comprehensiveness, consistency and accuracy, completeness and
usefulness. The data should have the appropriate metrics. Data quality metrics must be
characterized by readability, measurability, ease of obtaining and comparability of
results. Metrics of data sets are commonly called metadata.
A compendium of spatial data infrastructure ‐ The SDI Cookbook (NEBERT,
2015) ‐ distinguishes metadata of recognition, which allow the assessment of the
quality of data set and determination of the set data in terms of user requirements. The
main elements of the standard CSDGM (US Federal Geographic Data Committee’s
Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata) include in a systematic way in order
of importance inter alia the following elements: basic information about the dataset,
information about data quality (overall assessment of the quality of data in the file), the
way of the arrangement of the spatial data in the set, and others (LONGLEY AT ALL, 2006).
Characterizing the quality of spatial data, it is possible to use several different
properties. The origin of the data, positional accuracy, attribute accuracy, logical
consistency, completeness, semantic accuracy, and temporal quality are the key
elements of data quality (OORT, 2005) and (DEVILLERS, 2010).
According to GAŹDZICKI (2008) the quality of the data is described by the
following features: completeness, logical consistency, positional accuracy, temporal
accuracy, thematic accuracy, semantic precision and the origin. The completeness is
defined as the presence of all the desired data without omission and commission. The
logical consistency is the lack of a logical inconsistency in the data set. The positional
accuracy refers to the geodetic accuracies – expressed by the coordinates of the objects
position. The temporal accuracy is associated with the data changes over time, and
thematic accuracy is the correctness of determining, for example, the qualitative
properties. Semantic accuracy, represented as a set of data, recreates space of
considerations (universe of discourse). The origin describes the method and time of
data acquisition and source materials, methods and techniques.
The European Parliament adopted in 2007 the directive, establishing an
Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE). The
Directive determines the mechanisms and processes of interaction, access and use of
spatial data. Infrastructure for spatial information is understood as a spatial data set
described with metadata and services and processes associated with this undertaking
(DIRECTIVE, 2007/2/WE). Metadata should include information on, inter alia, the
quality and validity of spatial data sets. The Implementing Regulation of the INSPIRE
Directive (REGULATION,1205/2008) specifies the record of the history and spatial
resolution as metadata elements describing the quality and reliability of spatial data.
The European standards ISO 19100 series contain a wide range of concepts
relating to spatial information and are characterized by rich conceptual apparatus. The

6
comprehensive methodology of the data quality description is included in the
standard: ISO 19157: Geographic information – Data quality (ISO, 2013). According to
the essence of the standard the quality is “totality of characteristics of a product, that
bear on its ability to satisfy stated and implied needs”. Complete identification of the
quality information should include the "non‐quantitative" and "quantitative" quality
information. Non‐quantitative quality information are: purpose, lineage and usage.
Quantitative include: completeness, logical consistency, positional accuracy, temporal
accuracy and thematic accuracy.
The completeness is defined by the presence and absence of attributes, their
features and relationships. It consists of two elements of data quality: commission and
omissions in the set of data.
The logical consistency is defined as the degree of adherence to logical data
structures, attributes, and relationships. The structure of data can be conceptual,
logical or physical. The logical consistency consists of four components of data quality:
 the conceptual consistency ‐ the conformity with the rules of the conceptual
framework,
 the domain consistency ‐ the consistency of the values with their domain,
 the format consistency ‐ the degree of compliance of the data record with the
physical structure of data set,
 the topological consistency ‐ the correctness of explicitly stored topological
characteristics of the data set.
The positional accuracy is defined as the positional accuracy of features in
a spatial reference system. It consists of three elements of the quality:
 the absolute or external accuracy ‐ the proximity of the presented coordinate
values to the values considered true or being true,
 the relative or internal accuracy ‐ the proximity of the relative positions of objects
in the set of data to their respective relative positions recognized as true or being
true,
 girded data positional accuracy ‐ the proximity of the girded data to the values
considered true or being true.
The temporal accuracy is defined as the value of temporal attributes and temporal
relationships and characteristics. It consists of three components of data quality:
 the accuracy of a time measurement – the correctness of the temporal references
to values accepted as the true,
 the temporal consistency ‐ the correctness of arrangement of events in time,
 the temporal validity ‐ the correctness of the data with respect to time (up to
date).
The thematic accuracy is defined as the accuracy of quantitative attributes and
the correctness of non‐quantitative attributes and classification of features and their
relationships. It consists of three elements of the quality:
 classification correctness ‐ comparison of classes assigned to objects or their
attributes to the space of considerations (e.g. the actual value or a set of
reference),
 non‐quantitative attributes correctness ‐ comparison of classes assigned to
objects or their attributes with the scope of interest,
 quantitative attributes accuracy ‐ the proximity of the quantitative attribute value
to the true value.

7
1.1. Database of topographic objects (BDOT10k) as a source of spatial
information
The primary objective of the creation of databases of topographic objects (BDOT10k) is
to provide access of official specialist spatial information systems to the up‐to‐date
and high quality topographic data. In this way, the data collected in BDOT10k provide a
starting point for the construction of spatial information systems for various
government and local government institutions, as well as for the private sector
(GUIDELINES TBD, 2003; GOVERNMENT REGULATION 2011) and (GOTLIB 2013).
The implementation of the presented objective is possible since the
topographic database is the primary sources of information their spatial location,
characteristics, cartographic codes and also metadata (GOVERNMENT REGULATION,
2011). This information is obtained from multiple reference data sources. As the
primary source, the public records should be mentioned which are National Geodetic
and Cartographic Resource. In contrast, the complementary sources are the records
collected by other agencies and institutions such as municipal offices, boards of roads,
water management, etc. An example of BDOT10k in the cartographic form is shown in
figure 1.

Fig. 1. An example of a BDOT10k database in the cartographic form.
Source: Head Office of Geodesy and Cartography
According to (GOVERNMENT REGULATION, 2011), (GOTLIB, 2013); (MARMOL
and BUCZEK, 2013); (ŁABAJ, 2013) and (BIELECKA, 2010) BDOT10k consists of classes of
objects for which the spatial information was obtained from the following reference
databases.
As the primary database should be considered cadastre of land and buildings,
maintained by the county geodetic and cartographic documentation centres. It is
a source of information for obtaining and updating the geometry and attributes of the
following classes of objects:

8
 building, symbol: OT_BUD_A; information concerning the identifier of the
building, status of the building, number of floors, type of building according to the
Polish Classification of Types of Construction,
 another construction, symbol: OT_BUIB_A; information on the geometry and the
attribute ‐ the type of construction,
 area of grass vegetation or agricultural crops, symbol: OT_PTTR_A; information
regarding the soil science classification of land and the type of land use,
 locality, symbol: OT_ADMS; information on the locality borders, based on the
borders of registration precincts.
Using these data sources must be preceded by a study in terms of completeness,
timeliness and topological consistency.
The state registry of boundaries and areas of the state territory division units
(PRG) is a database maintained by the Central Office of Geodesy and Cartography
Documentation. This database is used in obtaining and updating the geometry and
attribute of topographic object classes in the range of local administrative district
referenced with the symbol: OT_ADJA_A. The obtained information includes the name
of the unit and the code of territorial division unit. But for cartographic studies, they
have additional space infrastructure object identifier and the identifier of the border
point. The course of borders is taken automatically from the state registry of
boundaries database and is not subject to control of the course with the topological
boundaries of other objects (rivers, lakes, roads, railways, etc.). Therefore, if the
information will be used for the construction of spatial information systems or the
production of maps, the topological control should be carried out by the user.
The reference database in the range of geographical names, correctness of
their sound and spelling, is a database of state registry of geographical names
maintained by the Central Office of Geodesy and Cartography Documentation. This
registry has spatial and descriptive data for administrative units and physiographic
objects. These data are available in the SHP, XLS, XML, GML, TXT formats, so they can
be used on other layers of topographic objects database.
The registry of towns, streets and addresses (EMUiA) is a database kept in
electronic form by the authorities of cities and communes. It is a reference base for the
layer locality marked with symbol OT_ADMS_A. This database contains information on
the identifier of the object, the place name, the type of locality, the number of residents,
TERYT identifier, PRNG identifier, and the street name and street type. The data
contained in the database EMUiA originate from the database of the State Registry Of
Geographical Names (PRNG) in terms of the names and types of the locality, while the
course of borders originates from the database of the state register of borders and the
cadastre of land and buildings.
Aerial and satellite imaging as well as orthophoto and digital terrain model are
databases used to obtain and verify the objects geometry and also their classification
and initial interpretation. Objects, which cannot be clearly identified on basis of the
available materials are subject to verification in the field. The supplement of data on
orthophotomap is a digital terrain model (DTM). It allows accurate verification of
objects located in areas difficult to access e.g. it enables digitizing and verification of
the geometry of water brook in wooded areas. DTM plays an important role in the
construction of the contents of cartographic elaborations. This applies to the terrain
relief objects such as: escarpments, contours, mounds, ravines, elevation points etc. In
case of this reference base, to ensure the appropriate quality of the data contained in
BDOT10k, it is important to monitor the updates of existing source materials.

9
 The database of topographic objects BDTO500 concerning the details of maps
at scales from 1: 500 to 1: 5000, is a large‐scale numerical elaboration of the content of
the base map. These databases are maintained in urban and rural areas, but only for
built‐up areas or designated for development. On the day of the elaboration in Poland
there are no data of this type.
National Official Registry of Territorial Division of the Country (TERYT), is
a database maintained by the Central Statistical Office. This database is a database of
reference in the field of territorial units for all records and systems of public
administration. The information there contains identifiers and names of territorial
division units, identifiers and names of places, names and symbols of streets. This
registry provides unambiguous identification of territorial units at different levels of
detail (state, county, municipality, city, street, etc.). Thanks to this, it is possible to
integrate data between different systems. In the database BDOT10k the following
classes of objects can be distinguished:
 the unit of administrative division, the symbol: OT_ADJT_A; containing the
territorial identifier of the superior unit and the identification of the
administrative unit
 locality, symbol: OT_ADMS_A; containing an identifier of the commune and
locality identifier in the TERYT registry
 list of streets, symbol: OT_Ulica; including the identifier of the street coming
from central streets directory maintained by the Central Statistical Office.
Database registry of immovable monuments is created and maintained by the
voivods. It is created on the basis of a decision on the entry of the object into the
register of monuments. This is the basic form of protection of monuments in Poland.
Documentation of the national register of immovable monuments is collected by the
National Heritage Board. Objects can be entered in the register of monuments in two
basic forms of protection. One is to recognize the object as a monument to history. The
second form are the objects listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. These are the
objects protected under the Convention on the Protection of the World Cultural and
Natural Heritage.
The database of topographic objects BDOT10k, contains the following classes of
objects:
 buildings, symbol: OT_BUBD_A; information on the number of general and
specific functions of the building,
 antique and historical complex, symbol: OT_KUZA_A,
 object, symbol: OT_OIOR_A; information regarding the type of object.
Registers of monuments have often incomplete address information due to the lack of
updates of changes of the names of towns or changes of the object address. Therefore,
the information coming from the register should be verified with other sources.
Reference register for BDOT in the range of water network is the Map of
Hydrographical Division of Poland run by the National Water Management and the
Institute of Meteorology and Water Management. This map was based on military
topographic maps at the scale of 1: 50 000, therefore it has a low accuracy. In this
situation, the geometry of the hydrographical network is derived from the current
orthophotomap; a reference to the Map of Hydrographical Division of Poland is
achieved by giving the identifier to the correct objects. Examples of objects on layers:
1. surface water, symbol: OT_PTWP_A,
2. river and stream, symbol: OT_SWRS_L,
3. channel, symbol: OT_SWKN_L,

10
 4. drainage ditch, symbol: OT_SWRM_L.
Descriptive and localization data about roads and bridges are acquired from
managers of these objects. Depending on the class of the object the management can be
performed by the central, provincial, county or municipal unit. BDOT10k database
contains the following classes of objects:
1. road, symbol: OT_SKDR_L; information concerning the category of
management and class of road attribute,
2. roadway, symbol: OT_SKJZ_L; information concerning the category of
management and class of road attribute,
3. road trail, symbol: OT_SzlakDrogowy; information concerning the road
number attribute,
4. roundabout, road junction, symbol: OT_SKRW_P; information concerning the
road junction type attribute,
5. communication complex, symbol: OT_KUKO_A; information concerning the
communication complex type attribute e.g. MOP‐ passenger service place.
These data on roads and bridges are run in the form of analogue maps and tables
containing descriptive information. The enter these data into the BDOT10k database
will require inspection of continuity of attributes and the correctness of the entered
data.
The presented data relating to objects and their attributes when entered into
BDOT10k will be able to provide a systematic source of terrain information for various
specialized elaborations only then when they are characterized by the high quality. The
main components of the quality include completeness and timeliness of the data. In
this situation BDOT databases must be successively updated at specified time intervals
and be subject to the technical and substantive control (MARMOL and BUCZEK, 2013).
The rules of spatial data quality management must result from the adopted model of
data quality. The quality model should be designed and formulated before the actual
production of spatial data to take into account user requirements and expected quality
objectives. The model should include two basic correlated parts. The first part refers to
the definition of objectives and quality requirements resulting from the database
specification. The second part deals with the evaluation process of spatial data. In the
proposed model of the data quality BDOT10k data quality elements have been defined.
They are described by measures of data quality, evaluation of data quality and the
result of data quality. The model also defines the scope and manner of reporting the
results of the quality evaluation.
1.2. Data quality model BDOT10k
National Management System of Topographic Objects Database (KSZBDOT) which is
being built now is the project aimed at the purposes of obtaining, control, storage and
sharing of topographic information. This will be the information and communication
system managing topographic and general geographic databases, from which standard
cartographic elaborations can be created (ŁABAJ, 2013). The concept is to build a
system of several components comprising KSZBDOT. One of the main areas of
KSZBDOT functioning will be the module of topographic information data quality
management.
The module of system data quality management BDOT10k will control the
errors detected during data validation and manage the quality model and the set of
metadata. Checking the accuracy of the BDOT10k database data sets will be performed
automatically using templates of data control. The elements of the control templates

11
are following: controlled database definition and specification of the rules of the
control parameters. Database definition defines, what class of objects, and additional
files should be in the set. Specification of the rules of the control parameters is
a register of control rules stored in a standard form that facilitates the interpretation of
a control template by the application executing data control.
In the control process the internal consistency of a set of data in the temporary
buffer and consistency with the data in the BDOT10k store will be verified. The next
step of data correctness checking will be office control. This check will be performed
on a random selected data sets samples and will allow the estimation of data quality
indicators. The basis for the BDPT10k storage update will be the situation when quality
indicators do not exceed the limit values specified in the model data quality (GUIDELINES
(WYTYCZNE), 2012).
On the basis of the assumptions of the National Management System of
Topographic Objects Database project and implemented in 2012‐2013 undertakings
concerning the creation of BDOT10k, the scheme of quality control of topographic data
can be formulated. Fragment of the diagram of data quality control process is shown in
figure 2. The data sets are subject to the quantitative and qualitative control.
Quantitative control verifies the correctness of files saving and their structure,
completeness and nomenclature. Quality control is carried out by means of three
components: automatic, office and field control. Automatic data control of BDOT10k
consists of five basic components: data BDOT10k validation with the GML scheme
attribute control in GML files, geometry control, topology control and additional
checking.
The second step of the quality control is the office control. Its purpose is to
examine the detail substantive compliance of reported data with source materials.
Area under the control is selected by the selection of the data sample consisting of
representative areas and objects. The data are verified due to the: completeness and
accuracy of obtaining data from other registers, the correctness of the position of the
introduced objects, the correctness of entering of the values of attributes and the
correctness of the identification of BDOT10k objects.
The third step of the quality control is the field control. The purpose of this
control is to examine the substantive compatibility of the transferred data with the real
situation on the ground. Subject to the control are all objects entered to the BDOT10k
in the area of sample data selected for control. Quantitative and qualitative controls
can be performed in several iterations until a positive result is obtained (ZAPALSKA and
STUGLIK, 2013).
Currently, the only legal act regulating the rules of creating and updating
BDOT10k is the Regulation of November 17, 2011 on the topographic objects database
and general geographical objects database, and also standard cartographic
elaborations (GOVERNMENT REGULATION, 2011). The provisions of the Regulation do
not explicitly define the principles of data quality management. In § 19 is written only
that system supporting BDOT10k should provide, inter alia, data quality control. Data
quality elements are contained in the Annexes to the Regulation. Annexes provide,
inter alia, a catalogue of objects with their attributes, relationships and constraints,
classification of objects at three levels of detail, UML and GML application diagrams
and guidance concerning the rules of entering the objects to BDOT10k. The Regulation
does not determine the scope of the data control, office and field control rules taking
into account the size of the data samples and the acceptable level of error for the data
set.

12
 Control of data sets should include validation of database creation and
technological and substantial aspects of content. Technological control is mainly
analysis of the method of data recording, the topology and conformity to the standards
of data exchange. Substantive correctness is the data completeness, the fulfilment of
the required accuracy and compatibility of data with real terrain situation (BIELECKA,
2010).

Quantity control
Kontrola ilościowa

+ completeness of files
+ kompletności
+ correctness of record
plików
+ file saving structure
+
+ . . .
poprawności
zapisu

yes Data
Dane no Supplement
correct?
poprawne of data
?
Correction of the
elaboration

Automatic quality
Kontrola Office quality Field control
control
jakościowa control
+ Substantial
automatyczna
+ validation of + Substantial conformity with the
BDOT10k data with conformity with source field situation
+ walidacji danych
GML scheme data
BDOT10k
+ attribute ze
schematem
+ geometric GML
+ atrybutowa
+ . . .
+ t

Acceptance of BDOT10k
Przyjęcie BDOT10k
to National Geodetic and
do Państwowego yes Data no
Cartographic Resource correct?
Zasobu
Geodezyjnego

Fig. 2. The diagram of data quality control process (part).
Source: SIEJKA and ŚLUSARSKI own study based on (GUIDELINES, 2012)
The principles of BDOT10k data quality management must result from the
adopted model of data quality. The quality model should be designed and formulated

13
before the actual production of spatial data to take into account user requirements and
expected quality objectives. The model should include two basic interdependent parts.
The first part refers to the definition of objectives and quality requirements resulting
from the database specification. The second part deals with the evaluation process of
spatial data.
The construction of data quality model includes defining its components. The
main components of the model are:
 data quality elements,
 measures of data quality,
 methods of evaluation of data quality,
 result of data quality,
 metaquality,
 scope of data quality,
 metadata.
For BDOT10k elements of data quality concern the five major components.
Investigation of completeness is called quantitative and qualitative control.
Quantitative control verifies the correctness of files saving and their structure,
completeness and nomenclature. Quality control of completeness is mainly based on
examining the occurrence of excess or deficiency of objects and their attributes and
relationships. Logical consistency is the degree of compliance with the logical rules
applicable to data structures, attributes and relationships. Here the co linearity and
continuity of objects conditions are checked, preserving of the spatial rules and
correctness of linear objects segmentation. Positional accuracy is assessed by
geometric accuracy of objects. This feature focuses on the proximity of the coordinate
values to values accepted as true and proximity to the relative position of objects to
their correct relative position. The temporal accuracy will be implemented using
information on timeliness and the date of the dataset creation. The thematic accuracy
is examined in terms of correctness of classification, non‐quantitative attributes
correctness and the accuracy of quantitative attributes.
Examination of the quality of BDOT10k data should be based on several
measures easy to understand by the user of the database. The main measures of data
quality are: number of incorrect objects, attributes, and relationships, and the error
coefficient, that is, the ratio of false objects, attributes, and relationships to their total
number. In the assessment of the geometric accuracy of database objects
understandable to interpret measures are: mean square error, circular error (CE95)
and linear error (LE95). CE95 error is the radius circumscribing the circle, in which the
real point is located with the probability of 95%. Linear accuracy of map with a 95%
level of significance (LE95) is half the length of the interval defined by the upper and
lower limit, in which the true value is located with the probability of 95%. CE95 error
is applicable to the study of one‐dimensional properties, such as the corners of
buildings or network nodes. Linear error (LE) determines the likelihood of
misplacement of two‐dimensional features, such as border lines or centre line (ESDIN,
2010).
The result of data quality assessment should be presented separately for each
item of data quality. The evaluation results will be given in different units, depending
on the nature of used data quality measures. Geometrical accuracy will be expressed in
the unit of distance, and temporal accuracy (timeliness of data) in unit of time.
Database user interpreting the results must have knowledge of these values and units.
The results of the data quality will be easier to understand, if all the results are

14
presented by a single scale or units. It can be done by creating a level of compliance for
each data quality measure. Then it is necessary to specify for each result of data
quality, in which conformation class is located the result. Determination and gradation
of conformation classes for BDOT10k can be based on the classification of objects
contained in Regulation on the database of topographic objects (GOVERNMENT
REGULATION, 2011). First class (I ‐ the highest) includes communication networks,
infrastructure networks and buildings, structures and equipment. Next class (II)
includes land‐use complexes and territorial division units. The third class (III) includes
a network of waters, land cover and protected areas.
In addition, the characteristics of data quality can be described by
a metaquality. Metaquality elements include a set of quantitative and qualitative
measures of quality assessment and its result. Metaquality can be described in three
meanings: as a confidence, representativity and homogeneity. The confidence means
the credibility of the results of data quality. Representativity is the level at which the
used data samples reached the result, which is representative for the data in terms of
data quality. Homogeneity is expected or tested uniformity of the results obtained
during the evaluation of data quality (ISO, 2013). For BDOT10K Metaquality should
inform the user of data about the level of reliability of the obtained evaluation results.
Statistical measures such as standard deviation and coefficient of variation may be
useful here. Description of the method of sampling shows degree of representation of
the data set. Homogeneity assessment will be needed mainly in the case of entering to
one database, information from various sources. It is necessary then to carry out
comparison of the results of the quality assessment for data from different segments of
a given set.
The scope of data quality determines spatial and temporal characteristics,
identifying the data on which the quality of data is to be assessed. This characteristics
include: the geographical coverage, the time scope , the data set or data series. In the
model of BDOT10k data quality, the scope of quality is defined by defining a set of data,
class of objects, attributes, relationships, and sample sizes.
Spatial data users have now widespread access to unlimited resources of these
data. The valuable data are those that have the appropriate metrics describing data
sets called metadata. Metadata as quantifiers describing spatial data sets should among
others include information on location and type of objects, their attributes, origin,
accuracy, details and timeliness of the data set (BIELAWSKI, 2013). Quality information
of BDOT10k database may be given in the form of standard quality reports or be a part
of the collection of metadata. Presentation of the information about the data quality in
the form of metadata simplifies their analysis and will facilitate access to them for
producers and users of data, because the metadata have a strictly formalized structure.
Conceptual proposal of BDOT10k data quality model is shown in figure 3.

15
 defined
Data quality by is reported Metadata
Data quality
scope
BDOT10k
+ . . . .
+ the set of data + information of
+ classes of is expressed data quality
objects + . . . .
+ attributes
+ relations Data quality
+ sizes of element
l
+ completeness
+ logical consistency
+ positional accuracy
+ temporal accuracy
+ thematic accuracy

is described

Data quality Data quality Data quality Metaquality

measure evaluation result
+ confidence
+ number of + direct and + the expected + representativity
incorrect internal level of + homogeneity
objects, + external (full compliance
attributes and control and + . . . .
relationships sampling)
+ error index + . . . .
+ geometrical
accuracy

Fig. 3 The conceptual model of data quality BDOT10k.
Source: SIEJKA and ŚLUSARSKI own study based on (ISO, 2013).
1.3. Evaluation of the quality of data collected in BDOT10k – experimental
studies
Experimental studies of spatial data quality were performed by analyzing the
information contained in the BDOT10k database for the Zielonki community in the
Malopolskie Voivodeship. Zielonki is a rapidly growing community, which is adjacent
to Krakow. It covers an area of 48.4 square km, and the number of its inhabitants in
2013 exceeded 18 thousands of people. Built‐up and urban areas account for about
15% of the commune area. In The District Geodetic and Cartographic Resource for the
community there are available the digital land and buildings cadastre map and the
digital base map. Experimental studies of spatial data quality were performed, paying
particular attention to the needs of the user of the data set.
Examination of the completeness is mainly quality control investigating the
occurrence in the database of excess or deficiency of objects and their attributes and
relationships. For BDOT10k of Zielonki commune the field inspections were performed
and additional verification tests based on digital base map and orthophotomap. As
a result of the carried out studies significant deficiencies in the database objects were

16
found, mainly in the categories of buildings, structures and equipment, infrastructure
and utility networks. The deficiencies are estimated at 40%. The reasons for this
situation may be two. The first is the lack of base map in the digital geodetic resource
during creating the database. The second one is the use of an outdated orthophotomap.
Additionally, a control of attribute values of objects was performed. Considerable
deficiencies in attribute values were found, for example the height and number of
floors of the building.
With regard to the logical consistency of BDOT10k is the degree of compliance
with the logical rules of data structures, attributes and relationships. For the test
database co linearity and continuity conditions of objects were checked and the
accuracy of the segmentation of linear objects. The study was performed using the
QGIS tools. Practically there were no weaknesses in the logical consistency, analyzing
the criteria relevant to the user of spatial databases.
Positional accuracy is assessed by geometric accuracy of objects. An error of
positions of objects in BDOT10k should not exceed 1.5 m. The accuracy of the database
objects is affected by the quality of the source materials, correctness of interpretation
and accuracy of digitizing. For BDOT10k of Zielonki commune checks of the accuracy
based on the reference material, which is the digital base map, were performed. As
a result of this analysis it was found, that more than half of the analyzed object does
not fulfil the required parameters of the geometric accuracy.
The temporal accuracy is defined as the value of temporal attributes and
temporal relationships and characteristics. For the user of BDOT10k, the most
important is the temporal importance, or timeliness of the data set. BDO10k is
currently not subject of present updates, and changes in the land use in urbanized
areas affect the progressive obsolescence of the database. Analysis of temporal
accuracy of the data collection of the study area showed its timeliness at 80% level.
Thematic accuracy is the precision of the objects classification correctness,
non‐quantitative attributes correctness or accuracy of quantitative attributes. The
correctness of the classification and the correctness and accuracy of the attributes
were rated as a result of the comparison with source materials. Practically there were
not found any weaknesses in the thematic accuracy, analyzing the criteria relevant to
the users of spatial database.
The results of the assessment of the BDOT database quality carried out for the
Zielonki community are shown in table 1. The results are shown using point values in
the range from 1 to 100.
Table 1. The results of the data quality evaluation.
The evaluation point
No Element of data quality
values
1 Completeness 60
2 Logical consistency 99
3 Position accuracy 40
4 Temporal accuracy 80
5 Thematic accuracy 95

Source: SIEJKA and ŚLUSARSKI own study.

Data quality elements are characterized by varying degrees of significance,
therefore during the BDOT10k database qualitative assessment it is necessary to
assign to them appropriate weights of validity. The sizes of the weights were
determined by the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The AHP is one of the methods

17
used to solve complex multivariate tasks through the creation of a hierarchy structure.
At every level of the hierarchy a matrix is created, resulting from the pairwise
comparisons of individual elements of the hierarchical structure. (PIASEK and SIEJKA,
2003).
In this way, elements of matrix A’ meet the following conditions:
‐ all elements aij > 0
‐ diagonal elements aii = 1
‐ symmetrical elements aij = aji‐1
Matrix A’ has always real and positive eigenvalue λ, which has the following properties
(SAATY 1977), (SAATY 1980):
1. it is simple root of the characteristic equation of the matrix,
2. it is the largest (as regards the module) eigenvalue of the matrix, and
corresponding to this eigenvalue eigenvector w has always all the
components positive (wi>0).
Therefore, in order to obtain a solution it is necessary to determine for each matrix, the
maximum eigenvalue λmax and associated with this value eigenvector w, which is
a vector of priorities.
After setting partial priorities for all levels the solution of the task is a vector:

k
C[1, k ]T   Bi  Bk  Bk 1  B2
i 2

where:
C[1,k] ‐ the vector of results of priorities attached to the elements of the
hierarchical level k with respect to the thesis,
Bi ‐ the matrix of results for the level i, which columns are the vectors of
priorities of elements of this level relative to elements of the level i – 1.
In order to verify the correctness of the results two indicators were introduced (SAATY,
1980):
1. consistency index – CI
 max  n
CI   0,10
n 1

where: n – the dimension of the matrix
λmax – the maximum eigenvalue of the matrix
2. consistency ratio – CR
CI
CR   0,10
RI

where: RI (random index) depends on the size of the matrix n, the table 2.
Table 2. The value of RI depending on the dimension of the matrix
n 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
RI 0 0 0,58 0,90 1,12 1,24 1,32 1,44 1,45 1,49 1,51 1,53 1,56 1,57 1,59

Source: SAATY, 1980.

18
When the consistency ratio CR>0,1 or consistency index CI>0,1, the assessment of the
dependence of the elements of the matrix must be repeated.
The first step of determining the validity weights in the study of BDOT10k is to create
matrix of pairwise comparisons for the five elements of data quality (completeness,
logical consistency, positional accuracy, temporal precision and thematic accuracy).
Preferences are expressed using a scale from 1 to 9, where 1 is the equivalence of
comparable elements, and 9 ‐ extreme preference of one component relative to
another. Considering the quality of the BDOT10k data from the level of the user's
needs, A weight matrix of validity will look like this:
1 9/1 5/1 3/1 3/3
1/9 1 1/7 1/7 1/2
A= 1/5 7/1 1 2/1 3/3
1/3 7/1 1/2 1 3/1
1/3 2/1 1/3 1/3 1
The next step is to calculate the eigenvector of the matrix of preferences. SAATY (1980)
proved that this approach is optimal in order to find the final ranking of the considered
criterion. As a result of the calculations the weight vector was obtained. Vector w is a
vector of weights in relating to the five elements of the quality of data representing
user preferences.
w = [0.49,0.04,0.21,0.18,0.08]
In order to verify the results of pairwise comparisons of matrix A elements,
consistency index and consistency ratio were calculated. The calculated values of the
coefficients were respectively 0,068 and 0,061.
Table 3 indicates the point values of data quality assessment for the five
features described by the point values on a scale from 1 to 100, on the basis of table 1.
The weights of individual data quality criteria come from the matrix w.

Table 3. The point values of data quality evaluation and the values of calculated
estimators
Point values for
Criteria of data The evaluation
No Weights assessment ‐
quality point values
weighted
1 Completeness 60 0.49 29
Logical
2 99 0.04 4
consistency
3 Position accuracy 40 0.21 8
Temporal
4 80 0.18 14
accuracy
Thematic
5 95 0.08 8
accuracy
The average
The average value 75 63
Calculated weighted value
estimates The coefficient of The coefficient
0.33 0.16
variation of variation

Source: SIEJKA and ŚLUSARSKI own study.

Overall evaluation of the quality of the BDOT10k data was performed by
calculating two estimators: the average value and the coefficient of average variation.

19
The average value of all data quality criteria shows, how big part of the data meets the
established criteria of 100 points. The difference of 12‐points between the values of
average and weighted average shows the merits of the application of validity weights
in the study of spatial data quality. In addition, the values of coefficients of variation for
the average and the weighted average are 0.33 and 0.16 respectively. They show the
consistency of the result of the data quality evaluation calculated using weights.
A conceptual model is one in which the coefficient of averages variation is zero.
1.4. Conclusions
In recent years, demand for spatial information is growing rapidly. They are used in
decision making processes concerning the functioning of state and quality of life of
citizens. Increases also the number of institutions collecting the data, as well as the
amount of information collected. In Poland, are created and maintained the official
databases collecting spatial information. BDOT10k is one of the basic databases
covering the whole country. A key component of the official spatial the database is
quality management of the collected data.
BDOT10k due to its complexity of structures and a wide range of topics of
collected data requires the use of advanced techniques for data quality control.
Currently there is no official solution for quality management purposes in BDOT10k.
There are no official control templates and software applications for data control.
Control templates shall be essentially consistent with current legislation and assumed
as independent from the particular commercial development. The proposed in the
work concept of data quality model for BDOT10k will be useful for creating National
Management System of Topographic Objects Database.
Experimental study of the quality of the data of BDOT10k database was carried
out in Zielonki commune, Malopolskie Voivodeship. Performing a qualitative
assessment, particular attention was paid to the needs of the user the data set. Criteria
for assessing the quality of data set were based on five criteria: completeness, logical
consistency, positional accuracy, temporal accuracy and thematic accuracy. As a result
of this analysis it was stated that, more than half of the analyzed object does not meet
the required geometric accuracy parameters. Studies of completeness have shown
deficiencies of the data at the level of 40%. Research of the temporal accuracy of the
data set for the study area showed its timeliness at 80%. Practically there were no
weaknesses found in the thematic accuracy and logical consistency, analyzing the
criteria relevant to the user of spatial databases. For thematic accuracy 95% met this
criterion and 99% for logical consistency. Based on these results an average data
quality assessment for the BDOT10k database is 75%.
Doing the research of data quality from the point of view of the user it is
necessary to remember, that data quality elements are characterized by varying
degrees of significance. For this reason, during the qualitative assessment the
appropriate weights should be assigned to them. The sizes of the weights were
calculated using AHP method in the range of data quality elements representing user
preferences. The most important quality criterion is the completeness of the data set ‐
49 points (at a scale from 1 to 100), further geometrical accuracy ‐ 21 points and the
temporal accuracy ‐ 18 points. Thematic accuracy ‐ 8 points and logical consistency ‐ 4
points, are of minor importance for the qualitative assessment of the spatial database
from the point of view of the user's needs. The weighted average assessment of
BDOT10k database data quality is 63%.

20
 Result of data quality assessment of the BDOT10k database calculated using
weights is lower by 12 percentage points compared to the result obtained without the
use of weights. This fact points to the validity of the use of weights in the study of
spatial data quality. In particular, the use of validity weights is important when using
the data sets characterized by internal diversity of the criteria values for assessing the
quality of data.

21
 2. ANALYSIS OF FREE SOFTWARE CAPABILITIES
IN ENSURING TOPOLOGICAL CORRECTENESS
OF SPATIAL DATA
The increasing demand for the data and information of a spatial nature in the past
three decades as well as the developments in the area of information technologies and
informatics, has led to the development of automated tools for efficient storage,
analysis and presentation of geographic data. This rapidly evolving technology has
become to be known as Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Geographically
referenced data separates GIS from other information systems.
Simple vector models in GIS build upon points and lines. Areas (polygons) are
modelled by closed loops of lines – there may be inner loops to exclude “islands”
(INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR STANDARDIZATION, 2004). Simple geometric
elements: point, line and polygon are furnished with semantic attributes, thereby
creating features. This must be done explicitly. Therefore, a vector model is also called
geo‐relational.
Geographical feature, representing ground element, is made up of two components
(GOMARASCA, 2009):
 positional, which graphically and geometrically defines the position and the
shape of the objects represented by geometric primitives like points, lines and
polygons (e.g. poles, roads, parcels);
 descriptive, expressed by alpha‐numerical declarations, aimed at qualifying
some non‐spatial properties of the geometrical features by means of attributes
(numbers, strings, date); i.e. pole height, road surface, parcel number, etc.
Attributes are arranged in tables and each feature has a database table record.
Geographic features are organized into thematic layers, allowing segregating
different kinds of features. Additionally each GIS layer has a homogeneous geometric
type (all points, lines, or polygons).
In the era when GIS software was not yet so popular and widely used Computer Aided
Design (CAD) software and other vector graphics programs were used for map
creation. CAD software has powerful functions of graphics drawing and graphics
editing. It can draw many different geometric shapes, such as points, lines, polygons,
circles, arcs, ellipses etc. Therefore it is well suited to draw digital maps. Nowadays
CAD files such as AutoCAD drawing files (DWG), MicroStation design files (DGN), and
Autodesk's drawing exchange format (DXF) can serve as good sources of GIS data sets
(ESRI, 2001).
CAD files contain some textual and mainly vector data that can be used to populate GIS
data sets. In general terms CAD files contain a collection of autonomous geometric
objects (also called entities or elements) that are defined by static graphic properties,
such as colour, line style, and line weight, and are loosely organized by level or layer.
Layering is the most widely used technique for managing the complex
information contained in larger drawings and CAD models (INTERNATIONAL
ORGANIZATION FOR STANDARDIZATION, 1998a). This consists of assigning graphical
drawing elements of the same type to invisible layers, which can be turned on and off,
both on the screen and in paper printouts, to help the user to focus on only that which
is essential to her work, hiding the rest of the information.
Since Layering is a widely used method for structuring data in CAD models,
during the last few years national standardization organizations, professional
associations, user groups for particular CAD systems, individual companies etc. have

22
issued numerous standards and guidelines for the naming and structuring of layers,
especially in building design. In order to increase the integration of CAD data in the
industry as a whole ISO decided to define an international standard for layer usage –
ISO 13567 (INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR STANDARDIZATION, 1998b).
Although CAD layer is often used to organize and define default symbols for
a category of objects in a CAD file, in practice CAD layer can be used to hold objects
from many different categories, or CAD objects in a category can be spread out over
many CAD layers. In some sense CAD layers are nothing more than other entity
properties, such as colour or line type. This causes that there is a great deal of
flexibility within CAD to organize data.
In a CAD file, enforcement of data organization is the sole responsibility of the
CAD standards implemented by the organization and subsequently adhered to by the
CAD operator. CAD standards do not always separate object systems by layer – objects
could be differentiated just as well by colour or line style. Sometimes data organization
is dictated by an application that creates the data. The use of well‐defined data
standards is essential in avoiding ambiguity and poor data quality in a CAD file (ESRI,
2003).
In addition to the purely geometric data CAD drawings can also contain
descriptions of objects. There are a variety of methods used within AutoCAD and
MicroStation to maintain descriptive attributes on CAD objects. Fortunately in case of
map data usually simple labelling is used by means of texts located on maps.
2.1. Geometry issues
Because of presented above different data models and the different intended uses of
the CAD drawings, the process of using CAD data in a GIS or converting CAD data into a
GIS data set requires conversion form CAD data to GIS data. The conversion process
includes two parts: one is graphical data conversion, and the other is attribute data
conversion.
Data migration is often the most challenging and expensive step in the GIS
implementation. Importing data from external sources requires some necessary
treatment and management such as separating and classifying features, editing
geometric elements and modifying the attributes. Recent advances in GIS software
have made it simpler to move CAD data into GIS databases, however, many quirks still
exist in file transfer due to the intrinsic differences in the file formats and structure.
It is common in CAD or general‐purpose vector drawing software to have
a network of line segments that are used to define the visual boundaries of polygons
and to use separate point objects, such as text entities, to identify the “would‐be”
polygons. This particularly happens when boundaries of parcels have been drawn
using lines and numbers have been presented using texts.
It is much easier to draft polygons as a collection of line segments than it is to draw
closed polygons (ESRI, 2004). But, unfortunately, they do not include necessary
information for executing even the most elementary operations and calculations on
given geometric data (ŽALIK, 1999). For instance:
 it is not possible to fill individual parcels,
 it is not possible to determine which parcels are neighbours to a specified
parcel,
 it is not possible to calculate the area of a desired parcel.

23
Obviously, such representation of geometric data is not sufficient to automate
aforementioned operations. So, it is necessary to create polygons from a collection of
CAD lines that are not drawn as closed polygons.
When there is a high degree of confidence in the data, they can be used “as is”
to generate polygons from lines and points. But this can be done only under the
assumption that each parcel is surrounded by boundary lines and exactly one number
is located inside that identifies it. To be able to build a polygon all border lines must
touch each other only at their ends and form closed rings. Moreover, it should be
possible to convert texts representing parcel numbers into parcel attributes, stored in
attribute table.
But it may happen, that maps drawn in CAD software look perfectly correct
and complete only when displayed by a computer. This way, dangerous illusion of
“a correct” computer‐based maps is achieved whereas in fact there are so‐called
topological inconsistencies.
2.2. Topology
Originally and in the wider sense the term topology referred to the branch of
mathematics dealing with the properties of geometric figures that are not subject to
change under geometric transformations (MAGNUSZEWSKI, 1999). However, in the field
of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) topology is understood as a description of the
spatial relationships between adjacent or located near each other objects (THEOBALD,
2001).
Topological consistency describes the trustworthiness of relationships between the
dataset segments (JOKSIĆ and BAJAT, 2004). These relations typically involve spatial data
inconsistencies such as incorrect line intersections, polygons not properly closed,
duplicate lines or boundaries, or gaps in lines. It deals with the structural integrity of a
given data set based on formal framework for modelling of spatial data and
relationships among objects. These types of errors must be corrected to avoid
incomplete features and to ensure data integrity.
Unites States Census Bureau was a pioneer in the field of application of
topology to reduce the number of errors made in the process of collecting large data
sets at the turn of sixties and seventies of the last century. Environmental Systems
Research Institute (ESRI) has also made major achievements in the field of topology
applications. In the early eighties they developed Coverage format allowing for the
storage of large data sets and efficient spatial analyses taking into account limited
capacities of data storage media and relatively low processing capability of computers
in those days (ESRI, 2005). The operation principle of this format was to store only
information about the components of objects and their relationships (topology) and
construction of these objects “on‐demand” for the purpose of presentation or analysis.
Thus, storing data in this format was synonymous with the verification of topological
correctness. It assumes that the objects are located on the a plane and are represented
by nodes (zero‐dimensional), edges, also called arcs (one‐dimensional) and polygons
(two‐dimensional). Because edges are located on a plane they are not allowed to
intersect, but they have to touch each other at their ends, represented by nodes, finally
forming non‐overlapping and filling the entire area of polygons (ZADRAVEC and ŽALIK,
2009).
The development of computer hardware in terms of processing power and
data storage capacity in the nineties of the twentieth century resulted in the change of
a view on how to store the vector data. It turned out that it was easier to store objects

24
in the “ready” form of so‐called simple features (OPEN GEOSPATIAL CONSORTIUM,
2011). This is particularly important in the case of polygons, because it resulted in
redundant double storage of the same boundary points. Shapefile format was then
created (ESRI, 1998). This approach to storage of simple objects was also used at the
end of this decade, when the first attempts to store geographic data (both geometry
and attribute) in relational database structures were undertaken (ZEILER, 1999). This
way storage of topology together with the data was abandoned. It turned out easier
and more efficient to generate or check the topology “on‐demand” than to create
objects by that means.
2.3. The procedure
The above considerations allow to propose a step‐by‐step procedure for data transfer
from CAD to GIS and subsequent construction of polygons from a set of line segments
or polylines. Particular emphasis is placed on the possibility to use free software for
this purpose (MICHALAK, 2007). Issues described here were previously described in
various publications, for example (AL RAWASHDEH BALQIES SADOUN and AL FUKARA, 2012),
(ŽALIK, 1999), but so far no one has proposed a comprehensive and detailed solution
to this problem.
Interested reader will find here some kind of guide, but it does not cover every
technical issue and likely situation in CAD to GIS transfer. The proposed procedure is
comprised of the following steps:

Step 1. CAD data import
When converting CAD drawings, it is necessary to be able to isolate objects that can be
candidates for GIS features. If building of polygons is anticipated, it is necessary to
obtain the information about their boundaries and identifiers. CAD data is commonly
grouped by CAD layer name or CAD graphic properties such as colour or line style. GIS
software has several methods for categorizing and isolating data contained in CAD
files. The key to successful use of CAD data as GIS features is the ability to uniquely and
consistently categorize different objects within the CAD file that can be used within GIS
layers.
Although there are several standards on how the layers should be organized,
mostly in architectural design (DAVIES, 2011), (INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR
STANDARDIZATION, 1998b) and (NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF BUILDING SCIENCES,
2014), CAD applications do not force users to follow any of these standards. Therefore
it is possible to find CAD drawings where the information regarding polygon
boundaries and their identifiers is mixed with other data or divided into several layers.
The second situation is easily solved by mixing the contents of the layers that keep the
desired information, whereas the first situation is still an open problem, because
typically there is no additional data (apart from line attributes like colour or thickness)
to support automatic extraction of primitives from the layers without involving the
user.
Once the correct features have been successfully identified in CAD file GIS can
directly use the geometry of CAD objects as the GIS feature geometry. GIS uses the
geometric entity type as the primary organization tool. When a CAD drawing is
imported into GIS, it interprets all elements into the three primitive geometric GIS
features: points, lines and polygons. Their characteristics such as layer name, colour, or
line style are stored in individual columns of attribute table created specifically for

25
them. On this basis, an attribute query utilizing any of the CAD graphic properties can
be used to further isolate essential objects within a CAD file.

Step 2. Detection of line inconsistencies
Before running the polygon construction tool, all inconsistencies at the input data have
to be eliminated. Because the user of the CAD software does not need to follow any
other limits than a correct visual effect, coordinate and topology errors may occur.
Topological errors exist due to violation of predefined topology rules. The
most common topology errors in map data include (SEHRA et al., 2014):
 Intersections:
 two line segments intersect at exactly one point – this situation is the most
common
 one line only touches the other, not actually intersecting it
 self‐intersection, which is a special case
 Dangling nodes (line ends) or lines:
 undershoots (lines being too short)
 overshoots (lines being too long), which in specific cases can also result in
creation of intersection errors
 Duplicate lines:
 two line segments completely overlap
 two line segments overlap partially
 Lines, which do not create a border between two polygons (the same polygon is
on their both sides).

Step 3. Correction of detected inconsistencies
Automatic correction of detected errors are generally not recommended (ESRI, 2004).
Instead, a more controlled method of fixing any errors should be established rather
than relying on the automated snapping that occurs when features are snapped using
the cluster tolerance. Using the cluster tolerance to modify or mitigate geometry errors
does not provide adequate control that one might want in the creation of polygons
from lines. Manual editing tools should be considered to fix errors when accuracy is
a concern. There are cases in which the automatic action may cause worsening of the
situation rather than its improvement. ŽALIK (1999) presents some such examples. In
his opinion, problems may also result from the wrong order of correction of individual
topological errors.
Before the editing, it is necessary first to specify which layer will be edited, i.e.
to start so called “Editing session”. It is important to mention that usually editing is
possible only on one layer.
The aforementioned types of errors should be corrected as follows:
 Two intersecting lines should be replaced with three or four lines touching each
other at their ends.
 Undershoots (lines being too short) should be extended, whereas overshoots
(lines being too long) should be shortened, without forgetting about correction
of the possible intersection errors.
 One of the two overlapping (identical) lines must be removed. If the lines
overlap only partially, the common fragments should be separated from both
lines and one of them removed.
 Lines, which do not create a border between two polygons (the same polygon is
on their both sides) have to be removed.

26

Step 4. Creation of temporary polygons only on the basis of lines
After obtaining correct lines, polygons should be created using tool available in chosen
GIS software.

Step 5. Determination of the number of points in polygons
GIS software is usually equipped with Spatial join tool which purpose is to transfer
attributes from one feature to another based on the spatial relationship. In addition to
the conventional use this tool often has an additional option, which allows to
determine statistical parameters such as total, average and standard deviation for the
selected attribute in case of multiple Join Features inside Target Features. Kind of
a side effect of this action is to create an additional column in the attribute table
indicating how many join features match each target feature .

Step 6. Correction of point errors
In the case of more than one point in the polygon user needs to determine which one is
correct. If the point is missing then user has to obtain information from an additional
source what attributes it should have. Only a human can perform such activities. They
cannot be automated in any way. At most thematic (choropleth) map can be created,
where polygons are shaded or patterned in proportion to the number of internal
points.

Step 7. Creation of final polygons
After obtaining correct polygons and points it is necessary to include the attributes of
the point features as attributes on the new polygons. Described above Spatial join can
be used for this purpose
2.4. Free software
The development of free and open source software has experienced a boost over the
last few years. The variety of Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) that can be
found on desktop computers ranges from word processors (e.g. LibreOffice), through
web browsers (e.g. Mozilla Firefox) to vector drawing (e.g. Inkscape). In the GIS
domain, the widespread use of FLOSS is apparent as well (STEINIGER and BOCHER, 2009).
Three FLOSS GIS have been selected, tested and analyzed regarding their capabilities to
be used as tools for spatial data conversion from CAD drawings. Vector editing
functions to create polygons, topology validation and support for common vector and
CAD data formats are considered essential characteristics of GIS desktop software used
for this task. These and other characteristics are compared for QGIS, gvSIG and
OpenJUMP. They have been selected out of six which have been introduced and
compared in (PIEPER ESPADA, 2010). They are considered by the author of this paper as
some of the most advanced and sophisticated FLOSS GIS currently available.
2.4.1. QGIS
QGIS might be the best known FLOSS GIS software, which owns one of the largest user
communities. It is a user friendly desktop GIS which can be used to manage, edit,
visualize, analyze data and compose printable maps (QGIS DEVELOPMENT TEAM,
2015). The programming language is C++ and GUI functionality is based on the Qt4
library. Its development started in 2002 and the original aim was to provide an easy to
use and fast geographic data viewer for Linux‐based systems. However, as the QGIS

27
project evolved the idea emerged to use QGIS as a simple Graphical User Interface
(GUI) for GRASS. The QGIS development team reached its initial objectives and started
working to extend the functionality beyond data viewing. Now QGIS includes powerful
analytical functionality through integration with SAGA, OTB, MMGIS, fTools and GRASS.
It runs on Linux, Unix, Mac OSX, and Windows and supports numerous vector, raster
and database formats as well as data delivered from web servers. In particular it can
read CAD files: DXF and DGN. An attractive feature for other programmers is the option
to write QGIS extensions (called plug‐ins) in Python to add custom functionality.
2.4.2. gvSIG CE
gvSIG (Generalitat Valenciana Sistemas de Información Geográfica) project has
been founded by the Regional Council for Infrastructures and Transportation (CIT) of
Valencia (Spain) to produce software of similar functionality as ESRI’s ArcView for
municipal authorities (ANGUIX, DÍAZ, 2008). The goals of the project are to provide an
open source tool that utilizes open standards and is platform independent. gvSIG
wraps a number of the Java libraries, including GeoTools and JTS. One of the goals was
unifying CAD and GIS worlds through integration of CAD tools within FLOSS GIS to get
rid of the proprietary software and license costs. The goal to provide software with the
functionality of ESRI’s ArcView (3.x) has almost been reached, and, in some aspects, is
exceeded. gvSIG is known for its user‐friendly interface and being able to access all
common vector and raster formats. gvSIG is a very useful GIS product with extensive
vector editing functions.
The development of gvSIG started in 2003 and was led by the company IVER
S.A. (Spain). Currently project is managed by international non‐profit organization
gvSIG Association. In 2011 a group of programmers unhappy with direction of
program development forked gvSIG creating gvSIG Community Edition (CE). This
version is characterized by rich set of topology tools that can be used to validate
geometry of vector layers. Advanced analytical functionality is provided by powerful
SEXTANTE library (OLAYA, 2010), offering currently more than 300 geoalgorithms.
The SEXTANTE project has successfully developed a Java‐based framework for the
analysis and processing of vector and raster data. The framework also includes
graphical components that enable the creation of workflows similar to the ESRI’s
ModelBuilder.
2.4.3. OpenJUMP
The JUMP (JAVA Unified Mapping Platform) project was founded in 2002 by a
consortium of two Canadian provincial ministries and two companies. The objective
was to develop a GIS specifically for data editing and data conflation (CICHOCIŃSKI,
2007). JUMP was designed to be a generic and pluggable environment into which the
complex algorithms required for spatial data conflation could be embedded.
Spatial data conflation usually requires a human input element, and as a result JUMP
was built with a number of generic user interface and GIS viewer features. A
forerunner and part of that project was also the enhancement of the geometry library
Java Topology Suite (JTS), which attempts to implement the OpenGIS Simple Features
Specification (SFS) (OPEN GEOSPATIAL CONSORTIUM, 2011) for geometric operations
as accurately as possible. In some cases the SFS is unclear or omits a specification. In
this case JTS attempts to choose a reasonable and consistent alternative. JTS is
intended to be used in the development of applications that support validation,
cleaning, integration and querying of spatial datasets (VIVID SOLUTIONS, 2003). When

28
JUMP development activities almost stopped in 2004 due to the loss of financial
support, a group of volunteers founded the JUMP‐Pilot Project and continued the
software development under the name OpenJUMP. They quickly added multilingual
support and numerous small interface improvements as well as some analytical plug‐
ins.
The initial application focus on data conflation and editing is responsible for
the fact that the JUMP GIS family has a strong focus on vector data creation and
analysis (offering good topology validation tools and vector editing functions), while it
provides no raster analysis functionality. Only recently OpenJUMP has been integrated
with SEXTANTE (also used by gvSIG), which adds extensive raster analysis tools to the
software.
2.5. Implementation of the procedure in featured programs
The small fragment of cadastral map, covering 31 parcels, was used as the sample data.
Apart from boundaries and designations of land use forms, ALE.DXF file contained
lines representing boundaries of parcels on GPE layer and texts representing parcel
numbers on GNE_R layer. This drawing contained examples of all of the
aforementioned topological errors that potentially could interfere with the
construction of correct polygons. DXF drawing format was used due to the fact that not
all of featured programs support all CAD formats, and DXF format can be considered as
the most versatile and the simplest. It has some restrictions on the possibility of
storing more advanced elements, however, in the case of map data it would not matter
as generally only lines (polylines) and texts are used. The DXF file has become the de
facto intermediate file format for vector data. DXF files are supported by a wide variety
of vector‐based geometric editing software. The DXF file is generally an ASCII file.
2.5.1. OpenJUMP
OpenJUMP is able to read only DXF files. After loading the whole drawing is presented
in its entirety as one layer, in one colour. The attribute table indicates the geometry
type of each feature – line or point (converted from text), respectively. Additionally it
contains universal columns FID (feature identifier), LAYER, LTYPE (line type),
ELEVATION, THICKNESS, COLOR, TEXT, TEXT_HEIGHT, TEXT_ROTATION,
TEXT_STYLE. On the basis of the content of the attribute table, selection of required
drawing elements can be made using Attribute query tool (Fig. 4). OpenJUMP allows
immediate creation of a new layer for the results. It is user responsibility to save such
layer, for instance in popular shapefile format.
Topological correctness is verified in two consecutive steps. The first may be but does
not have to be, Validate Selected Layers (Fig. 5). This allows to check basic topology
and that geometries are simple (do not self‐intersect).

29

Fig. 4. Attribute query tool in OpenJUMP.
Source: CICHOCIŃSKI own study.

Fig. 5. Validate Selected Layers tool in OpenJUMP.
Source: CICHOCIŃSKI own study.
However, the ultimate test of the correctness of the borders is the creation of
polygons using Polygonize tool (Fig. 6). Selecting the option Node input before
polygonizing allows to automatically split intersecting lines into parts, touching each
other at the ends. The results of this operation are polygons which could be created
and two types of lines that do not form the boundaries of polygons.

30
 Dangling lines (at least one of their ends are not in contact with another line)
are presented in red (although dangling ends are not indicated), while blue colour
represents lines, called Cuts, that although linked to other, do not create a border
between two polygons (the same polygon is on their both sides). Therefore it is written
above, that the first step does not have to be conducted because errors such as self‐
intersecting lines and overlapping lines does not interfere with the Polygonize tool
(they are automatically corrected).
OpenJUMP has many editing tools collected in Editing Toolbox, which allow manual
correction of signalled errors. Their description, however, goes (for each of the
presented programs) outside the scope of this text.

Fig. 6. Polygonize tool in OpenJUMP.
Source: CICHOCIŃSKI own study.

Fig. 7. Join Attributes Spatially tool in OpenJUMP.
Source: CICHOCIŃSKI own study.

31

Fig. 8. Spatial Join tool in OpenJUMP.
Source: CICHOCIŃSKI own study.
After obtaining correct polygons it is necessary to assign them attributes of the
points that are inside. Such operation is unambiguous only when there is only one
point in one polygon. To check if this is the case, Join Attributes Spatially tool can be
used with parameters set as presented in Fig. 7. The requirement for this mechanism
to operate properly is that there must be at least one column of numeric type (integer,
double) in attribute table (although it can be empty). In this case column COLOUR was
used. The result is new polygon layer, with column named COUNT in attribute table,
which provides information about number of points in every polygon. One (1) is the
desired value, zero (0) indicates a lack of a point, while two (2) or more is the evidence
of excess. At this stage again human intervention is required, who has to verify and
correct the excess or lack of points. In order to facilitate this task, the resulting
polygons can be presented in the form of thematic map (choropleth map), where areas
are shaded or patterned in proportion to the number of internal points. After
correcting points final polygons (parcels) are obtained by transferring attributes from
points to polygons using Spatial Join command (Fig. 8). It is important to effectively
verify the number of points in polygons, because every additional point inside
generates additional resulting polygon, and the lack of a point in the polygon is
synonymous with a lack of the resulting polygon.
2.5.2. GvSIG CE
The gvSIG CE recognizes two CAD file formats: DXF and DGN. After loading data the
program tries to present them in the form the most similar to the form in which they
could be seen in CAD. It uses for this purpose properties of the graphical elements
stored in the columns of the attribute table: ID, FShape (in this case containing values
FPolyline2D and FPoint2D), Entity (values Line and Text), Layer, Colour, Elevation,
Thickness, Text, HeightText, RotationText. In particular, it uses the content of the
Colour column to specify colour of the elements and labels points originating from
texts using content of the Text column, utilizing also parameters stored in columns
HeightText and RotationText. However, probably because of an error, it does not
present texts in appropriate colours, although according to layer properties it should.

32

Fig. 9. Selection Query tool in gvSIG CE.
Source: CICHOCIŃSKI own study.
On the basis of the content of the attribute table, selection of needed drawing
elements can be made, using Selection Query tool. It opens the wizard, which simplifies
the process of query building by indicating appropriate columns and displaying their
content (Fig. 9). Launching the query by pressing New Selection button causes
highlighting of appropriate elements, which can then be saved to a new dataset, using
Export Data As option. Because gvSIG does not analyze the geometry type of selected
elements, it actually saves 3 files, automatically giving them suffixes indicating whether
they contain points, lines or polygons. In case of selection of parcel boundaries they are
saved to file with “line” suffix. Similarly, points representing texts are saved in a file
with “point” suffix. Both in query wizard and in the next step it can be seen that gvSIG
user interface is inspired by solutions from ESRI, ArcView producer. Checking the
correctness of the course and the relationships between individual segments of
borders consists in creating topology.
In the subsequent windows presented by the wizard one need to specify the
layers that will be included in the topology (there may be more than one) (Fig. 10), and
provide the topological rules to be verified. In case of lines they are respectively (Fig.
11):

33

Fig. 10. Layers that will be included in the topology in gvSIG CE.
Source: CICHOCIŃSKI own study.

Fig. 11. Topological rules to be verified in gvSIG CE.
Source: CICHOCIŃSKI own study.
 All geometries of A must pass JTS validation – Geometries must meet Simple
Feature Specification requirements.

34
  No geometry of A may have duplicate coordinates – Vertices of geometries must
not have identical coordinates.
 No line of A may self‐intersect – Lines in the same layer must not cross or
overlap themselves. They are allowed to intersect and overlap other lines.
 All line geometries of A must be free of dangling nodes – No dangling lines
allowed. The last vertex of a line must touch a segment of the same or another
line.
 Layer A must not contain any duplicate geometries – No duplicate geometries
allowed in layer.
It should be noted that none of the available rules does allow for analysis of the
presence of intersections between two different lines.
The next step is topology validation, which results in detecting and flagging up
places in which the rules are violated. As expected gvSIG has detected dangling nodes,
duplicate geometries and self‐intersections, but unfortunately, just as one could
suspect it has not signalled intersection errors. Therefore, it appears that the process
of building the topology and correcting found errors must be preceded by launching
geoprocessing tool Clean (Fig. 12). By using a minimum tolerance value operation of
this tool should be limited to correction of intersection errors.

Fig. 12. Geoprocessing tool Clean in gvSIG CE.
Source: CICHOCIŃSKI own study.

35

Fig. 13. Geoprocessing tool Build polygons in gvSIG CE.
Source: CICHOCIŃSKI own study.
In most cases, this tool indeed has worked as expected, but has not worked
properly in places where one line only touches the other, not actually intersecting it.
Therefore, Build polygons tool (Fig. 13) has been eventually used, acting in a similar
manner to the previously presented Polygonize tool from OpenJUMP. The only
difference in favour of gvSIG is signalling not only dangling lines, but also their ends –
dangling nodes.

Fig. 14. Spatial join tool in gvSIG CE.
Source: CICHOCIŃSKI own study.

36
 After correction of detected errors and re‐construction of polygons validation
of points representing parcel numbers can begin. Spatial join tool can be used for this
purpose (Fig. 14). This tool usually transfers attribute table field values from an
overlay layer to an input layer. But if Transfer from nearest feature option is not
selected, then NUM_RELA column of output layer attribute table receives the number
of overlay layer objects contained inside every input layer object. Just as in OpenJUMP
this information can be used to verify and manually correct excess or lack of points.
In the last step Spatial join tool is run again, but this time actually to transfers
attribute table field values from an overlay layer to an input layer. The results are final
polygons (parcels) with attribute table enriched with parcel numbers.
2.5.3. QGIS
After opening CAD file (DXF or DGN) in QGIS user can select one or more geometry
types that she wants to load. In this case there are two of them: Point and LineString
(Fig. 15). They are loaded respectively as entities Point and entities LineString layers.
Their attribute tables contain only two usable columns: Layer and Text. On this basis,
needed elements can be selected. It can be done using Extract by attribute tool (Fig. 16)
accessible in Processing Toolbox. Like OpenJUMP, QGIS is equipped with Polygonize
tool, but it has limited functionality: it does not indicate anomalies detected in the
course of building polygons. In particular, one type of error is relevant: dangling lines.
Other errors: overlapping (duplicate) lines and intersections do not interfere are
automatically corrected. To control the correctness of relationships between geometric
elements in QGIS there is, installed by default, Topology Checker plug‐in and it can be
used to detect dangling lines. Appropriate rule must be specified for that purpose (Fig.
17) and then validated (Fig. 18). Detected errors can then be indicated on the list,
which causes them to automatically highlight on the map and thus simplifies manual
correction. After obtaining correct polygons one can proceed to check points
corresponding to texts in CAD drawing. The number of points in each polygon can be
explored using Points in Polygon tool (Fig. 19). After determining the correct number
of points, point attributes can be transferred to the surrounding polygons using Join
Attributes by Location tool (Fig. 20) thereby obtaining final polygons (parcels).

Fig. 15. Geometry types available to load in QGIS.
Source: CICHOCIŃSKI own study.

37


Fig. 16. Extract by attribute tool in QGIS.
Source: CICHOCIŃSKI own study.

Fig. 17. Topology Rule Settings in Topology Checker plugin in QGIS.
Source: CICHOCIŃSKI own study.

38

Fig. 18. Topology Checker plugin in QGIS.
Source: CICHOCIŃSKI own study.

Fig. 19. Points in Polygon tool in QGIS.
Source: CICHOCIŃSKI own study.

39


Fig. 20. Join Attributes by Location tool in QGIS.
Source: CICHOCIŃSKI own study.
2.6. Conclusions
Conducted research shows that there exists a group of free software tools that allow to
perform the entire procedure of CAD data import, and then convert them into full‐
fledged GIS data. Some difficulty may result in the fact that currently free software do
not read DWG files, but it is usually possible to make earlier conversion to DXF format.
Not all tools worked as expected, but every time they could be replaced by
others, which use was not originally planned. In each of the programs only one path
leading to the goal was selected, but there were other possible solutions. Particularly
noteworthy are extensive capabilities of GRASS GIS in the area of auto‐correction of
topological errors. These tools can be launched from all the analyzed programs and,
although auto‐correction is generally not recommended, situations could be imagined
in which the efficiency of data correction is more important than the quality of the
result.
It was noted that the final result and the amount of work designed to achieve it
depends not only on the capabilities of the software, but also on the quality of acquired
data. Therefore, obtained research results allow to formulate guidelines for persons
creating CAD drawings intended for use in GIS software.

40
 The simplest suggestion for making CAD data more useful as GIS content is to
implement and adhere to a CAD layering standard. Implementing a CAD standard
improves the quality of the CAD data and its usefulness as GIS content. A CAD standard
is the closest thing in CAD to a GIS database schema. Being able to reliably identify
different object categories by layer name will ensure that various object categories can
consistently be identified in CAD files. This is particularly important if one wish to use
CAD drawings in QGIS, because this software is able to use only this property.
The closer a CAD file's data constructs are to those of GIS software's features,
the easier and more useful that geometry will be for use in GIS. Not only the schematic,
pictorial representation of the data should be considered but also the geometric
interpretation of connectivity when the drawing is used as a GIS data source. For
example, there should be no lines stopping short of connecting to make, for
cartographic reasons, room for the node symbol.
Using more than one piece of text inside a polygon to denote a parcel number
should also be avoided, at least in situations when these text object are on the same
layer, have the same colour and text style, and have no other distinguishing
characteristics.

41
3. UPDATING OF LOCAL DATABASES AT THE COMMUNE
LEVEL USING GPS TOOLS
Today, the administration and space management processes are carried out using
information technology. Previous work tool in this direction were thematic
cartography tools in the traditional attitude. The work consisted largely on the manual
drawing of thematic maps, which were later used for other branches studies. The scope
of the elaborated data and their accuracy has always depended on specifics and the
method of obtaining of the baseline data. Along with the development of information
technologies using geolocation and spatial attributes also expectations towards their
creators and designers increased. They are mainly focused on the effective use of
geomatic methods to acquire and develop spatial data in order to obtain reliable
information. To meet this requirement it was necessary to create tools ensuring
adequate accuracy and speed of action. This solution proved to be computer
Geographical Information Systems (GIS), also called spatial information systems.
According to (GOTLIB et al., 2007) GIS provides collecting and advanced analysis
processes of geographic data and their attributes. In the broad range an essential factor
that contributes to the development of spatial information systems is a group of people
directly creating and using this system, as well as the organizational, technological and
legal procedures in force, enabling its operation. The potential of GIS technology is
used in many sectors including the planning, administration, monitoring of pollution,
location systems, health care, and many others.
The Information Systems discipline is 50 years old, in Australia, in
Scandinavia, the U.S.A., the U.K. and Germany (CLARK, 2006). In Poland, the beginnings
of information systems date back to the eighties of the twentieth century, where the
first attempts to create them using the information technology appeared. Earlier they
were replaced by the cartographic and descriptive presentations in classical forms ‐
maps and tabular data sets. With the passage of years the need has increased for access
to accurate and complete information, also acquired at a rapid pace. Information plays
an important role in every area of modern life. The pace of life in today's society
generates the need to create mechanisms for access to information in a quickly way
and unlimited by place and time. The value of information depends on its credibility,
up to date character, the speed of access, the method of sharing and the form of
presentation.
Geographic Information System (GIS) is used as the name of the field dealing
with spatial information – geoinformation, and the methods and data processing
techniques which have geometric character, often referred to as spatial. These methods
are referred to in this paper as GIS tools. These relate to the acquisition, collecting,
verifying, integration, analysis, transfer and sharing of spatial data in the broad sense it
includes methods and technical measures. (GAŹDZICKI, 2003) GIS is used to describe,
explain and predict the spatial distribution of geographical phenomena. It provides
both software as well as science sections, and the developed methodology to solve
research problems. GIS is a proven method of spatial data processing, providing tools
such as cartometric measurements and spatial analysis. Scientific basis for GIS are
developed by geoinformatics, which takes advantage of new opportunities associated
with the development of computer networks. This system is strengthened in Poland
due to the growing importance of spatial data and worked out methods of analysis.
In the information systems field there is a great need for different theories.
Theory Development can be performed in different ways – deductively and/or

42
inductively. Different approaches with their pros and cons for theory development
exists. A Combined approach, which builds on inductive as well as deductive thinking,
has been put forward – a Multi‐Grounded Theory approach. Important is the
knowledge of the limits of information systems: “Knowledge created within scientific
disciplines are often codified and structured in theories. Information systems (IS)
research, there are growing efforts in developing theories. One approach often taken is
to use an established theory from a reference discipline and redevelop and adapt it to
the information systems context” (LIND, 2006).
According to (SMYTH and GABLE, 2006) There is a body of knowledge that
suggests that many of the characteristics of Information Systems are consistent with
those observed across emerging disciplines in the early stages of their development.
For example, in the early evolution of Management as a discipline, some of the
characteristics that manifested themselves at that time have been seen more recently
in the development of Information Systems.
GIS tools enable acquisition and collection of data, their processing, analyze
and elaboration of results in appropriate formats, useful for the systems of mass
presentations (mapservers and geoservers) and convenient for users to interpret in
the form of resulting numerical thematic maps. By combining the geometric
characteristics and location of the object with their description in contrast to analogue
maps, GIS maps contain a large amount of information. The versatility and usefulness
of GIS tools caused that they are used in many areas. The subject of the paper is to
show the usefulness of spatial information systems, created in accordance with the
requirements of the GIS in order to develop local databases for the purposes of local
government administration tasks in neighbouring communes. Creation of such sets of
information has practical justification thanks to the consistency of decision‐making by
units at the same level of administration. This solution based on the law (Act, 2010),
ensures the implementation of the main objectives of spatial policy. Currently, a part of
the decisions taken by local authorities is based on spatial information of GIS
databases, which define the location of the phenomenon or the object together with its
description. Thanks to the content of local spatial data sets some of the communes
have complex characteristics of their land and use it in the process of analyzing,
monitoring, management, local planning. This is a good direction of changes, what can
be a sign of the development of social awareness in the time of the necessity of
obtaining complete and recent data in a short time. Modern information and
communication methods can greatly simplify the use of large amounts of information.
As an example can serve the procedure for the selection of land for investment, which
using GIS tools can take just a few minutes (BAJTEK, 2007). These systems can be used
anywhere where one of the characteristics of an object is its geographical location. The
creation of local databases is a part of the complex process of integration of databases
at the district and state levels. Thanks to the common use of Internet networks there
are new opportunities for obtaining spatial information. Unfortunately, this fact also
carries certain risks regarding the protection of such information.
In turn ‐ integration in the network of units and institutions having data
results in the determination of the responsibility for the completeness, validity and
availability of data by the institutions and persons concerned. The Directive of the
European Parliament and of the Council of the European Union ‐INSPIRE (INSPIRE
Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe) deals with it, establishing the
Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community. It aims to build
a spatial data infrastructure enabling the sharing of environmental spatial data by

43
public sector organizations and facilitating of public access to spatial information in
Europe (DIRECTIVE, 2007).
In Poland, on administrative levels of communes, binding rules regarding the
spatial management are The Local Spatial Development Plans. They determine, among
others, trends of changes in allocation of land, housing development, and the
development of technical infrastructure. To accomplish this, communes are more and
more often analyzing the social phenomena, which distribution in space is extremely
important for sustainable development. Spatial management is therefore one of the
areas of local government activity, which requires strong support from GIS tools.
Because this opens up the way not only to support the planning process, but also to
performing of advanced spatial analyses. GIS tools enable providing information about
the proposed plans to potential investors and local communities, actively contributing
to building the information society.
In this paper, the authors present a practical aspect of spatial data collection
for the greation of local spatial databases, using the most recent measurement
technology and GIS informatic tools.
In the specialist literature, according to (GOTLIB et al., 2007) we can read that
„Geoinformation systems allow to record spatial data in a logical structure, their
comprehensive analysis and visualization. They are also used to describe, explain and
predict the spatial distribution of geographical phenomena. The GIS system consists
mainly of appropriate software and hardware, collected data, applied algorithms and
procedures for processing and sharing of information.”
The subject of the work includes the following topics:
1. Description and brief characteristics of detailed data collection
method for the needs of local databases together with an assessment
of their accuracy (base materials – EGiB (cadastre) maps, GPS/GNSS
tools, statistical data on the basis of Central Statistical Office and other
resources);
2. Description of the methodology of creating of the Spatial Information
Systems (SIP) elements in the phase of office works of spatial data
processing in the program QGIS;
3. Presentation of the effect of data processing in selected areas of the
elaboration of SIP for selected communes in accordance with their
expectations and local needs;
4. Components of developed spatial information systems:
 map of economic activity of the commune; target designation and use:
the development of the service sector, promotion of the commune as
a unit of local government,
 map of the distribution and intensity of building,
 identification of fees impact areas due to commune investment
activities on the value of a given property,
 communication network update (stops, local connections, exits and
intersections of a lower category roads),
 update of maps of infrastructural networks, including water and fire
fittings (fire hydrants, wells) possibilities of using in the local fire
services,
 survey of the status of selected objects (buildings) and giving them the
appropriate characteristics relating to the degree of their technical
wear.

44
3.1. Observations and methods
The following section presents the methodology of creation and visualization of GIS
components created for the selected objects. They are a few communes of the
Małopolskie Voivodship in Poland. This methodology has been developed by the
Authors of the publication and used partly for BSc and MSc works shown in the
references. In addition, most of the elements of GIS has been implemented in the
respective communes and can be used at the moment as the basis of planning
activities. In the whole elaboration the base materials were used (maps of Land and
Buildings Cadastre (EGiB) in the raster and vector form, data of Geodetic Register of
Infrastructure Networks (GESUT), Local Spatial Development Plans (MPZP) and
others) obtained from local geodetic resources. Using integrated measurement
techniques commonly applied in geodesy, these materials have been updated, and in
further technical processing were used as a new sources of information for further
analysis in the communes areas. All the work was divided into the surveying part and
the office processing of data. In the surveying part both classic and satellite
measurement techniques and GPS instruments were used to update the content of
selected elements of thematic maps, such as: location selected groups of buildings,
buses for public transportation, public utilities objects. The information obtained in the
form of files in gpx or shapefile formats were properly processed and converted for
further technical elaboration and processing on layers with giving them the relevant
references.
During the realization of the elaboration object a key role played GIS tools,
enriching the thematic cartography methods and significantly shortening time of
analyzes development of the phenomena and processes in the areas of communes.
They made it possible to carry out spatial analysis and visualization of the final result
in the form of maps. Analysis of the spatial data is the essence of GIS, it helps to
discover the rules, trends or anomalies in the areas of research, which could not be
identified by statistical analysis or the use of thematic cartography methods.
In the desk job development of data, digital elevation models (DEM) were used
for the elaboration of the characteristics volatility maps in the range of the research. In
addition, the image of basic and cadastral map was used, having georeference given in
the ETRS system: Poland 2000 ‐ EPSG 2178.
Input materials, obtained from District Geodetic Documentation Centre in
Kraków and locally appropriate, within the area of development, Town and Commune
Councils were raster layers in the GeoTIF format. They contained information
concerning the thematic of point objects, lines and surfaces, concerning:
 cadastral objects from the EGiB maps, administrative borders of communes
divided into cadastre precincts, borders of plots, location of buildings,
 GESUT networks(course of lines, fittings etc.),
 elements of MPZP in communes.
These maps required in the first place update of the contents. For this purpose,
three types of handheld GPS receivers were used: GPSmap 76 (GARMIN), GPSmap62st
(GARMIN) and Nautiz X7. Manual GPS receivers have already been the subject of
numerous publications, among others (KWINTA, 2010), (MIKA, 2011), (MIKA, 2014),
(SIEJKA, 2006), (PLEWAKO, 2010), (SIEJKA, 2013). They described the basic features and
work modes, comparing and determining the accuracy of subsequent models of the
GARMIN family and demonstrating both the advantages and disadvantages of working
with their use. In (PLEWAKO, 2010) it was concluded that: „The accuracy of handheld
GPS signals receivers can be regarded as the same as the error (of determination with

45
their use) of geodetic point position for the II or III class of the network. Accepting this
criterion repeatedly, in different regions of the southern Polish and for different reference
systems, a systematic factor of significant size was observed to exist. Removal of such
factor from the set of observations allows for a reduction in the value of the position
error. This error is at the level of about ± 1.5 m for nearly optimal measurement
conditions. This accuracy drops to approximately ± 3 m for the area where there are few
obstacles in the way of signals from satellites. When access to signals is limited by the
high buildings, dense forest, etc. the error increases to ± 10 meters and more. Access to
signals from EGNOS satellite system significantly improves and adds credibility to the
measurement results.” In elaborations (MIKA, 2011), (MIKA, 2014) and (SZOSTAK et al.
2014) the ability of use of a wider range of handheld receivers than land or water
navigation was also demonstrated. Fig. 21 shows the selected types of handheld GPS
receivers, which functions can be used to some geodetic works, although their primary
function is navigation.

Fig. 21. Nautiz x7, Garmin GPSmap 62st, Garmin GPSmap 76
Source: http://www.trekkinn.com/outdoor‐gory/garmin‐gpsmap‐76/6633/p
Source: http://www.smallgis.pl
Field works, using GPS receivers shown in Fig. 21 consisted in the location of
selected objects on the ground and saving their coordinates. Another element of the
field works was to give localized objects properly prepared characteristics (descriptive
attributes).
On the basis of field measurements of selected elements of map content
recorded using GPS devices, on the underlay of vectorised land and buildings cadastre
maps, a thematic base map was created in a shapefile format using the QGIS free
software. An important advantage of this software is the ability to use modular
construction. The software components can function in it separately, they can also be
combined. For the work were used, inter alia,: modules of data import from text files,
transmission of routes and waypoints from the GPS devices, rasters calibration, group
statistics, geoprocessing, spatial queries and multilayer system construction .
By adopting this methodology the system of spatial information for the
selected communes of the Małopolskie Voivodship was created. It is currently being

46
used at the level of the tasks of commune as a base material for the decision‐making
action.
In the following figures the iconographic material concerning development of
SIP for selected local government units (communes) is shown.
In the first place (Fig. 22) the vector map of the selected commune is shown. It
serves as the core (georeference material) of subsequently developed thematic layers.
The commune was divided into zones to allow carrying out the characteristics of the
variability in a finite number of objects.

Fig. 22. Municipalities zonal division.
Source: MIKA and SALATA own study.
An example of such a study is shown in the following figure (Fig. 23),
illustrating the building intensity in different zones, using the dasymetric cartogram.

47

Fig. 23. Dasymetric cartogram of development intensity in the municipality area.
Source: MIKA and SALATA own study.
The next step in the development of information system in the selected
municipality was to illustrate the intensity and location of the service sector (MADRZYK,
2013). Spatial information systems within the scope of their activities include
visualization of demographic phenomena and the attributes associated with running
a business. In the services sector it makes possible to perform the analysis of the
acquisition of potential customers and development of a strategy relating to
competitive threats. Methods of analysis offered by the GIS are very useful in
marketing research, because they allow among other things to select the optimal
location of given objects, determination of an appropriate assortment for customers
and also determination of the priorities for further development (URBAŃSKI, 1997).
Economic activity is, therefore, an important element used in spatial planning and in
determination of the development strategy of the commune, and also the entire
country. In Poland, the National Court Register is sharing the information on this area
of research through the Court and Commercial Gazette, which collects information on
the business activities in the area, then files by codes of Polish Classification of
Activities. In the above‐mentioned classification the economic activities are divided
into 21 main branches. Each of them contains successively class, the subclass and the
clustering. In the era of globalization, when the dynamic development of local

48
governments takes place and the economic activity gradually plays an increasingly
important role in spatial planning, in the space management processes necessary is to
draw up a clear elaboration of business activities and its analysis on the basis of
mentioned above Polish Classification of Activities. According to (Act of 2 July 2004, on
freedom of economic activity, Chapter 1, Art. 2) „Economic activity is a profit
generation, construction, trade or service activity and prospecting, exploration and
extraction of minerals from deposits, as well as the professional activity carried out in
organized and continuous manner.” The main legal act in this area is Council of
Ministers Regulation of 24 December 2007 on the Polish Classification of Activities (PKD).
It sets out the rules for the implementation of the Polish Classification of Activities
(PKD), hereinafter referred to as PKD 2007 for use in statistics, records and
documentation and accounting, as well as in the official registers and information
systems. The regulation specifies that from the date of entry into force of the
Regulation, i.e. from 01 January 2008 PKD 2007 classification system covers all entries
of entities starting economic activity. It is also highlighted that, until 31 December
2009 economic activities registered before the date of entry into force of this
Regulation will be reclassified in accordance with the classification of PKD 2007. In the
process of creation of SIP elements for a commune, successive changes of this
provision were taken into consideration. The legal basis from Council of Ministers
Regulation of 1 April 2009 is making changes in the regulation of the Polish
Classification of Activities (PKD). The Regulation emphasizes, that in the case of
entities of economic activity, that will not be reclassified according to the standards of
PKD 2007 to 30 September 2009. they will be subject to the classification ex officio by
a public statistics officials. Fig. 24 shows the map of economic activity of the subjects
developed in the commune according to the described methodology.

Fig. 24. Map of economic activity in Zielonki commune.
Source: MIKA and SALATA own study.

49
 An additional element of the created system was a thematic layer concerning
determination of the impact areas of community investment activities on the value of
properties (UNIWERSAŁ, 2014). In Poland, in accordance with the provisions in force
of (The Act, 2003) as a result of the development of local plans the internal revenue of
the commune can increase. Through a well‐functioning land information system the
system of local fees and taxes can be inspected currently. So ‐ the separation of the
betterment levy impact area and the planning fee will help in better execution of these
fees. Each new investment in technology infrastructure can be co‐financed by the
inhabitants of the commune. Imposition of multiple charges on a single plot makes,
that it becomes less attractive to potential buyers – the owner to compensate for the
charges raises the price of the plot. One of the objectives of the development of the GIS
system for the selected commune was therefore the creation of thematic layers aimed
at the target for automatic or semi‐automatic identifying the areas, in which planning
fee and betterment levy have an area of activities. For the realization of the aim the
program QGIS was used. The starting thematic map, as in the other described cases of
created spatial information systems in communes, contains all the updated surface
elements in the commune. To identify those elements the following thematic layers
were used: precincts, plots, roads, buildings, fixture elements and GESUT networks
(upgraded with the help of GPS), MPZP (land use plans). Each of these layers has other
attributes describing the layer. The attributes were chosen to fully identify the item.
The main attribute is the ID of the object. As a result, after generating the base map,
shown in the next figures (Fig. 25 and Fig. 26). The buffer zones of influence impacts of
the fees for a given property were designated.

Fig. 25. Determination of the parcels within the scope of residential areas.
Source: MIKA and SALATA own study.
The following figures present visualizations of the results of studies of areas
belonging to the sphere of betterment levy influence and others in the selected
commune. Software tools QGIS were used for the elaboration.

50

Fig. 26. Buffers and parcels located in their influence on plots.
Source: MIKA and SALATA own study.

Fig. 27. The creation of the resulting layer for the betterment levy due to the
construction of technical infrastructure.
Source: MIKA and SALATA own study.

51
 In technical sense of studies, layer shows plots qualified for the betterment
levy due to the construction of technical infrastructure, it is the difference of the layer
with parcels which are in the influence of buffers and a layer with plots already
equipped with given network. For this purpose the spatial query equals was used and
in the attribute table selections were changed (Fig. 27).
In the presentation of selected applications and elements of land information
systems surveyed and updated items of technical infrastructure should also be taken
into account. This issue is illustrated in Fig. 28 (POSIAK, 2014).

Fig. 28. Layers of buildings, technical infrastructure, fittings and precincts.
Source: MIKA and SALATA own study.
An interesting element of the created system was the analysis of the rate of
development intensity in another municipality. This problem is further illustrated by
successive figures 30 and 29.
Permanent monitoring of areas designated for housing in land use plan is
important in the process of spatial planning. The share of developed plots in building
areas is the main aim of the control. Moreover, its location and investment rate in each
region has been monitored, too. Fig. 29 shows an analysis of the scattering of
developed plots. Individual plots with buildings and finished investments are marked
with a darker colour.

52

Fig. 29. Share of developed plots in Local Development Plan.
Source: MIKA and SALATA own study.
Plots designated for housing and not yet developed are marked with lighter
colour. Such analyses help to determine the need to increase building areas in the
future.
Another example is the management of road exits from municipal roads. The
location and quality of the road exits are monitored and the location of objects such as
bridges and bus stops are placed on the map. The orthophotomap was used as
a background (Fig. 30).

53

Fig. 30. Share of developed plots in Local Development Plan.
Source: MIKA and SALATA own study.
3.2.Results and discussion
In the discussion of the results it should be noted that the adopted methodology
proved to be fully helpful in the creation of local databases of spatial information
systems in selected communes. Both the costs and the quality of the elaboration
proved to be satisfactory from the point of view of the recipients of the system. For the
purposes of update of the contents of available maps handheld GPS receivers were
applied. Their cost ranges 1000‐5000 zł. Personnel costs were reduced by
commissioning this task to the University of Agriculture students as a part of
production traineeships in following subjects “Practical usage of GIS” and “Advanced
techniques of GIS” carried out at the University of Agriculture in Krakow, in turn the
office works were based mainly on the QGIS program under open source license.
In the world software is commonly used under open source license. The paper
(STARK et al., 2008) presents the conclusions of the survey on „The use of open source
software in the geospatial environment in Switzerland ". Opinions and conclusions set
forth on this basis seem interesting. A great knowledge of the subject in the
associations and organizations operating in the geo‐information environment was
demonstrated. Studies have shown that the OSS (OpenSource Software) is used in at
least 20% of the works in the field of widely understood geoinformation. On this basis,
can be concluded that this also applies to the creation of the SIP (Spatial Information
Systems). 40% of the respondents reported the widespread use of OSS. Depending on
the studied branch and the software requirements (mapping, development and
generalization of internet databases etc.) percentage results of the OSS application
differ. They are located between 14% and 36% of responses in relation to the study
population. In the group of respondents dominated the view that in order to use OSS in

54
practice detailed knowledge about it is not required. This software is designed
intuitively and practically everyone who earlier carried out work in graphic programs
is able to quickly learn how to use OSS. Correlations have been shown at the level of
36‐38% between knowledge and its practical use and the involvement of the
respondents in the work in the OSS environment. In addition, it was stated that OSS is
being promoted mainly in sectors such as training and administrative sector. In the
private sector OSS seems to be much less present. The reasons for the use of OSS are
satisfactory results in terms of functionality and quality of the obtained results. The
lack of a license fee is also a strong argument. Disadvantages in the range of OSS
applications involve cases when it is necessary to change the system at some stage and
carry out associated data migrations.
On thus prepared thematic maps analyzes of the technical background in the
housing and investment areas in the commune were also carried out. Thematic layers
containing Local Spatial Development Plan or technical infrastructure networks in the
commune were used. The following figures 31 and 32 show the results of selected
analyzes, determining the level of the land investment and the accessibility to
particular GESUT (polish abb.: geodesic evidence underground utility, author’s
annotation) network elements (KULESA, 2013).

Fig. 31. The ratio of the invested area surface to those labeled MN in the Local Spatial
Development Plan in different villages.
Source: KULESA, 2013.

55


Fig. 32. Percentage chart of easy access of residential buildings to the infrastructure by
villages.
Source: KULESA, 2013.
On the basis of developed detailed spatial information systems in selected communes,
the indicators of quality of life and its spatial differentiation were determined. They
were presented on a high level of detail, because the relationship of each residential
building with individual service points was examined. It should be noted here, that
using traditional methods of statistical analysis it is only possible to examine the total
quality of life for the entire commune. The methodology used to develop complex and
detailed land information systems in the communes, allowed to perform analysis in
this area, using GIS tools. Thanks to them, it was possible to verify areas requiring
investments improving commercial facilities, educational, communication, and health
service. Furthermore, this analysis indicates the recipient sites that are attractive in
terms of future investments, or the possibility of inhabitancy. Analysis of
differentiation in quality of life, proved to be an extremely valuable source of
information for commune. Thanks to the conclusions flowing from similar analyzes
local governments can significantly improve the living conditions of their citizens,
taking into account in their activities the necessity of proper spatial development.
3.3. Conclusions
In the publication (DALE and MCLAREN, 1999) was shown that effective and efficient
management of the land and its resources depends on the availability of good
information about the area. Many countries already have or are in the process of
creating a computerized national database of cadastral data. Data collected in
computer systems thanks to information technology are integrated, analyzed and
disseminated in a way that until recently was not possible. The article discusses among
others, the issues related to the operation of such datasets. In addition, it mentions
examples of well‐functioning land information systems. The authors emphasize the
institutional, organizational and business issues, that need to be resolved, to create full
value spatial information systems on the foundation of cadastral data, using GIS tools.

56
 In addition, the authors point out the special role of the cadastral system in the
process of land management: „A cadastre is a distinguished form of a land registration
system in that the latter has been exclusively concerned with ownership. A land register
must operate within a strict legal framework and may not, in practice, cover a whole
country since not all citizens may choose to register their lands. The cadastre, however,
should be based on complete coverage of a country since it may be used for the purposes
of land taxation”.
The advantages of introducing spatial databases refer to all potential users of
the system, from the private sector to administration:”The creation of data in digital
form is necessary, but not sufficient, for effective land administration to occur. Experience
to date suggests that it is essential that the legal, political, economic, and social issues
also be addressed. Given that any inherent problems can be overcome, significant benefits
should ensue. Private citizens seeking to move house will be able to locate properties that
meet their needs more easily while conveyance will be cheaper and more secure. Planners
will find it easier to locate suitable places for development and determine the constraints
on their use. There will be clearer protection for sites of special scientific interest.
Property developers and investors will be more secure in their analysis of sites while
banks and other mortgage lending organisations will have more information on land and
property values and hence be able to reduce their risks in lending money. Architects and
builders will have more certain and detailed information about sites. Governments will be
able to tax land and property more equitably and make more informed judgments where
there are competing proposals for.” (DALE and MCLAREN, 1999).
GIS software in recent years has changed to a small extent. Functions used
today were known previously. Only the public pressure changes to provide spatial
information in a simple way. To accurately hit the needs and provide solutions. This
causes that the spatial data must be collected and processed at a high level of detail.
Spatial information is valuable and credible when every inhabitant of the region is
identified separately. Then there is a higher probability, that he would be interested in
conclusions obtained using GIS. There are two levels of geomatics work with data: the
spatial data model ‐ intricate, complex and unfamiliar to most people (at this level
advanced visualization tools, specialized software 2D, 2.5D are used), and a simple and
easy to interpret set of the results of spatial analyses (3D visualization systems and
programs for animation).
In the standard range, GIS usually provide tools for map edition for the needs
of the presentation on a computer screen or preparation of maps to print (SZCZEPANEK
2013). It enables not only the collection, but also analyzing of geographic data – data
associated with geographical space and assigned to them descriptive attributes such as
estimation of the intensity ratios of inhabitancy, or regional development trends.
According to (GOTLIB et al. 2007) ‐ GIS systems enable recording of spatial data in
a logical structure, and their comprehensive analysis and visualization. They also offer
the possibility of description, explanation and prediction of the spatial distribution of
geographical phenomena. Geoinformation systems primarily consist of the appropriate
software and hardware, collected data, the algorithms and procedures for processing
and sharing of information. This example shows, that using the described methodology
it is possible to apply cheaper integrated research and measuring tools and get
a satisfactory result.
The presented methodology is consistent with the definition of GIS technology
(GOTLIB et al. 2007) understood as a set of methods and techniques for the construction
of geographic information systems. GIS technology capabilities are used, among others,

57
in administration, nature conservation, spatial planning, pollution monitoring, health
care, geomarketing, localization systems, education, science, crisis management. The
range of applications continues to grow. Currently, it is difficult to find a sphere of life,
in which they are not applicable .
The advantage of created by the described methodology spatial information
systems is the possibility of their extension for a further layer, and thus openness to
variation in needs and analyzes trends in a given area. In subsequent actions in
implemented spatial information systems it is planned to perform next steps in order
to allow the determination in areas of individual communes. In the future, the
developed system can be extended by further thematic layers containing, inter alia:
‐ supplementing local databases with information promoting the region,
‐ interesting places and tourist curiosities,
‐ specification sites at risk, e.g. with flood, landslides, etc..

58
4. ANALYSIS OF POLISH SDI WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF
NEEDS OF REAL ESTATE DEVELOPERS
In the last ten years there has been observed a significant activity in creating regional
and local GIS in Poland. These activities are the result of the global trend formation of
the Spatially Enabled Society (FIG, 2012). It is linked with the need to strive for
sustainable development.
The concept of Spatially Enabled Society derives from the concept of the
information society. It is worth recalling one of its many definitions, where the
Information Society is understood as a society that not only has a strong means of
information processing and communication, but these measures are the basis of
national income and provide livelihoods of the majority of society" (GOBAN‐KLAS and
SIENKIEWICZ, 1999).

STEUDLER and RAJABIFARD (Fig.
33.) modified the concept of
information society in the
direction of society spatially
informed and literally "Spatially
Enabled Society" (SES), (FIG,
2012). The SES concept implies
adding to the existing
information these on location in
space, thereby releasing the
wealth of existing knowledge
about the land and the water,
their legal and economic
situation, resources, availability
and potential applications and
hazards. Spatially enabled
society uses the concept of
place and location to organize
information and processes.
Currently it is one of the main
aim of consistent many
government programs
development strategies.

Fig. 33. Cover of elaboration on „Spatially Enabled Society”.
Source: FIG, 2012.
Spatially enabled encourages the development of innovation, transparency
and democracy in the country. In connection with the chosen development direction
we can talk about the onset of spatial information revolution. Citizens and their
governments must be spatially enabled, have the right tools and information within
easy reach to make the right decisions.

59
 The concept of a spatially enabled society offers new opportunities for the
state and its citizens. Its intention is to lead to the effective use and delivery of spatial
data and services.
SES benefits from a wide range of spatial data, information and services as a
means to organize activities related to land and water. SES is now part of the global
development goals pursued by governments in many countries. This indicates the
importance of increasing the spatial information is also in the development strategies
of local and regional policies and make the right decisions in the public sector.
SES increasingly active in the virtual world, but these activities must go hand
in hand with the institutional and structural reforms in the real world in the use of
spatial information and Spatial Data Infrastructures as an access platforms. Local and
regional SDI may be used for different purposes. Created systems include different
kind of information especially cadastral data. We also may observe variety of actors
involved in their creation as well as users interested in obtaining information for their
needs. There is a large group of investors in real estate market who expect that these
developing systems may take a role of main sources of information on real estate. For
them it is important to develop local and regional GIS with the aim of usefulness in
realization of investments in the real estate market.
This elaboration is to show usefulness of geographic information systems within the
context of needs of real estate investors. Having regard to diversity of the systems
there has been made a research in a form of comparative analysis of information
presented by state, regional and local systems, which are essential on different stages
of investment process.
4.1. Methodology
One of the main objectives of this study is to assess the functioning of four selected
portals with spatial data as a part of local, regional and state level of National Spatial
Data Infrastructures (NSDI) in the context of the recommendations of the Inspire
Directive and guidelines of European Interoperability Framework. The analysis
covered the organizational and technical geoportals action area. The authors analyzed
four different level of SDI geoportals:
 Geoportal.gov.pl (state level),
 Atlas of Warmia and Mazury (regiolan level),
 MSIPMO (province level),
 SIP Stawiguda (municipality level).
The choice of these geoportals was not accidental. All these geoportals except
Geoportal.gov.pl (national level) have database from the north‐east of the Warmia and
Mazury Region (one of the poorest regions in Poland), (Fig. 34).

60

Fig. 34. Warmia and Mazury Region.
Source: DAWIDOWICZ A. on the basis of KSNG (2014).
In Poland there are 16 regions (in Polish: województwa). Each region contains
provinces ‐ districts (in Polish: powiat). Municipality (in Polish: gmina) is the smallest
administrative division of the country. Figure 35 and table 4 presents administrative
division of Republic of Poland.

Fig. 35. Administrative division of Republic of Poland – as at January 1, 2011.

Source: Commission on Standardization of Geographical Names, 2010

61
Table 4. List of territorial units of Poland ‐ as at 01.01.2015.
Specification: Territorial units of Poland Cities Auxiliary
country and regions units
Municipalities

In urban‐rural
district status

communities

Delegations
(province)

Cities with

Urban Rural

Districts
District

Total
Urban

Rural
Total
Poland 314 66 2479 306 1571 602 908 602 18 19
1 Dolnośląskie 26 4 169 36 78 55 91 55 ‐ 5
2 Kujawsko‐pomorskie 19 4 144 17 92 35 52 35 ‐ ‐
3 Lubelskie 20 4 213 20 171 22 42 22 ‐ ‐
4 Lubuskie 12 2 83 9 41 33 42 33 ‐ ‐
5 Łódzkie 21 3 177 18 133 26 44 26 ‐ 5
6 Małopolskie 19 3 182 14 121 47 61 47 ‐ 4
7 Mazowieckie 37 5 314 35 229 50 85 50 18 ‐
8 Opolskie 11 1 71 3 36 32 35 32 ‐ ‐
9 Podkarpackie 21 4 160 16 110 34 50 34 ‐ ‐
10 Podlaskie 14 3 118 13 78 27 40 27 ‐ ‐
11 Pomorskie 16 4 123 25 81 17 42 17 ‐ ‐
12 Śląskie 17 19 167 49 96 22 71 22 ‐ ‐
13 Świętokrzyskie 13 1 102 5 71 26 31 26 ‐ ‐
14 Warmińsko‐mazurskie 19 2 116 16 67 33 49 33 ‐ ‐
15 Wielkopolskie 31 4 226 19 117 90 109 90 ‐ 5
16 Zachodniopomorskie 18 3 114 11 50 53 64 53 ‐ ‐

Source: DAWIDOWICZ based on the data from TERYT (National Register of Country
Territorial Division).
The aim of the study is to compare the thematic resources, available services,
tools and skills to use some of the national SDI portals in every level of country
administrative division. Examination of the SDI portals technical conditions was more
complex. The basic assumption in the research part was an evaluation of NSDI from the
point of view an ordinary user. Have been taken into account the general range of
thematic data and metadata provided by portals, available tools, and services related to
the use of these data. In view of the variety of solutions offered by SDI portals and
increasingly larger needs of citizens in the use of these data, were also examined
possible services offered by the analyzed portals in the range of personalization.
Particular attention was paid to the possibility of creating a user account on
the site and the ability to customize the tool palette to suit user needs. Due to the
constantly evolving branch services designed for mobile devices, the assessment also
included the ability to download applications from the SDI portals to mobile devices.
4.2. SDI as a network and an enabling platform
The starting point for the construction of SDI initiative was to formulate the creation of
economic prosperity, stability (balance), social, environmental protection can be
facilitated through the development of products and services based on the spatial data
collected at all levels of administration and country territorial division to easy use by
government bodies, the private sector and individuals. In this context, access to data
and spatial information integrated on a single platform play a key role. The first works
of construction of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure was launched in 1990 in the
United States. The idea of sharing of spatial data spread to other continents. In 2001

62
was born an initiative to construction of European Spatial Information Infrastructure.
Then also formed the foundations of the INSPIRE Directive (Infrastructure for Spatial
Information in the European Community), which was adopted in 2007 by the European
Parliament and the Council of the Commission of the European Community (INSPIRE,
2007).
The concept of SDI so far received a number of definitions. In one of them the
spatial data infrastructure is understood as "a set of legal, organizational, economic
and technical conditions: ensure universal access to sustained spatial data from the
territory of the country and geospatial services, contribute to the efficient use of
geoinformation for increasing the competitiveness of the economy, taking into account
the principles of sustainable development of the country, allow the rational
management of geoinformation managed by the government and self‐government, and
contribute to the development of the information society"
(http://gisplay.pl/gis/krajowy‐system‐informacji‐przestrzennej.html15).
In accordance with the definition adopted in the INSPIRE Directive (2007) by
SDI is understood described metadata and spatial data sets for their services,
technology, processes and procedures that are used and shared by co‐creating
infrastructure for spatial information leading authorities, other authorities and third
parties.
INSPIRE applies to geographical and environmental information that are
stored in electronic form by public authorities of the country concerned or on their
behalf. Spatial information refer to the areas in which Member State has and/or
exercises jurisdictional rights. Spatial information, in accordance with the Directive,
should be included in the national 'geoportals', are listed in Annexes I, II and III of the
Directive 2007/2/EC.
The Annex I sets out the basic spatial data, such as administrative boundaries,
geographic names, cadastral parcels, hydrographs and transport networks. However,
in Annexes II and III are specific data on, inter alia, orthoimages, geology, soil use,
human health and safety, environmental monitoring facilities, and distribution of
public service or industrial facilities. Spatial information listed in the Annexes to
Directive INSPIRE information are mandatory for NSDI in all Member States. NSDI of
the Member States can be enhanced with additional thematic sections or modules of
spatial information.
The article 11 paragraph 1 of the INSPIRE Directive indicates that all member
States shall establish and operate a network of the following services for the spatial
data sets and services for which metadata have been created in accordance with this
Directive:
a) discovery services making it possible to search for spatial data sets and
services on the basis of the content of the corresponding metadata and to
display the content of the metadata;
b) view services making it possible, as a minimum, to display, navigate, zoom
in/out, pan, or overlay viewable spatial data sets and to display legend
information and any relevant content of metadata;
c) download services, enabling copies of spatial data sets, or parts of such sets, to
be downloaded and, where practicable, accessed directly;
d) transformation services, enabling spatial data sets to be transformed with
a view to achieving interoperability;
e) services allowing spatial data services to be invoked.

63
The data integrated in the SDI can be flexibly expanded despite initially planned
database topics covered in the Annexes of the INSPIRE Directive covering subject
matter described in Table 5.
Table 5. Spatial data themes.
Annex

No

Theme Contents

1 Coordinate reference Systems for uniquely referencing spatial information in space as a

systems set of coordinates (x, y, z) and/or latitude and longitude and
height, based on a geodetic horizontal and vertical datum.
2 Geographical grid systems Harmonised multi‐resolution grid with a common point of origin
and standardised location and size of grid cells
3 Geographical names Names of areas, regions, localities, cities, suburbs, towns or
settlements, or any geographical or topographical feature of
public or historical interest
4 Administrative units Units of administration, dividing areas where Member States
have and/or exercise jurisdictional rights, for local, regional and
national governance, separated by administrative boundaries
5 Addresses Location of properties based on address identifiers, usually by
road name, house number, postal code
6 Cadastral parcels Areas defined by cadastral registers or equivalent
Annex I

7 Transport networks Road, rail, air and water transport networks and related
infrastructure. Includes links between different networks. Also
includes the trans‐European transport network as defined in
Decision No 1692/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 23 July 1996 on Community Guidelines for the
development of the trans‐European transport network (1) and
future revisions of that Decision
8 Hydrograph Hydrographical elements, including marine areas and all other
water bodies and items related to them, including river basins
and sub‐basins. Where appropriate, according to the definitions
set out in Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and
of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for
Community action in the field of water policy (2) and in the form
of networks
9 Protected sites Area designated or managed within a framework of international,
Community and Member States' legislation to achieve specific
conservation objectives
1 Elevation Digital elevation models for land, ice and ocean surface. Includes
terrestrial elevation, bathymetry and shoreline
2 Land cover Physical and biological cover of the earth's surface including
Annex II

artificial surfaces, agricultural areas, forests, (semi‐)natural

areas, wetlands, water bodies
3 Orthoimagery Geo‐referenced image data of the Earth's surface, from either
satellite or airborne sensors
4 Geology Geology characterized according to composition and structure.
Includes bedrock, aquifers and geomorphology
1 Statistical units Units for dissemination or use of statistical information
2 Buildings Geographical location of buildings
3 Soil Soils and subsoil characterized according to depth, texture,
structure and content of particles and organic material, stoniness,
Annex III

erosion, where appropriate mean slope and anticipated water

storage capacity
4 Land use Territory characterized according to its current and future
planned functional dimension or socio‐economic purpose (e.g.
residential, industrial, commercial, agricultural, forestry)
5 Human health and safety Geographical distribution of dominance of pathologies (allergies,
cancers, respiratory diseases, etc.), information indicating the

64
 effect on health (biomarkers, decline of fertility, epidemics) or
well‐being of humans (fatigue, stress, etc.) linked directly (air
pollution, chemicals, depletion of the ozone layer, noise, etc.) or
indirectly (food, genetically modified organisms, etc.) to the
quality of the environment
6 Utility and governmental Includes utility facilities such as sewage, waste management,
services energy supply and water supply, administrative and social
governmental services such as public administrations, civil
protection sites, schools and hospitals
7 Environmental monitoring Location and operation of environmental monitoring facilities
facilities includes observation and measurement of emissions, of the state
of environmental media and of other ecosystem parameters
(biodiversity, ecological conditions of vegetation, etc.) by or on
behalf of public authorities
8 Production and industrial Industrial production sites, including installations covered by
facilities Council Directive 96/61/EC of 24 September 1996 concerning
integrated pollution prevention and control (1) and water
abstraction facilities, mining, storage sites
9 Agricultural and Farming equipment and production facilities (including irrigation
aquaculture facilities systems, greenhouses and stables)
10 Population distribution — Geographical distribution of people, including population
demography characteristics and activity levels, aggregated by grid, region,
administrative unit or other analytical unit
11 Area management/ Areas managed, regulated or used for reporting at international,
restriction/regulation European, national, regional and local levels. Includes dumping
zones and reporting units sites, restricted areas around drinking water sources, nitrate‐
vulnerable zones, regulated fairways at sea or large inland
waters, areas for the dumping of waste, noise restriction zones,
prospecting and mining permit areas, river basin districts,
relevant reporting units and coastal zone management areas
12 Natural risk zones Vulnerable areas characterised according to natural hazards (all
atmospheric, hydrologic, seismic, volcanic and wildfire
phenomena that, because of their location, severity, and
frequency, have the potential to seriously affect society), e.g.
floods, landslides and subsidence, avalanches, forest fires,
earthquakes, volcanic eruptions
13 Atmospheric conditions Physical conditions in the atmosphere. Includes spatial data
based on measurements, on models or on a combination thereof
and includes measurement locations
14 Meteorological Weather conditions and their measurements; precipitation,
geographical features temperature, evapotranspiration, wind speed and direction
15 Oceanographic Physical conditions of oceans (currents, salinity, wave heights,
geographical features etc.)
16 Sea regions Physical conditions of seas and saline water bodies divided into
regions and sub‐regions with common characteristics
17 Bio‐geographical regions Areas of relatively homogeneous ecological conditions with
common characteristics
18 Habitats and biotopes Geographical areas characterized by specific ecological
conditions, processes, structure, and (life support) functions that
physically support the organisms that live there. Includes
terrestrial and aquatic areas distinguished by geographical,
abiotic and biotic features, entirely natural or semi‐natural
19 Species distribution Geographical distribution of occurrence of animal and plant
species aggregated by grid, region, administrative unit or other
analytical unit
20 Energy resources Energy resources including hydrocarbons, hydropower, bio‐
energy, solar, wind, etc., where relevant including depth/height
information on the extent of the resource
21 Mineral resources

Source: INSPIRE, 2007.

65
 An essence of SDI contains the five major assumptions INSPIRE (2007) where:
a) the data should be collected only once and stored and managed in the most
correct and efficient manner by the relevant institutions and services;
b) should be ensured the continuity of spatial data so that it is possible to acquire
a variety of resources, from a variety of sources, and that they can be made
available to multiple users, and for a variety of applications;
c) spatial data should be stored at an appropriate (one) level of public
administration and made available to those at all other levels;
d) spatial data necessary for the proper management of space at all levels of
government should be publicly available (i.e. without limiting conditions and /
or hinder their free use);
e) should be provided access to information about which spatial data are
available and under what conditions, as well as information that enables users
to evaluate the usefulness of these data for their own purposes.
On the basis of the INSPIRE directive all EU Member States have given to the
use networking sites that allow searching, viewing and downloading spatial
information. All these services are available through the INSPIRE portal, which is
connected with the national geoportals of EU countries.
The activity of INSPIRE is coordinated at Community level by the European
Commission and at national levels by the appropriate structure designated by the
authorities of the states.
Member States should share the data collected and allow public authorities to
access them, their exchange and use for public tasks that affect the environment.
Access to data may be payable except in cases where access needs to provide the
information in connection with the reporting legislative bodies. Access can also be
limited due to the proper functioning of the justice, national defence or international
relations.
In Poland, there is a tendency to build SDI portals at various levels of country
administrative division, adapted to the needs of the public administration but also local
investors. Comparative analysis of SDI portals on different levels of the organization is
to reveal the desirability and quality of arising portals.
4.2.1. GEOPORTAL.GOV.PL
The history of Polish SDI called Geoportal goes back to 2005, when the Head Office of
Geodesy and Cartography launched the GEOPORTAL.GOV.PL project. The project has
been funded under the Sectoral Operational Programme "Improvement of the
Competitiveness of Enterprises" 2004‐2006 (http://geoportal.gov.pl/en/o‐
geoportalu/informacje‐o‐projekcie/informacje‐ogolne ‐ access 01.07.2014).
The main goal of the GEOPORTAL.GOV.PL project was to improve
competitiveness of enterprises by providing them online access to services based on
spatial data, including cadastral data and metadata. Other important goals of the
project included:
 Development of entrepreneurship as well as increasing innovativeness and
competitiveness of enterprises, due to access of spatial data.
 Improving decision processes in enterprises, regarding investment
decisions.
 Modernizing the work of public administration (on central, regional and
local level) within the scope of the project, by means of introducing new IT
technologies.

66
  Increasing the knowledge and importance of spatial data as well as
cadastral data among entrepreneurs.
 Savings (in terms of time and costs) for entrepreneurs using the geodesy
services.
 Enriching the offer of enterprises providing services based on public spatial
data.
 Participation in developing the information society.
Under the GEOPORTAL.GOV.PL project we have developed the infrastructure
of nodes of the National Infrastructure of Spatial Data (in Polish: Krajowa
Infrastruktura Informacji Przestrzennej ‐ KIIP), cooperating and providing services
ranging from searching and providing data to data analysis. The network of KIIP
nodes has been built on three levels: central, regional and local.
The project did also result in development of an internet portal:
www.geoportal.gov.pl – acting as a broker, providing users with spatial data and
services. The project has been finished in 2008, and it resulted in development of the
following data bases:
 Cadastral data,
 Geographic database,
 Database of Topographic Objects,
 Orthophotomaps,
 Topographic map rasters,
 Thematic map rasters,
 State Register of Borders (PRG),
 State Register of Geographical Names (PRNG),
 Numeric Terrain Model,
 Metadata of sets and services of spatial data.
Once the GEOPORTAL.GOV.PL has been finished, in 2009 we have launched a
new project, aimed at continuation and enhancement of previous activities:
GEOPORTAL 2 – development of the spatial data infrastructure in the area of
georeferential registers and related services.
Full image of subject requires the presentation of geoportal interfaces (Fig. 36,
Fig. 37).

67

Fig. 36. Interface of Polish Geoportal.
Source: http://geoportal.gov.pl/ (access 17.07.2014).

Fig. 37. Cadastral data in mapping tab.
Source: http://mapy.geoportal.gov.pl/imap/?
gpmap=gp0&actions=acShowServices_KATASTER&locale=en (free access 17.07.2014).

68
4.2.2. Atlas of Warmia and Mazury
Atlas of Warmia and Mazury is a spatial information system implemented within the
framework of the project "Construction of the Warmia ‐ Mazury GIS platform for
enterprises". Atlas of Warmia and Mazury is a web service publicly available on the
Internet. The system provides access to information about the region, published on
maps. Such aggregated information can help entrepreneurs in finding areas attractive
for investments, assist in determining the impact of the location of investment in the
development of urban and rural areas, the impact of population growth on the
development of urban and rural areas and also help in the preliminary determination
of the complexity of the conduct of investment (eg roads), due to the structure of land
ownership in the area. The system also allows access to local zoning plans published by
the municipalities, and allows to order map in the Regional Documentation Centre of
Geodesy and Cartography (in Polish: Wojewódzki Ośrodek Dokumentacji Geodezyjnej i
Kartograficznej WODGiK). Atlas of Warmia and Mazury is a spatial information system
for decision support in areas such as urban planning, environmental protection,
agriculture, health, natural resources management, crisis management,
telecommunications and transport.
It can highlight the following objectives to create a system:
 increasing the use of telecommunications and Internet tools,
 improving the quality and accessibility of e‐services,
 promoting synergy between the administration and the
entrepreneurs,
 providing comprehensive information about the objects,
 help entrepreneurs find attractive investment areas,
 publication of spatial plans.
Atlas of Warmia and Mazury allows you to read the aggregated regional
information (for use in the management of province). It also allows authorized users to
exchange information in a local area network (data, documents, results of analyzes)
needed in the implementation of the current office tasks. Atlas is also unique in the
whole country, the system that allows the use of infrastructure created directly by local
governments to keep their own records. Local Government Units using the Atlas of
Warmia and Mazury do not bear the cost of building data structures, ensuring the
technical inspection of processed and published material, the author care costs, costs
to fit the portal for the new law and the costs of infrastructure development and
promotion of the portal server. These are great savings in the case of such action by
a small Local Government Units.
Expects the following benefits of building the portal:
 Improving the efficiency of the public sector through the creation of
rapid access to knowledge and information,
 Increasing the number of people interested in geographic
information and use of the Internet,
 Increasing the level of employment in the areas covered by the
project,
 Raise awareness of entrepreneurs, for whom a solution is dedicated,
 The possibility of placing an order on the selected map and send
orders to WODGiK for contract performance (online store),
 Improving the quality of life of citizens and the region
 Create and publish own maps.

69
 Built portal consists of two structures. The first is an external portal for
business and individuals, who in addition to obtaining extracts of maps and obtaining
information about the investment areas having the opportunity to create own thematic
maps and placing it on the page and on the websites. Second, the inner panel for office
workers who will supply the system data available to the office. Thanks to local
government units receive a tool for analysis to support their work. Portal is an open,
i.e. the offices that wish to publish their data on the the portal should contact the Office
of the Marshal of Warmia and Mazury at: atlas@warmia.mazury.pl in order to obtain
the information needed to begin Atlas of Warmia and Mazury (Fig.38).
Atlas of Warmia and Mazury was implemented in Esri technology. System
infrastructure is located in the Office of the Marshal of Warmia and Mazury. The
system is scalable and its performance monitored by the staff of the office and the
contractor ‐ the company SmallGIS Ltd. from Krakow. If necessary, decisions are made
concerning the development and improvement of the parameters characterizing the
capacity storage and speed of service.
Unfortunately portal operates only in Polish version.

Fig. 38. Atlas of Warmia i Mazury.
Source: http://atlas.warmia.mazury.pl/mpzp/ access 3.03.2015.
4.2.3. MSIPMO
MSIPMO system was introduced in 2009, but preparatory works took few years due to
determinants from the Public Procurement Law. Under this circumstances there was
prepared a project that includes the design and implementation of organizational‐
technical infrastructure of Municipal Spatial Information System of Olsztyn, which is
a part of the national infrastructure for spatial information. The project provides
a common (public) access to updated, spatial reference databases of the city of Olsztyn,
in particular, the public data registers connected with spatial planning (Studium

70
wykonalności projektu “Rozbudowa infrastruktury sieci miejskiej obejmującej jednostki
publiczne na terenie miasta Olsztyna” 2013).
MSIPMO was made by consortium GIS Partner and Geomatyka Kraków for needs
of the city council specially department of surveying, spatial planning and other
departments that require spatial information as well as information about real estate
ownership. This system presents spatial information within borders of the city.
MSIPMO operates in a multi‐layer client ‐ server architecture.
MSIPMO consists of several layers and databases. First of all we may find here
a layer of orthophotomap – satellite illustration of Olsztyn from 1995, 2005 or 2009.
Map coverage from 2009 on the backing of general geographic map is shown on Fig.
39. Besides there is a possibility of showing information from land registry – situation
of plots, buildings and precincts (Fig. 40). Moving on to details MSIPMO presents
numbers and universal identification of plots, their area and number of registry, where
an ordinary user is able to find information about ownership (Fig. 41).

Fig. 39. Chosen layer on a MSIPMO view ‐ orthophotomap from 2009.
Source: msipmo.olsztyn.eu.

71

Fig. 40. Chosen layer on a MSIPMO view – precinct Kortowo ‐ situation of plots and
buildings.
Source: msipmo.olsztyn.eu.

Fig. 41. Description of a chosen plot attached to the cadastral map on MSIPMO view.
Source: msipmo.olsztyn.eu.
This system has more expanded search tool, that helps find:
 chosen precinct,
 chosen plot with its area,
 chosen building with its age and owner,
 chosen public utilities.

72
On the next figure (Fig. 42) created on the basis of MSIPMO online view there is an
example of searching results for public utilities with a kindergarten – its name and
location.

Fig. 42. Description of a chosen public utility on a MSIPMO view.
Source: msipmo.olsztyn.eu.
MSIPMO also provides tools of identifying objects as well as measuring distances
and areas. Moreover has a tool of selecting area by drawing lines and polygons. User
may sketch on current view an save results for his purposes.
Furthermore there is a separated overlap for chosen detailed maps such as:
 city plan,
 location of land use plans,
 investment areas and offers for investors,
 acoustic map,
 location of historical monuments,
 map of ownership and possession.
Fig. 43 presents this variety. Wherefore MSIPMO allows its users access the most
detailed information as well as carry out analyzes on the basis of information available
in different layers and data bases of this system.

73

Fig. 43. Variety of detailed maps attached to MSIPMO.
Source: msipmo.olsztyn.eu.
4.2.4. SIP Stawiguda
Planning information system was introduced in municipality of Stawiguda in 2013. It
was developed by MD Project for needs of municipality. This system presents spatial
information within borders of the commune. It is a source with variety of spatial
information. It combines cadastral and topographic information with orthophotomap
as well as current master (land use) plans. “SIP Stawiguda” gives a view of different
combined layers like:
 boundaries of land use plans and boundaries of plots from cadastral map (Fig.
44),
 topographic map and boundaries of plots (Fig. 45),
 orthophotomap and land use plans (Fig. 46).

74

Fig. 44. Chosen layers on a SIP Stawiguda view ‐ boundaries of land use plans and
plots.
Source: sip.stawiguda.pl.
This system has also a search tool, that helps find:
 area of chosen village,
 chosen plot,
 chosen land use plan (with its whole description attached in a file including
symbols and parameters).
“SIP Stawiguda” also provides tools of printing current view, saving links, identifying
objects as well as measuring distances and areas.

75

Fig. 45. Chosen layers on a SIP Stawiguda view ‐ topographic map and boundaries of
plots.
Source: sip.stawiguda.pl

Fig. 46. Chosen layers on a SIP Stawiguda view ‐ orthophotomap and land use plans.
Source: sip.stawiguda.pl

76
4.3. Assessment of the NSDI
To assess national SDI portals adopted specific determinants. The intention of
the authors was to identify differences without determining the weight of each
attribute. Testing took place on 15 March 2015. The test results are presented in
Table 6 and
Table 7 and in the Fig. 47 and Fig. 48.
An "X" indicates that a factor present in the SDI portal, while "-'' means the absence of the
desired item.
Table 6. Scope of the data made available in SDI portals by the annexes of INSPIRE
Directive.
Atlas of
MSIPMO SIP Stawiguda
Geoportal.gov.pl Warmia and
Annex

No Theme Mazury
(provincial (community
(national level)
level) level)
(regional level)
1 Coordinate reference
systems
x x x ‐
2 Geographical grid
systems
x x x ‐
3 Geographical names x x x ‐
Annex I

4 Administrative units x x x x
5 Addresses x x x ‐
6 Cadastral parcels x x x x
7 Transport networks x x x x
8 Hydrography x x ‐ ‐
9 Protected sites x x x ‐
1 Elevation x x x ‐
Annex II

2 Land cover ‐ x x ‐
3 Orthoimagery x x x x
4 Geology ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐
1 Statistical units x ‐ ‐ ‐
2 Buildings x x x x
3 Soil ‐ x ‐ ‐
4 Land use ‐ x x x
5 Human health and
safety ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐
Annex III

6 Utility and
governmental ‐ x x ‐
services
7 Environmental
monitoring facilities
‐ ‐ ‐ ‐
8 Production and
industrial facilities
‐ ‐ ‐ ‐
9 Agricultural and
aquaculture facilities
‐ ‐ ‐ ‐

77
10 Population
distribution —
demography ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐

Atlas of
MSIPMO SIP Stawiguda
Geoportal.gov.pl Warmia and

No Theme Mazury
(provincial (community
(national level)
level) level)
(regional level)
11 Area management/
restriction/regulatio
‐ ‐ ‐ ‐
n zones and
reporting units
12 Natural risk zones ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐
13 Atmospheric
‐ ‐ ‐ ‐
conditions
14 Meteorological
geographical ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐
features
15 Oceanographic
geographical ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐
features
16 Sea regions ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐
17 Bio‐geographical
‐ ‐ ‐ ‐
regions
18 Habitats and
‐ ‐ ‐ ‐
biotopes
19 Species distribution ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐
20 Energy resources ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐
21 Mineral resources ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐

Source: KRUKOWSKA and DAWIDOWICZ own study [2015].

Scope of the data

Annex I Annex II Annex III

9 9
8

4
3 3 3 3
2 2 2
1

Geoportal.gov.pl Atlas of Warmia and MSIPMO SIP Stawiguda

Mazury

78
 Fig. 47. The scope of data rating of the SDI portals.
Source: DAWIDOWICZ A. own study

The scope of data in the first three portals is quite similar when it comes to topics of
Annex I. With regard to all thematic data the best seems portal Atlas of Warmia and
Mazury while the weakest local SIP Stawiguda portal. It can be concluded that local
portals contain only data for local development. The higher country administrative
division level of portals including a wider range of data for e.g. statistical analysis.

Table 7. Functionality of selected SDI portals.
Type of geoportal Atlas of
Warmia and MSIPMO SIP Stawiguda
Geoportal.gov.pl
Mazury

(provincial (community
Attribute (national level)
(regional level) level)
level)
Sectoral module X ‐ X ‐
INSPIRE module X ‐ ‐ ‐
Statistical module X ‐ ‐ ‐
Data from EuroBoundaryMap X ‐ ‐ ‐
State Register of Geographical
X X X X
Names
The cadastral data X X X X
Content

Surface relief X X X X
General Geographic Database X X X X
Vector map X X X ‐
The database of topographic
X X ‐ ‐
objects
Thematic maps X X X X
Scans of topographic maps X ‐ ‐ X
Orthophotomap X X X X
Data on basic control networks X X ‐ ‐
Adjust the map to the selected
X X X X
area
Adjust the map to the selected
‐ ‐ X ‐
selection
The form of data presentation
2D 2D 2D 2D
[2D / 3D]
Thumbnail / Image preview X X X X
Panel of layers X X X X
Legend X X X ‐
Back / Back to the start page X X X X
Tools

Retry X X X X
Zoom/Zoom to selected area X X X ‐
Zoom to selected object X X X ‐
Inserting a class ranges X ‐ X ‐
Reduction X X X X
Moving the map cursor X X X X
Moving the map by clicking on
X ‐ ‐ ‐
the frame
Centering X X X X
Removal of selection X X X X
Selection X X X X

79


Type of geoportal Atlas of

Warmia and MSIPMO
Geoportal.gov.pl SIP Stawiguda
Mazury

Attribute (provincial
(national level) (community level)
(regional level)
level)
Ruler ‐ measure the
X X X X
distance
Adding text characters ‐ ‐ X ‐
Measurement of surface X X X X
Showing the coordinates of
X X X ‐
the cursor
Showing the coordinates of
X X X ‐
map coverage
Clean the measurements X X X X
Information about specially
X X X X
selected object
The choice of scale X X X X
Search by name X X X ‐
Search by keyword ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐
Search by parcel number X X X X
Services

Search by a number of real

X X X ‐
estate
Search by address X X X ‐
Search by administrative
X X X X
unit
Select a different coordinate
X X X ‐
system
Metadata browser X X ‐ ‐
Enter metadata X X ‐ ‐
Edit metadata X X ‐ ‐
Save the image X X X ‐
Print setting ‐ X X ‐
Print ‐ X X X
Export Data ‐ X X ‐
Create a Link X X X X
Send by mail ‐ ‐ X ‐
Buying a map ‐ X ‐ ‐
Selecting a different
X ‐ ‐ ‐
language
Personalization

The ability to log on to the

X X X ‐
website
Customizing the Tool
X ‐ ‐ ‐
Palette
Colouring X ‐ ‐ ‐
Availability of applications
X ‐ ‐ ‐
on mobile devices

Source: KRUKOWSKA and DAWIDOWICZ [2015]

80
 Functionality of selected SDI portals
Content Tools Services Personalization

22
20
18
16 16
14 14
11
9 8 9
7
5
1 1 0

Geoportal.gov.pl Atlas of Warmia MSIPMO SIP Stawiguda

and Mazury

Fig. 48. The functionality rating of the SDI portals.
Source: DAWIDOWICZ A. own study.
In terms of functionality, the first three analyzed portals similarly present
themselves, the most different is SIP Stawiguda portal, which is probably the lowest
funding for his conduct. It is functionally adapted to the local users. It can be assumed
that is used by local public entities, investors and property owners.
An important element of the functionality of portals are services that allow spatial
analysis. Most of them have an Atlas of Warmia and Mazury Portal, and a little less
MSIPMO and Geoportal.gov.pl. This is due to the fact that regional portals serve not
only to provide spatial information to realize the vision of spatially enabled society,
but also to the basic spatial analysis, that excel in the regional and provincial
development. This phenomenon is beneficial and important for sustainable
development.
4.4. The use of GIS systems for real estate market investors
According to research made by BEHRENS and HAWRANEK (1993) in the investment
process on real estate market we may identify three phases:
1) pre – investment phase,
2) investment phase,
3) operational phase.
Each of them may be divided into main activities, studies and analysis which are
necessary before, during or after the investment process. While preparing detailed
analysis, studies, plans and projects we use variety of sources of information. Some of
the traditional sources bound to be replaced by modern GIS systems that combine
different sources and make information accessible to an ordinary user. Table 8
presents possibilities of GIS systems implementation on different stages of investment
process. There are also noted needs for improvement and development.

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Table 8. The use of GIS systems on different stages of investment process.
Implementation
Phase

Main studies, Traditional

Detailed Necessary of GIS systems as a
analysis and sources of
analysis information source of
activities information
information
initial
usage, area,
investment architectural
size, number of impossible
vision concepts
storeys
location land use
possible
analysis land use, main plans,
 GEOPORTAL,
roads, general
 Atlas of Warmia
neighbourhood, geographical
and Mazury
ownership, map, land
 SIP Stawiguda,
Pre‐investment phase

public utilities registry,

feasibility  MSIPMO
basic map
study, market supply and
additional registry of
analysis demand,
studies, real estate
number of
assessment prices and need for
transactions,
report values, real development
average price,
estate
types of real
agents
estate
competition official
analysis differentiation,
registers, possible
number of
basic map,  GEOPORTAL,
similar objects,
statistical  SIP Stawiguda,
distance to
registers,  MSIPMO (only
similar objects,
internet one with age)
age of objects
searchers
designing
and surface, basic map, possible
planning topography, cadastral  GEOPORTAL,
boundaries of map, land  Atlas of Warmia
plots, registry, and Mazury
infrastructure, land use  SIP Stawiguda,
ownership, plans  MSIPMO

organization basic map,

negotiations,
Investment phase

of geology, geological
signing construction
agreements, topography, studies,
works water supply, geodetic
engineering,
construction, localization of records of need for
reception and infrastructure public development
commissioning networks, utilities, land
criteria for real use plans,
estate divisions local
decisions
market registry of
supply and
exposure real estate
demand, need for
prices and
types of real development
values,
estate
agencies

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 Implementation
Phase Main studies, Traditional
Detailed Necessary of GIS systems as a
analysis and sources of
analysis information source of
activities information
information
location land use possible
analysis plans,  GEOPORTAL,
land use,
geographical  Atlas of Warmia
neighbourhood,
map, land and Mazury
ownership
Operational phase

registry,  SIP Stawiguda,

basic map  MSIPMO
reconstruction,
restructuring, designing boundaries of basic map, possible
expansion, and plots, cadastral  GEOPORTAL,
innovation planning infrastructure, map, land  SIP Stawiguda,
ownership, registry  MSIPMO
analyses of ownership, land possible
impact on land use, registry,  GEOPORTAL,
other building land use  SIP Stawiguda,
objects conditions plans  MSIPMO
Source: WOLNY A. own study.

As we may notice from Table 8 most of the compared systems are able to
replace some of the traditional sources of information on different stages of investment
process. Yet none of them contains information that would help investor complete all
steps of this process. In some cases like market analysis and exposure or organization
of construction works integrating information from different traditional and modern
sources might be really helpful. It occurs that the younger GIS system the more
adapted it is to investors needs. MSIPMO which was introduced recently has the widest
scale of necessary information.
4.4. Conclusions
The carried out comparative analyzes allow the following conclusions:
1) The local SDI portals are functionally adapted to the local users, are used by
local public entities, investors and property owners. They contain data for
local development.
2) The higher country administrative division level of portals including a wider
range of data for e.g. statistical analysis.
3) The regional SDI serve not only to provide spatial information to realize the
vision of spatially enabled society, but also to the basic spatial analysis, that
excel in the regional and provincial development. This phenomenon is
beneficial and important for sustainable development.
4) The use of various sources of information on different stages of the investment
process can significantly decrease the time of: obtaining the necessary
information, analysis and decision‐making by investors.
5) The SDI portals especially on provincial and community level should be
adapted to the needs of a wider range of users, particularly real estate market
investors and we may notice this direction according to conducted studies.
6) According to analysis MSIPMO seems to be the SDI portal which meets the
needs of real estate market investors.

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As the global society becomes more information relying, the concept of Spatially
Enabled Society becomes more popular. That is why there is a necessity for developing
SDI portals and adapting them for needs of the society. Conducted research confirms
this argument as well as important role of SDI portals in creating sustainable
development.

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5. SOFTWARE, TOOLS AND INSTRUMENTS USED FOR THE
PRESENTATION (VISUALIZATION) OF RESULTS OF
SPATIAL ANALYSIS IN GIS
Spatial information called the location, the geometric properties and spatial
relationships between the elements, which can be applied to the surface of the earth.
Information is obtained by interpretation of spatial data, geospatial, geographic (about
geographical objects). Information achieved by interpretation of geospatial data
(relating to spatial objects related to the Earth's surface) is called Geoinformation. In
contrast, harvesting, collecting, verifying , integrating , analyzing , and sharing the
transformation of spatial data , and methods , technical resources , including hardware
and software, spatial databases, organization and financial resources and the people
involved in Geographical Information System . Technical and scientific discipline
dedicated to the practical application of Geoinformation (Geoinformation systems) is
geomatics (LEKSYKON GEOMATYCZNY, 2002).
The sudden development of information management occurred in the
eighteenth century, but the first thematic maps were developed (automated
production of maps) using computers in the 50's of the previous century. Visualization
of the spatial information data processing is made possible by the development of the
Harvard Computer Graphics Laboratory and Analysis of spatial raster first model
under the name SYMAP. In the 70's a big influence on the development of the SIP had
interest in environmental issues and ecology. ESRI was founded institute, where he
developed the " ARC / INFO" is used to this day. The breakthrough was the
introduction of space technology ‐ LANDSAT satellites. Satellite navigation system
(GPS) gradually became a source of spatial data used in geodesy and cartography. The
next step was the emergence in the late 80's colour graphics. Then sought to obtain
even better image quality, for this purpose developed software that uses the vector
model.
GIS is a coordinated system for obtaining and providing information about the
location, characteristics, and relationships of objects that can be identified with respect
to the ground. Object definition is understood very broadly and includes both
permanent natural and artificial objects, as well as natural phenomena, social and
economic. The space in which objects are identified can be two‐dimensional or three‐
dimensional, depending on the needs of the system. Another distinguishing feature of
spatial information systems is the ability to analyze allowing to obtain answers about
the real world modelled by the system and its cartographic presentation. Examples of
such analysis may be searching for objects that meet certain conditions, measurements
or determination of neighbourhood facilities. One of the basic elements of spatial
information system is a database of spatial and descriptive information about the
objects of the real world represented in the system. To be able to create it and to
effectively carry out all the tasks set for the spatial information system is needed yet
another of its components, which include the right software and hardware and
humans. Speaking of hardware , we mean not only the hardware, but also peripheral
devices used for data acquisition (surveying instruments, digitizers, scanners,
autographs ), and apparatus for generating tabular and cartographic studies (printers,
plotters, image setter). The functioning of the information system is to gather relevant
data about real‐world objects that are of concern. These data describe the
characteristics of individual objects, and are called attributes. The primary data
collection methods include (IZDEBSKI, 2008):

85
 Field measurements,
 Digitization of maps,
 Three‐dimensional digitization of photogrammetric
 Scanning and vectorization of maps.
 Methods of photogrammetry and remote sensing,
Applicability of these methods depends on many factors, including the quality
requirements and the technical and economic conditions. Other methods will be used
to acquire vector data, and other raster data acquisition. On the basis of information
which results from the existence of the Polish GUGiK, at least several systems to keep
the data resource. With all of these systems are the most popular software GIS ArsGIS,
EWMAPA, GeoInfo and GEO ‐MAP (IZDEBSKI, 2009).
5.1. Materials and methods
GIS software can include any program containing functions entering, storing, analyzing
and visualizing data geospatial. Current commercial systems using a wide range of GIS
software have been applied in many areas of life, including in industry, science, urban
planning, agriculture, etc. The data features or methods consist of or should the
content of the thematic overlay, digital maps of the area, creating a comprehensive
Geographical Information System. The rules for creating, qualifications adequate
spatial characteristics, which are something that in modern thematic cartography is
called geoinformation, and to develop a methodology of operation of such systems is
one of the fundamental tasks of modern geodesy and cartography thematic. Use of
cartographic materials and spatial information systems currently on the needs of a
variety of spatial analysis, has always constituted, one of the fundamental tasks of
geodesy and cartography, as a scientific discipline and practical skills.
Map presented in the form of a digital map of the area called the computer
a digital presentation of reality. Vector model represents objects using points, lines or
polygons (coordinates define the shape and location of the object), while the raster
model represents reality, as the area is divisible into cells. The cell stores a numeric
value or thematic data. GIS Applications enable you to work with maps by displaying
data, symbolization, create and print. In addition, you can edit, analyze data and create
charts and reports. The main feature of GIS is to view, create, edit collection, data
analysis and transformation, and mapping.
GIS software can be divided as follows:
 Desktop GIS ‐ programs used to create, edit, manage, analyze and display geospatial
data.
 DBMS ‐ Spatial database management systems are used to store data, but often also
the analysis and data management.
 Servers mapping (WebMap) ‐ software for viewing and distribution maps on the
internet.
 Server GIS ‐ the same functions as a desktop GIS, just that online.
 Web GIS ‐ a program designed to display data, and including analysis functions and
queries through Web browsers such as Google Maps ‐ display functions and queries,
and the creation and editing of data (build your own maps)
 Mobile GIS ‐ software for mobile phones and portable computers
The result is the transformation of the spatial analysis of geo‐information in
thematic maps, which should feed into existing information systems. Development of
new layers is possible using software that can be divided according to the general
scheme of Fig. 49.

86
 website commercial software

map layer
On‐Line
Open Source Software
Software

Fig. 49. Schematic GIS software division to create thematic layers.
Source: OGRYZEK own study.
To support Gis software skills are required:
 edit the databases (knowledge of the Statistica software, database, Access)
 Operating original programs, interfaces, tools and scripts
 Mapping (knowledge of MapInfo software, EWMAPA, ArcGIS, etc.)
 Operating Information Systems
 service portals
 working in the cloud, the use of a virtual disk
BIELECKA (2006) noted that in GIS visualization process is seen as a process of
spatial data from the database to graphically visible on the screen. Visualization is
therefore a period of transition and the centre of each GIS software is the database and
the quality of the data depend on the results obtained. Input modules databases
support a very different project planning, and modernization of the existing provisions
of the maps is done by selecting the necessary geo‐information presented in a thematic
layer. Presentation of the information contained in the database may be by selection of
the layer data by attributes such as: the name or position of the objects that is selected
from one or more thematic layers based on their spatial relationship with objects other
layer. The use of the database can be by:
 first method ‐ the development of an interface independent specialist
 second method ‐ you can save the results in the form of scanned documents
 third method ‐ to supplement the database (tables be merged)
However, you should pay attention to how many objects are related to other
objects in the database. Joins and relationships are based on the key field, so the field
names do not have to have identical names, but the same attribute values in both
tables. It is not recommended to use ObjectID and code values TERYT. Therefore, the
attribute values must be identical and the primary key data types must be compatible.
Fig. 50 shows an example where incompatible database version was transposed
possible to join tables. The database came from ARMA and data it used to visualize the
software ArcGIS absorption analysis for EU programs in Poland.

87

Fig. 50. Transformation into a compatible database software GIS.
Source: OGRYZEK on the basis of data ARiMR 2012.
The next important element of visualization is symbolization, i.e. information
about the objects expressed by the graphics (colour, shape, size, pattern, direction,
etc.), possible to interpret the legend. Symbols are divided on the signature line, fill ‐
you can use a preset or create your own. It applies to both qualitative and quantitative.
There are symbolization colour scale, signature grading and proportionate, map crotch
and graphs. Depending on the classification methods can be specified intervals such as:
natural, equal, etc.
5.2. Results and discussion
For several years, steadily increasing popularity of spatial information systems, which
we call the systems acquisition, processing and sharing of data containing spatial
information and the accompanying descriptive information about the objects featured
in the portion of the space covered by the operation of the system. (GAŹDZICKI, 1990).
Available Information Systems cities and counties, and portals, as Web‐based versions
of GIS software allow you to perform analysis and presentation (visualization) the
results of spatial analysis. Using Geographic Information Systems for the needs of a
variety of spatial analysis and modernization of existing records in the free software
maps on‐line is via a web browser. Fig. 51 Changed practical application of Web GIS
software for visualizing the results of different studies:
 visualization of "a" Survey of economic activity employed on farms. Kart diagram
shows the dependence of the size of farms and the amount of work performed in
the Geostatistic Portal.
 visualization of "b" ‐ Map of the Local Plan obtained from the Municipal Information
System Olsztyn City used in the preparation of the spatial impacts of financial,
environmental change parts of the Local Development Plan Olsztyn.

88

visualization “a” visualization “b”
Fig. 51. Visualization of the results of research in software Web GIS.
Source: OGRYZEK own study.
A similar tool is a software environment GIS On‐Line, which is usually paid for
available data for analysis and analysis tools available in the cloud are free. However,
there are geographic information systems offering free access to the software GIS,
where registered users can perform a variety of spatial analysis in the environment GIS
and the results in the form of maps stored on your own computer provided you have
Internet access. An example might be a portal E ‐ government, which developed rapidly
since around 2003, and since 2007 the data associated with urban space became a part
of it . In time he became one of the world's best public services offered to residents.
City of Warsaw has a similar service mapa.um.warszawa.pl where you can find local
spatial development plans, plots, offices locations precincts and a few other things.
However , there is no current ability to perform spatial analysis and data collection in
the form of an Excel file to its own analysis in other software. On Fig. 52 provided an
example of the analysis performed for demographics Seoul portal E ‐ government.

89

Fig. 52. A demographic analysis made in the software Gis On‐Line
Source: http://gis.seoul.go.kr/
Another way to visualize the results are applications of mobile GIS. These
applications are used in mobile phones and are associated with integrated and
intuitive navigation systems designed for specific groups, e.g. runners, boaters or
motorists.
Another example of a widely used GIS software can be SailCruiser (Fig. 53) is
a unique navigation program designed for sailors. His versatility and intuitiveness
makes working with him is easy and at the same time professional. Leading the
navigation of any boat quickly and accurately, we can manage all the necessary
information.

90

Fig. 53. The use of GIS technology in sailing
Source: http://www.galeriagps.pl
The last group GIS software environment are desktop applications. Can be
divided into free and commercial, that is, to which access is possible after buying
a license. Quantum GIS (QGIS) is a user friendly open and free (Open Source) GIS
software, which runs on the platforms of GNU/Linux, Unix, Mac OSX and MS Windows.
QGIS is available for free under the GNU General Public License. QGIS allows you to
browse, view, edit and create vector data, raster, and database in different formats,
including ESRI shapefile format, MapInfo tab, spatial data Postgre SQL / PostGIS, vector
and raster layers GRASS or GeoTiff. Through integration with QGIS GRASS gives the
ability to perform advanced analysis. It also has the ability to display layers OGC: WMS
and WFS. QGIS functionality can be easily expanded by adding or even the creation of
the so‐called. plug‐ins, tailored to individual needs. Plug‐ins are managed by the
Manager plug‐in, and written in the language Python or C ++. The program already
contains a number of plug‐ins designed, inter alia, to import data from text files,
transfer GPS device or calibrating grid (NOWOTARSKA, 2009). ESRI ArcGIS is the most
currently used GIS in the world (in 2004 there were 160,000 of his license and have
used it more than a million people). ArcGIS consists of three separate programs.
ArcMap is used for editing, visualization and analysis of product development.
Combined with the ArcToolbox contains tools for data analysis. ArcCatalog acts as
a Windows Explorer for geoinformation, and with ArcToolbox tools creates a spatial
data management environment. A number of additional enhancements enables specific
types of analysis: Spatial Analyst Raster data analysis; Network Analyst analysis of
network data; Geostatistical Analyst using geostatistics methods for estimating the
continuous fields (values defined at each point in space) of data points, and the 3D
Analyst analysis of data in three dimensions. The whole system ArcGIS is offered at
three levels. ArcView is the cheapest and poorest version, ArcEditor has full editing
capabilities of data, and ArcInfo full of opportunities for both editorial and analytical.
The program allows you to create applications integrated with it as a result, there is
a number of specialized tools that are created in a variety of research centers and the

91
most available free of charge for research purposes (URBAŃSKI, 2008). Pay special
attention to the possibility of 3D GIS, which differs from 2D that have primarily
coordinates, heights, but also expanded the range of sources, e.g. for satellite
photographs . Another important aspect is the ability to automate tasks in the ArcGIS
one way to achieve this effect is the use of scripts. ArcGIS scripting language is Python.
The interdisciplinary nature of environmental GIS allows the use of tools for analysis
and visualization of results of research projects in virtually every area of life.
Therefore, the target group of the software is not only commercial users but also the
research leading recipient. Regardless of the program, i.e., ArcGIS, MapInfo, EwMapa,
AutoCad, etc. They are used, among other things, as a means to visualize the test
results. The basic element of the systems are interfaces. These are independent
programs to graphical data connection with the descriptive (IZDEBSKI, 2009):
1. Query interface ‐ for information about the specified object.
2. Loopback interface ‐ an indication of the objects that satisfy some condition. It may
take place in different ways: as hachure, marker, or by changing the color.
3. Sync interface ‐ allows you to synchronize the database objects from the descriptive
part, which ensures the consistency between the internal system objects and
external database.
4. Interface Specialist ‐ tailored to a single database, e.g. EWOPIS (the descriptive part
of the land and buildings) that when you point the plot displays the data
contained in this system. Another example would be the interface to the
system CENTRE, allows obtaining more complete information about the Opera
and KERG‐in.
5. General Interface ‐
 Universal ODBC interface, which allows you to connect to any database for which an
ODBC driver exists, such as ORACLE, MS ACCESS
 DESCRIPTION universal interface that allows you to link with any object
description and photos,
 DOCUMENT universal interface that allows you to link with any object scanned
documents (e.g. a combination of control points topographical descriptions).
Fig. 54 shows the practical application of desktop software for visualizing the
results of different studies :
 visualization "a" ‐ examine the need for planning works in the municipality of
Ghaziabad. Kart diagram shows the number of zoning and land division on zoning
decisions and decisions determining the location of a public investment.
 visualization of "b" ‐ study the absorption of funds for EU action in areas Warmia
and Mazury. This map shows the spatial distribution of the "afforestation of
agricultural land."
 visualization "c" ‐ test the impact assessment of highway on the environment. On
the map filter applied to the visualization of protected areas Nature 2000 as
a justification for a variant of the motorway.
 visualization "d" ‐ study the impact of EU Programmes on ecological characteristics
in Poland. For kart diagram shows the relationship between the amount of the
grants received (colour scale) and the coefficients (bar charts) urbanization and
agricultural quality in Poland.

92

Fig. 54. Visualization of the results of research in a desktop software GIS.
Source: OGRYZEK own study.
6. Toolbox ‐ they can be divided into those that change geometry and that change only
those attributes. The second group includes those options that perform a table
attributes such as calculate field, summary statistic and select by attributes or
selects by Location. Tools and functions of the Tables of the group have been
converted in Fig. 55 where for the help of applying two layers get the help of a tool
for Analyses Tools \ Overlay \ erase, a new layer having attributes and
geometry layers combined.

Fig. 55. Toolbox apply for a new layer.
Source: OGRYZEK own study.

93
Another example of working with GIS tools is to perform the analysis. On Fig. 56 was
tested using buffer zones in GIS software, the impact of three factors: the distance from
the central site, area, access roads to the city. Converted into vector maps and raster
maps using raster algebra maps, GIS technology was achieved in the final version of the
map of potential spatial development of the municipality.

Fig. 56. Analysis of the potential of the municipality made in ArcGIS using map algebra.
Source: OGRYZEK own study.

94

7. Own scripts ‐ is a set of possible programming languages for use in GIS technology.
There are solutions:
• Languages compiled ‐ Fortran, C, C ++
• Scripting languages ‐ Matlab, R, IDL
• Python
Python has gained the greatest popularity because of the rich set of diverse
libraries, natural language, and the submission of many libraries for purposes other
than research. ETHERINGTON (2011) while working on the genetics of the landscape for
the first time was surprised that there was no way to visualize the differences pairs of
genetic kinship. To fix this, wrote the script kinship links, which will take a series of
points and a matrix text file, kinship, and will produce a polyline shapefile links
between each combination of pairs of points. Another example shown in the Fig. 57 is
the development of wind rose for the presentation of wind direction. The program is
written in Python runs as a tool in ArcGIS.

95

Fig. 57. WindPRO meteo data report.
Source: KOPEĆ A.
5.3. Conclusions
GIS is a system of acquiring, processing and sharing of data due to system users, which
enables you to analyze the change in time and space phenomena of socio ‐ economic
scenario building and forecasting and making decisions based on them. The result of
multi‐criteria analysis model solutions space management is the transformation of
Geoinformation in thematic maps. The proposed software can be used on a different

96
scale and level of detail on a variety of spatial analysis. Entered into a GIS database
modules support a variety of project planning and are targeted to a specific audience.
The main task of the software GIS visualization test results analysis. The applicability
of various instruments GIS depending on your needs, experience, financial capacity and
performance objectives determine the target group and indicate the need to use a
specific type of software. However, the interdisciplinary nature of GIS makes us closer
and closer to the situation that the knowledge and use of GIS software ‐ this is standard
in all areas of life.

97
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LIST OF FIGURES
Fig. 1. An example of a BDOT10k database in the cartographic form. .................... 8 
Fig. 2. The diagram of data quality control process (part). ........................................ 13 
Fig. 3 The conceptual model of data quality BDOT10k. .............................................. 16 
Fig. 4. Attribute query tool in OpenJUMP. ......................................................................... 30 
Fig. 5. Validate Selected Layers tool in OpenJUMP. ....................................................... 30 
Fig. 6. Polygonize tool in OpenJUMP. ................................................................................... 31 
Fig. 7. Join Attributes Spatially tool in OpenJUMP. ........................................................ 31 
Fig. 8. Spatial Join tool in OpenJUMP. .................................................................................. 32 
Fig. 9. Selection Query tool in gvSIG CE. ............................................................................. 33 
Fig. 10. Layers that will be included in the topology in gvSIG CE. ........................... 34 
Fig. 11. Topological rules to be verified in gvSIG CE. .................................................... 34 
Fig. 12. Geoprocessing tool Clean in gvSIG CE. ................................................................ 35 
Fig. 13. Geoprocessing tool Build polygons in gvSIG CE. ............................................. 36 
Fig. 14. Spatial join tool in gvSIG CE. .................................................................................... 36 
Fig. 15. Geometry types available to load in QGIS. ......................................................... 37 
Fig. 16. Extract by attribute tool in QGIS. ........................................................................... 38 
Fig. 17. Topology Rule Settings in Topology Checker plugin in QGIS. ................... 38 
Fig. 18. Topology Checker plugin in QGIS. ......................................................................... 39 
Fig. 19. Points in Polygon tool in QGIS. ............................................................................... 39 
Fig. 20. Join Attributes by Location tool in QGIS. ............................................................ 40 
Fig. 21. Nautiz x7, Garmin GPSmap 62st, Garmin GPSmap 76 .................................. 46 
Fig. 22. Municipalities zonal division. ................................................................................. 47 
Fig. 23. Dasymetric cartogram of development intensity in the municipality
area. ................................................................................................................................................... 48 
Fig. 24. Map of economic activity in Zielonki commune. ............................................. 49 
Fig. 25. Determination of the parcels within the scope of residential areas. ...... 50 
Fig. 26. Buffers and parcels located in their influence on plots. ............................... 51 
Fig. 27. The creation of the resulting layer for the betterment levy due to the
construction of technical infrastructure. ........................................................................... 51 
Fig. 28. Layers of buildings, technical infrastructure, fittings and precincts. ..... 52 
Fig. 29. Share of developed plots in Local Development Plan. .................................. 53 
Fig. 30. Share of developed plots in Local Development Plan. .................................. 54 
Fig. 31. The ratio of the invested area surface to those labeled MN in the Local
Spatial Development Plan in different villages. .............................................................. 55 
Fig. 32. Percentage chart of easy access of residential buildings to the
infrastructure by villages. ........................................................................................................ 56 
Fig. 33. Cover of elaboration on „Spatially Enabled Society”. .................................... 59 
Fig. 34. Warmia and Mazury Region. ................................................................................... 61 
Fig. 35. Administrative division of Republic of Poland – as at January 1, 2011. 61 
Fig. 36. Interface of Polish Geoportal. ................................................................................. 68 
Fig. 37. Cadastral data in mapping tab. ............................................................................... 68 
Fig. 38. Atlas of Warmia i Mazury. ........................................................................................ 70 
Fig. 39. Chosen layer on a MSIPMO view ‐ orthophotomap from 2009. ............... 71 

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Fig. 40. Chosen layer on a MSIPMO view – precinct Kortowo ‐ situation of plots
and buildings. ................................................................................................................................ 72 
Fig. 41. Description of a chosen plot attached to the cadastral map on MSIPMO
view. .................................................................................................................................................. 72 
Fig. 42. Description of a chosen public utility on a MSIPMO view. ......................... 73 
Fig. 43. Variety of detailed maps attached to MSIPMO. ............................................... 74 
Fig. 44. Chosen layers on a SIP Stawiguda view ‐ boundaries of land use plans
and plots. ......................................................................................................................................... 75 
Fig. 45. Chosen layers on a SIP Stawiguda view ‐ topographic map and
boundaries of plots. .................................................................................................................... 76 
Fig. 46. Chosen layers on a SIP Stawiguda view ‐ orthophotomap and land use
plans. ................................................................................................................................................. 76 
Fig. 47. The scope of data rating of the SDI portals. ...................................................... 79 
Fig. 48. The functionality rating of the SDI portals. ....................................................... 81 
Fig. 49. Schematic GIS software division to create thematic layers. ....................... 87 
Fig. 50. Transformation into a compatible database software GIS. ........................ 88 
Fig. 51. Visualization of the results of research in software Web GIS. ................... 89 
Fig. 52. A demographic analysis made in the software Gis On‐Line ....................... 90 
Fig. 53. The use of GIS technology in sailing ..................................................................... 91 
Fig. 54. Visualization of the results of research in a desktop software GIS. ........ 93 
Fig. 55. Toolbox apply for a new layer. ............................................................................... 93 
Fig. 56. Analysis of the potential of the municipality made in ArcGIS using map
algebra. ............................................................................................................................................. 94 
Fig. 57. WindPRO meteo data report. .................................................................................. 96 

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1. The results of the data quality evaluation. ....................................................... 17 
Table 2. The value of RI depending on the dimension of the matrix ...................... 18 
Table 3. The point values of data quality evaluation and the values of calculated
estimators ....................................................................................................................................... 19 
Table 4. List of territorial units of Poland ‐ as at 01.01.2015. ................................... 62 
Table 5. Spatial data themes. .................................................................................................. 64 
Table 6. Scope of the data made available in SDI portals by the annexes of
INSPIRE Directive. ....................................................................................................................... 77 
Table 7. Functionality of selected SDI portals. ................................................................ 79 
Table 8. The use of GIS systems on different stages of investment process. ...... 82 

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NOTES ON THE AUTHORS

Agnieszka Dawidowicz, Ph.D.
Department of Real Estate Resources
University of Warmia and Mazury
Olsztyn, Poland
e‐mail: agnieszka.dawidowicz@uwm.edu.pl

SCIENTIFIC EDITOR
An Assistant Professor working in Department of Real Estate
Resources, Faculty of Geodesy, Geospatial and Civil Engineering.
She holds a PhD in Real Estate Cadastre from the University of
Warmia and Mazury. She also holds degrees in Engineering (Land
Management) Science (Geodesy and Cartography) from the same
institution. From the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn
she holds a university teaching qualification. Her research focuses
on technological and functional development of cadastres and
land administration systems. She is currently working on
methodology for testing the flexibility of the land administration
systems. She is an expert in GIS and other spatial information
systems. She participated in scientific and teaching trainings in
Germany (Leibnitz University of Hannover) and in the
Netherlands (University of Twente). She is also a scientific
secretary of the board and the editorial team of Journal “Acta
Scientiarum Polonorum Administratio Locorum” (eng. Real Estate
Management). Agnieszka Dawidowicz acts as a reviewer on many
journal and conference series.

Ada Wolny, Ph.D.
Department of Real Estate Resources
University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn
Olsztyn, Poland
e‐mail: ada.wolny@uwm.edu.pl

SCIENTIFIC EDITOR
An Assistant Professor working in Department of Real Estate
Resources, Faculty of Geodesy, Geospatial and Civil Engineering.
She holds a PhD in Real Estate Management from the University
of Warmia and Mazury. She also holds degrees in Engineering
(Land Management) Science (Geodesy and Cartography) from the
same institution.
Her research focuses on application of GIS for real estate
management and regional development. She tests capabilities of
SDI systems and variety of GIS tools for improving management
of suburban areas. She is an expert in GIS. As a licensed real estate
broker she identifies needs of different participants of real estate
market. Ada Wolny is an author or co – author of scientific
publications. She is also a member of Polish Real Estate Scientific
Society and she acts as a reviewer on journal and conference
series.

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Piotr Cichociński, Prof. Ph.D
Department of Geomatics
AGH University of Science and Technology
Kraków, Poland
e‐mail: Piotr.Cichocinski@agh.edu.pl

Piotr Cichociński is employed at the Department of
Geomatics, Faculty of Mining Surveying and
Environmental Engineering, AGH University of Science
and Technology in Kraków.
Since 2005, the main field of his scientific and research
activity has been related to the broadly defined use of
geographic information systems (GIS) in the real estate
economy (and the property valuation, in particular). In
addition, his research interests include standardization
and normalization in GIS, geoinformation modelling
and design of spatial databases, web mapping, network
analysis, volunteered geographic information. He also
focuses on promotion of the idea of open data and free
software.


Monika Mika, Ph.D.
Department of Land Surveying
University of Agriculture in Krakow
Kraków, Poland
e‐mail: momika@ar.krakow.pl

Monika Mika is employed at Department of Land
Surveying, Faculty of Environmental Engineering and
Land Surveying, University of Agriculture in Krakow.
Deals mainly with research and teaching activities in
the field of several thematic:
 The cadastre, the cadastre history, genesis of the

cadastre in Poland and worldwide, modernization
of the cadastre, the cadastral information.
 The Land and Mortgage Register system in Poland –
analysis of existing state in terms of the flow of
information about the area and the creation of real
estate cadastre.
 The use of GNSS measurement techniques and GIS
tools in the creation of thematic maps and other
cartographic elaborations.
Author or co‐author of scientific publications in the
field of geodesy and cartography and real estate
management.

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 Marek Ogryzek, Ph.D.
Department of Planning and Spatial Engineering
University of Warmia and Mazury
Olsztyn, Poland
e‐mail: marek.ogryzek@uwm.edu.pl

Marek Ogryzek is employed at the Department of
Planning and Spatial Engineering Faculty of Geodesy
and Land Management, University of Warmia and
Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland.
His research interests concern mostly GIS. Still in his
research there are topics like activity of Agricultural
Real Estate Agency, optimal development, spatial
planning and EU programs. His field of research
includes also the use statistic and geostatistic methods.




Tomasz Salata, Ph.D.
Department of Land Management and Landscape
Architecture University of Agriculture in Krakow
Kraków, Poland
e‐mail: rmtsalat@cyf‐kr.edu.pl

Tomasz Salata is academic employed at Department of
Land Management and Landscape Architecture,
Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Land
Surveying, University of Agriculture in Krakow. He
mainly deals with spatial information systems
(construction and operation in the network) used in
the fields of environmental protection, registration of
landscape events and phenomena and modelling of
spatial and descriptive data in information systems.
He is the author of many scientific publications in the
field of geodesy and cartography, spatial information
systems, GIS and data modelling. In his output he also
has many years of experience in the field of
informatics implementations in institutions of local
government administration in the field of communal
space management, municipal property, mailing
systems and others.

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 Monika Siejka, Ph.D.
Department of Land Surveying
University of Agriculture in Krakow
Krakow, Poland
e‐mail: rmwiech@cyf‐kr.edu.pl

Monika Siejka is a research and teaching worker in the
Department of Geodesy of the Faculty of Environmental
Engineering and Land Surveying at the University of
Agriculture in Krakow and real estate appraiser. She is
the author and co‐author of numerous publications in
journals of national and international range on real
estate market, real estate management, real estate
cadastre, databases, the concept of real estate
information systems. She is the co‐author of a textbook
for university students and of a monographs. She leads
the research on the use of multi‐criteria methods for
the analyses of the real estate market and optimization
of the choice of the location for the investment of
supralocal character. She is also active in the
professional field as a real estate appraiser and member
of Malopolskie Association of Property Valuers and
Polish Federation of Property Valuers.

Marek Ślusarski, Ph.D.
Department of Land Surveying
University of Agriculture in Krakow
Krakow, Poland
e‐mail: rmslusar@cyf‐kr.edu.pl

Graduate of Land Surveying College in Lublin
(1987) and the Surveying and Mapping at the
University of Agriculture in Krakow (1992). Research
and teaching worker in the Department of Geodesy of
the Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Land
Surveying at the University of Agriculture in Krakow
since 1992. Academic degree of doctor of agricultural
sciences in shaping the environment (2002) obtained
for the work. „Methods of obtaining and selection of
data in order to create a uniform system of
information on real estate”. Author and co‐author of
several original research papers published in national
and international journals. Scientific interests:
information systems, in particular, investigation of the
quality of data in geospatial systems and modern
cadastre. A member of the selection committee for the
professional certificates in the field of geodesy and
cartography.

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