FAO Geonetwork

FAO Geonetwork
Name	FAO Geonetwork
Established	2006
Type	Geospatial metadata catalogue
Owner	Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

FAO Geonetwork FAO Geonetwork is a geospatial metadata catalogue and discovery platform operated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to support spatial information about agriculture, forestry, fisheries, food security, rural development and related sectors. It provides searchable metadata records, map services and dataset access to support projects by organizations such as United Nations Environment Programme, World Food Programme, World Bank, International Fund for Agricultural Development and United Nations Development Programme. The platform interoperates with standards and tools from institutions like Open Geospatial Consortium, International Organization for Standardization, European Commission geospatial initiatives and research infrastructures including Copernicus Programme and Global Earth Observation System of Systems.

Overview

FAO Geonetwork functions as a metadata catalogue that indexes spatial resources—such as shapefiles, raster layers, map services and documents—using standards from Open Geospatial Consortium, International Organization for Standardization and Dublin Core. It supports protocols and services like Web Map Service, Web Feature Service, Catalogue Service for the Web and Web Coverage Service to enable discovery by portals including GeoNode, INSPIRE Geoportal, DataONE and UN-GGIM frameworks. Common users include agencies such as Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, World Meteorological Organization, International Union for Conservation of Nature, and research centres like International Rice Research Institute.

History and Development

Initial deployments drew on open-source projects and prototypes used by European Commission initiatives and research collaborations with partners such as United Nations University and International Livestock Research Institute. The catalogue evolved alongside the maturation of standards by Open Geospatial Consortium and International Organization for Standardization committees influenced by programmes like Global Spatial Data Infrastructure and initiatives from Global Earth Observation System of Systems and Group on Earth Observations. Major development milestones aligned with external events including the rollout of Copernicus Programme data, disaster response operations coordinated with United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and agriculture emergency responses linked to World Food Programme appeals. Contributors and maintainers have included staff seconded from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, collaborations with vendors linked to Esri, Boundless Spatial, and open-source communities around projects like GeoServer and OpenLayers.

Architecture and Technical Features

The platform is built on modular components integrating catalogue services, spatial servers and frontend clients. It leverages software such as GeoNetwork Opensource, GeoServer, PostGIS, Apache Tomcat, Elasticsearch and map libraries like OpenLayers and Leaflet for visualization and indexing. Interoperability is achieved through adherence to OGC Web Map Service, OGC Web Feature Service, OGC Catalogue Service for the Web, and ISO 19115 metadata schemas harmonized with Dublin Core elements. Authentication and exchange can integrate with identity providers including United Nations Office for Project Services systems and single sign-on frameworks used by entities such as European Space Agency and World Bank trust services. The architecture supports harvesting via OAI-PMH and synchronization with regional hubs like Africa Geoportal, Asia-Pacific Spatial Data Research networks, and national spatial data infrastructures represented by agencies such as United States Geological Survey and Geoscience Australia.

Data Content and Standards

Metadata records describe resources from programs and datasets produced by partners including Committee on World Food Security, International Fund for Agricultural Development, Global Biodiversity Information Facility, and research from universities like Wageningen University, University of Oxford, University of California, Berkeley and Imperial College London. The catalogue indexes thematic layers such as land use, crop distribution, soil, hydrology, protected areas, and fisheries statistics compiled by organizations like International Soil Reference and Information Centre, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations divisions, UNEP-WCMC, and FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department projects. Standards applied include ISO 19115, ISO 19139, OGC CSW, and vocabularies such as Global Agricultural Concept Scheme and domain taxonomies used by Economic Community of West African States projects.

Access, Use and Licensing

Access modalities range from open public discovery to restricted access for confidential datasets provided under agreements with partners including World Food Programme, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, International Committee of the Red Cross and national ministries like Ministry of Agriculture (France), Department of Agriculture (Philippines). Licensing and metadata express constraints using licences from Creative Commons family, proprietary licences negotiated with agencies such as Esri or procurement partners, and data use conditions aligned with Access to Information Act-style policies in jurisdictions represented by contributors like Government of Canada and European Commission. The platform supports machine-readable licences and policy metadata to facilitate reuse by portals like FAOSTAT and modelling platforms such as Global Agro-Ecological Zones.

Applications and Integration

Users employ the catalogue for thematic mapping, disaster risk reduction, food security analysis, crop monitoring and policy planning in workflows involving tools such as QGIS, ArcGIS, R Project for Statistical Computing, Python (programming language), Google Earth Engine and GRASS GIS. Integration scenarios include coupling Geonetwork-harvested metadata with modelling systems from International Food Policy Research Institute, CGIAR centres like CIAT and CIMMYT, and visualization for initiatives led by UN-Habitat and Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery. It supports emergency mapping collaborations during crises referenced by groups like Médecins Sans Frontières and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Governance and Community Contributions

Governance involves stewardship by units within the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, coordination with multilateral partners including United Nations Environment Programme, World Bank, European Commission, and technical input from open-source communities around GeoNetwork Opensource, GeoServer and OpenLayers. Community contributions come from research organisations such as CIMMYT, CIAT, International Water Management Institute, and national mapping agencies including Ordnance Survey, Instituto Geográfico Nacional (Spain), National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) contributing metadata, controlled vocabularies and web services. Capacity building and training have been delivered in collaboration with institutions like Wageningen University, University of Pretoria, Asian Development Bank and Inter-American Development Bank.

Category:Geographic information systems