OneGeology

OneGeology
Name	OneGeology
Formation	2007
Type	International initiative
Region served	Worldwide
Language	English

OneGeology is an international initiative to create an accessible, interoperable geological map of the world using web services and standardized geoscience data. The project brings together national geological surveys, international organizations, and scientific programmes to publish geological map data via interoperable standards and portals, enabling discovery, visualization, and integration with other spatial datasets. It emphasizes open access, technical interoperability, and capacity building across a wide range of partners.

Overview

OneGeology aimed to deliver a dynamic, web-based geological map by coordinating contributions from national geological surveys such as the British Geological Survey, United States Geological Survey, Geological Survey of Canada, Geological Survey of India, and Geoscience Australia. The initiative engaged multilateral bodies including the International Union of Geological Sciences, UNESCO, International Association for Engineering Geology and the Environment, European Commission, and World Bank to align policy, funding, and technical support. Its services built upon spatial standards developed by the Open Geospatial Consortium and the International Organization for Standardization, enabling integration with platforms like Google Earth, Esri ArcGIS, and regional infrastructures such as the European Geological Data Infrastructure.

History and Development

OneGeology was launched in 2007 following coordination at meetings involving stakeholders from the Commission for the Geological Map of the World, the International Union of Geological Sciences, and national surveys including the British Geological Survey and the Geological Survey of Finland. Early milestones included demonstration services at the International Geological Congress and pilot portals for continents and regions such as Africa, Europe, and South America. Subsequent phases expanded participation through partnerships with agencies like the United States Geological Survey, Geological Survey of Japan, and the Geological Survey of Brazil, while funding and endorsement came from organizations including the European Commission and the World Bank. The project evolved alongside global initiatives such as the Global Earth Observation System of Systems and data-sharing movements within bodies like UNESCO and the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Organization and Governance

Governance for OneGeology involved a steering group composed of representatives from national geological surveys, academic institutions like Uppsala University and Imperial College London, and international bodies including the International Union of Geological Sciences and UNESCO. Operational coordination typically occurred through project offices within national surveys such as the British Geological Survey and through working groups with experts from the Open Geospatial Consortium, the International Organization for Standardization, and regional cartographic institutions like the Geological Survey of Norway. Funding and oversight drew on agencies including the European Commission, the UK Department for International Development, and philanthropic partners such as foundations associated with scientific capacity building.

Data and Services

OneGeology aggregated geological map layers, metadata, legends, and attribute schemas provided by contributors including the Geological Survey of Canada, Servicio Geológico Colombiano, Geological Survey of Japan, and Geological Survey of India. Services typically exposed Web Map Services and Web Feature Services compliant with Open Geospatial Consortium specifications, enabling visualization with clients like QGIS, Esri ArcGIS, and browsers such as Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. Data themes included lithology, stratigraphy, structural geology, mineral occurrences, and geohazards—linked to vocabularies and thesauri maintained by institutions like the British Geological Survey and the International Union of Geological Sciences commission on stratigraphy.

Technical Standards and Interoperability

A core technical purpose was adherence to interoperability standards from the Open Geospatial Consortium and the International Organization for Standardization, including OGC Web Map Service, Web Feature Service, and EPSG coordinate reference systems maintained by the European Petroleum Survey Group legacy database. Semantic interoperability drew on controlled vocabularies and cataloguing standards propagated by the International Union of Geological Sciences and linked-data practices promoted in communities around Linked Open Data, the World Wide Web Consortium, and geological ontologies developed by university research groups. Integration with infrastructure initiatives such as the European Spatial Data Infrastructure and the Global Earth Observation System of Systems supported broader reuse.

Applications and Impact

OneGeology services have been used by stakeholders including national planning agencies, mineral exploration companies, academic researchers at institutions like University of Oxford and Stanford University, and disaster risk organizations such as United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. Applications include mineral resource assessment linked to work by the United Nations Environment Programme, geohazard and landslide susceptibility analyses used by UN-Habitat, education and outreach in museums and universities, and cross-border projects coordinating transnational geological mapping in regions like the Andes and the Himalayas.

Challenges and Future Directions

Challenges included uneven data readiness among contributors such as varying scales and projection systems used by the Geological Survey of Japan versus the Geological Survey of Brazil, licensing and data-policy differences between agencies like the United States Geological Survey and other national surveys, and the technical burden of semantic harmonization addressed with tools from the Open Geospatial Consortium community and university research groups. Future directions emphasize deeper integration with global data initiatives like the Global Earth Observation System of Systems, enhanced linked-data approaches championed by the World Wide Web Consortium, tighter cooperation with regional bodies such as the African Union and the European Commission, and ongoing capacity building supported by institutions including the World Bank and UNESCO to ensure sustainable, open-access geological data worldwide.

Category:Geology Category:International scientific organizations