Rising waters: Integrating national datasets for the visualisation of diminishing spatial entities

Authors: S. Formosa

Corresponding: S. Formosa (saviour.formosa@um.edu.mt)

Keywords: climate change, data dissemination, Aar- hus, SEIS, INSPIRE, LIDAR

Doi: http://dx.medra.org/10.7423/XJENZA.2015.2.02

Issue: Xjenza Online Vol. 3 Iss. 2 - December 2015

Abstract:
Preparing for the potential changes wrought by climate change can be grounded in commonly integ- rated real data. Efforts by various countries to pre- pare for such potentialities have resulted in a stepped- approach to data management and integration. Small island states experience an added burden through data limitations, disparate datasets and data hoarding. This paper reviews the processes employed in Malta that target a spatio-temporal analysis of current and future climate change scenarios aimed at integrating environ- mental, spatial planning and social data in line with the transposition of the Aarhus Convention, the INSPIRE Directive (Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community) and the SEIS (Shared Environ- mental Information System) initiative. The study ana- lyses potential physical and social aspects that will be impacted by sea-level rise in the Maltese islands. Scen- arios include the analysis of areas that will be inundated, the methodology employed to carry out the analysis, and the relative impacts on land use and environmental, in- frastructural and population loss. Spatial information systems and 3D outputs illustrate outcome scenarios.

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