INSPIRE Services

INSPIRE Services consist among others of View Services (WMS) and Download Services (ATOM/OS). These are used for European Spatial Data Infrastructure which is implemented according to the INSPIRE Directive of the European Union.

Background

INfrastructure for SPatial InfoRmation in Europe (INSPIRE) is an initiative by the European Union for a common spatial data infrastructure in Europe. It facilitates the use of spatial data beyond the national boundaries in Europe, especially for common political and environmental decisions.

The European Parliament and the Council ratified the INSPIRE Directive 2007/2/EC. It entered into force on into force on the 15th May 2007 and has been implemented in the meantime by the member states in national law.

In practice, INSPIRE demands a common description for spatial data, provide them via services in the Internet in order to search, visualize and download them. Furthermore, the spatial data must be supplied in a common format.