Alterra

Alterra is the research institute for our green living environment. We offer a combination of practical and scientific research in a multitude of disciplines related to the green world around us and the sustainable use of our living environment. Flora and fauna, soil, water, the environment, geo-information and remote sensing, landscape and spatial planning, man and society: just a few of the numerous aspects of our green environment that Alterra focuses on. Alterra is part of the Wageningen University and Research Centre concern (Wageningen UR). In research and education we closely co-operate with the school of Environmental Sciences from Wageningen University. With this partner we contribute to a high quality and sustainable green living environment. The exchange of expertise and capacity and the match between fundamental and practical research in various projects give us a scientific advantage. For the centre of Geo-information, part of Alterra, the reserach on spatial dat and SDI is an important topic. We share a common interest in spatial data quality (SDQ) and spatial data infrastructures (SDI). The following objectives are more specifically defined for this area of interest:: 1) Improving collaboration among colleagues concerned with spatial data quality (SDQ) and spatial data infrastructures (SDI) 2) Boosting knowledge and information exchange, among CGI colleagues and with others outside of the Centre Increasing the group’s knowledge and expertise in SDI and SDQ 3) Contributing to the (internal and external) research agenda on SDI and SDQ and acting as a point of contact for those seeking expertise in this field 4) The group is primarily concerned with environmental issues and rural land use. Its research interests are as follows: Methods and criteria for describing the quality of spatial datasets and geo-information processing; Propagation of uncertainty through spatial analyses; Data quality in the context of geo-information clearinghouses and a network of “geo-desks”; The importance of application context for determining SDQ or “fitness-for-use” In the Dutch Geo-Information domain Alterra has contributed to come to the Dutch Base Information model for Geo-infortion (NEN3610) as well for several domains, like Soil, Nature, Cultural Inheritance, Spatial Planning, and more.