IOZIP
Environmental
information system of Prague
Keywords:environmental information for
city administration and publicEnvironmental information system of Prague
Application site: Prague, Cz
Website: http://www.monet.cz
Context
The Institute of Municipal Informatics of the City of
Prague (IMIP) is an institution responsible for
activities aimed at supporting the development of
the city information systems. These include not only
the initiation of the development of a municipal
computer network and selected services (such as
electronic mail or administration of the municipal
WWW server), the compilation of digital maps
(Standard Digital Map of Prague, a set of Digital
Reference Maps, orthophoto maps),and publication
activities, but also the formulation of an overall
concept of the Municipal Information System of the
City of Prague (ISHMP) or the administration and
management database of the city, which is crucial for
decision-making and managing Prague's
development.
In the field of environment, IMIP has developed the Environmental Information System of Prague (IOZIP) and it carries also other re l a t e d environmental activities. Since mid-1980,the system represented one of the thematic registers of the Municipal Information System.
The IMIP also coordinates additional activities related to the processing of information on the environment of Prague such as the updating of REZZO 2 – the register of atmospheric pollution sources, the compilation of noise distribution maps, the monitoring of toxic organic substances etc.
Objectives
The aim of the Environmental Information System is
of collecting, sorting and processing data which are
acquired through various organisations and
institutions, and to create a unified automated
information system for the public administration
and the citizen.
Results
The system collects and processes data and
Database and GIS tools are used for data
management. Digitized (CD, www-intranet/internet)
and printed outputs (e.g. yearbooks, atlas) are
regularly generated. Source data is acquired from
other information systems (e.g. state level),acquired
on order (measurements, modelling etc.), while
i n formation from other specialised municipal
environmental projects is implemented.
The Environmental Information System (IOZIP)
collects and processes data on specific
environmental thematic domains in the area of
Prague Municipality. The main thematic domains are:
air, water, landscape, waste, noise and additional
information (transport, population etc.). IOZIP also
monitors constantly crucial environmental
parameters for which no other measure m e n t s
exist. Thanks to further elaboration of the data,
IOZIP provides outputs in the form of graphic and
alphanumeric data as well as comprehensive
summaries (yearbook) of the status of the
environment in the municipality. Thematic
environmental maps are also produced in print or
digital forms. Such information is then disseminated
to various municipal authorities and other users
through digitized (CD, www-intranet/internet) and
printed outputs (e.g. yearbooks, atlas) in the Czech
and English languages.
Technical characteristics
The IOZIP database currently includes four
principal parts reflecting the organisational aspects
of data administration.
The Central Database
This is regularly updated since the 1980s, and
divided into topic areas and problem sub-areas of
air, soil, surface and greenery, and noise. The central
IOZIP database runs on a network server under the
Fox Pro software system. Preparations for its
conversion onto a higher-level relational database
(Oracle platform) and establishing direct links to
GIS are ongoing.
The database is operated and handled by a user application designed to distribute and retrieve the data, the so-called SGU (Statistical and Graphic Tasks). The data is either taken over from other organizations and institutions that run state-financed data acquisition projects (such as the Czech Hydrometeorlogical Institute, National Public Health Institute, Public Health Office of the City of Prague, Water Management Research Institute etc.),or acquired under a contract with the IMIP (e.g. PUDIS, Prague Sewage Collection and Water Courses, SALIX cooperative, Czech Union of Nature Conservationist etc.).
Other database or outputs files from models
The database on air pollution sources (REZZO –
Registers of Air Pollution Emissions and Sources)
are included in IOZIP as well as results from
computer simulations i.e. ATEM. ATEM provides a
simulated assessment of spatial distribution of
yearly mean values of concentrations of SPM, SO2,
NOx and CO and other derived characteristics
from all types of emission sources in the urban area
(i.e. point, line and area sources).Outputs consist of
information on air quality in Prague. Results have
been presented in numerical and graphical forms –
GIS.
ATEM is a Gaussian dispersion type model and adapted to the quite complicated orography of the city of Prague. It is possible to run the model on a PC with RAM at least of 32 MB – which greatly depends on the number of emission sources involved in running the model. UNIX platform workstations can be used, too. The software is coded in Fortran77.
A set of thematic map overlays
Thematic maps, generated in GIS format using
MapInfo, or ArcView, are created in the IOZIP sub-system,
GIS-ZIP. The GIS layers include selections
and aggregations of the thematic data on air, soil,
landuse, water, greenery and noise, and digitized
map outputs produced by other institutions. The
digital maps of IMIP 's Geodesy Department are
used as the background for the environmental map.
Supporting data for the Yearbook and the Environmental Statistical Database A certain level of standardization of environmental assessments, allowing comparisons of different regions and periods of time, has been pursued through the Environmental Statistical Database of the City of Prague.
Since 1997, the transfer of data from the IOZIP Central Database (11 registers, including GIS map overlays) was made into an Oracle database.
Transferability
The system was created and tailored for the city of
Prague and none exploitation plan was performed
for such a system. However, this system can be
transfer elsewhere giving the availability of pre-existing
hard and software. IOZIP system could be
used in different city or town administrations in the
EU and CEE countries for environmental and traffic
information. The IOZIP experience provides know-how
for acquisition and transformation of input
data into various sources. Data management and
output information processing are easily
transferable from the IOZIP system to another.
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The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe
