Geoportal Technology: A Customizable Framework for Managing and Publishing Georeferenced Research Objects

The Geoportal technology is an open-source framework designed to address the challenges of managing and publishing georeferenced research objects. These objects are “complex” documents (called Projects), consisting of various files and metadata and are characterized by geospatial and temporal features.

The Geoportal platform allows user communities to fully customize the data model for their specific instance, enabling them to define the structure, content, and workflow of the research objects to be managed. This highly configurable framework can be adapted to diverse application scenarios, which may vary in terms of:

• the types of projects to be supported;
• the workflows guiding the publication, updating, and accessibility of objects based on access policies.

Moreover, this technology emphasizes interoperability and scalability, facilitating the organization and sharing of geospatial, temporal, and multimedia data across multiple domains. By adhering to international standards such as OGC’s Web Map Service (WMS) and Web Feature Service (WFS), the Geoportal ensures seamless integration with other systems, making it a powerful tool for collaborative research.

Developed on the D4Science infrastructure, the Geoportal integrates Web-GIS technologies, offering tools for spatial and temporal data analysis and enabling dynamic visualizations of geodata. Its capabilities include real-time data harvesting, interactive mapping, and seamless integration of up-to-date research outputs.

The system includes two primary interfaces:

• Data-Entry Interface: Allows users to create, edit, and validate new data entries through a moderation process, ensuring that all entries are reviewed and approved by a supervisor.
• Data-Viewer Interface: Provides public access to published datasets via an intuitive cartographic map and timeline, enabling historical navigation of the data.

An API further extends the platform’s functionality, supporting automated data retrieval and specialized queries, making it an ideal solution for large-scale data management and integration.

As a case study, we present the Dataset for the National Geoportal for Archaeology (D4GNA), developed for the Italian Ministry of Culture. D4GNA leverages Geoportal technology to create a comprehensive, scalable environment for managing archaeological data, supporting a wide range of geospatial, textual, and multimedia formats. This application exemplifies Geoportal’s capabilities, focusing on the collection, management, and publication of archaeological data within the National Geoportal for Archaeology (GNA) .

Since its launch, D4GNA has cataloged over 1,150 archaeological investigations across Italy and 15 abroad, all licensed under Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0. Future enhancements, including the assignment of Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) and integration with D4Science’s Catalog service, will enable advanced search functionality and provide statistical insights into the data.

This study demonstrates the transformative potential of Geoportal technology in enabling efficient management, publication, and sharing of georeferenced research objects. By offering a flexible and interoperable framework, Geoportal supports diverse domains such as environmental studies, geology, and climate research, facilitating the integration of geospatial, temporal, and multimedia data. Its adherence to FAIR principles and integration with international standards ensures interoperability and scalability, promoting open access and collaboration in scientific research. This highlights Geoportal as a powerful tool for advancing scientific discovery and preserving valuable research data across disciplines.

Keywords

Georeferenced research objects, Web-GIS, Interoperability, D4GNA