Spatial data infrastructure techniques for flexible noise mapping strategies

The implementation of the EU Environmental Noise Directive puts high demands on the access, availability and integration of numerous thematic and geographical information. Till now, high expenses in time and finances arise for noise mapping because of several technical problems in thematic and geometric data generation and integration. To evaluate the status quo of noise mapping in North Rhine-Westphalia, a state of Germany, a feasibility study was conducted by the Institute for Cartography and Geoinformation of the University of Bonn on behalf of the State Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation, Agriculture and Consumer Protection of North Rhine-Westphalia. An important result of this study is, that substantial financial savings in the context of environmental noise mapping can be made by the sustainable use of geoinformation in the context of Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI), especially as a flexible use of geodata for decentralised and centralised noise mapping tasks as well as for small and large-sized areas is required. Applications of web mapping services and international standards of Open Geospatial Consortium and ISO already are in common use in many thematic fields. New challenges are the implementation of web services for 3D building models and cadastral information, which both are required for the environmental noise mapping. In this paper we will discuss how different strategies for environmental noise mapping are facilitated by the consequent application of Spatial Data Infrastructure techniques.