Introduction

Information on land occupation is essential to support geographic projects coordinated by the National Geographic Institute and other Public Administrations.

The Directorate General of the National Geographic Institute, in its role as the "National Reference Centre on Land Occupation" of the EIONET Network (National Reference Centre on Land Cover and on Land Use and Spatial Planning) under the National Focal Point (Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge), has as one of its main objectives the production and coordination of geospatial reference information on land cover and land use.

SIOSE is the Information System on Land Occupation in Spain, under the National Plan for Territory Observation (PNOT) whose objective is to generate a database of Land Occupation for the whole of Spain.

It is produced in a decentralised and coordinated manner between the different administrations following the INSPIRE principles, and is updated periodically.

Since its creation, SIOSE has been produced at a reference scale of 1:25,000. In 2014, the new land occupation needs of the main national and European users, who demand data with greater geometric, thematic and temporal detail, generated a new production strategy more focused on data integration, structuring the land cover and land use information in full accordance with the reference geographic datasets that are essential for the State and the Autonomous Communities.

This is why the High Resolution SIOSE arises, a new information system built by the integration of high detail geospatial sources, whose main objective is the integration, harmonisation and homogenisation of the aforementioned sources in order to continue to be a reference product in land occupation in Spain.

Nowadays, SIOSE is a Spanish and European reference in terms of information on geospatial land occupation, with harmonised databases and standardised procedures. SIOSE is available at national level in the following versions (reference dates)

Organisation

The main objective of the SIOSE project is to coordinate the Public Administrations using land information in the generation and updating of information on land occupation in Spain.

The organisation of the SIOSE project has its origins in the development of the CORINE Land Cover project in Spain, whose management, production and quality control model is based on cooperation between the Autonomous Communities and the General State Administration (AGE). This is why the AGE, through the Ministries of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda; Agriculture, Fisheries and Food; Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge; Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation; Finance; Territorial Policy, Industry, Trade and Tourism; Justice; Defence; as well as the Governments of the Autonomous Communities, and the Governments of the different Autonomous Communities, are involved in the management and production of the project.

The Technical Management of the project is assumed by the IGN-CNIG as Support to Copernicus Land Monitoring Service of the EIONET Network in Spain, through the Land Cover and Land Use Service (Subdirectorate General for Cartography and Territorial Observation), whose main functions are:

• Project management: budget control, calendar of activities, communication with the different organisations of the Spanish and European public administrations, etc.
• Project management with the different Autonomous Communities, shared with the Autonomous Coordinators.
• Quality control and evaluation of the database.
• Integration of the data produced by the different Autonomous Community Production Teams and harmonisation of the data between Autonomous Communities on a national level.
• Generation of metadata at a national level.
• Exchange of data and knowledge with the European Union (e.g. through the Copernicus Programme), AGE, CCAA and other bodies.
• Participation in the international community on Land Occupation (e.g. UN-GGIM, Copernicus Land Monitoring Service, EIONET, ISO or INSPIRE).

Objectives

The main objectives of SIOSE are:

• To meet the needs and requirements of the European Union, the General State Administration and the Autonomous Communities in terms of land occupation.
• To integrate or collect information from the land occupation databases of the General State Administration and the Autonomous Communities.
• To involve the Autonomous Communities in the production, control and management of the SIOSE.
• To avoid duplication and reduce costs in the generation of geographic information.

In addition, the following important points are established:

• Define consensual and harmonised methodologies.
• Spread costs and increase benefits.
• Meet the data, services and knowledge needs of the Copernicus Programme in the field of land occupation.
• Integrate and cooperate on European and global policies and regulations.
• Increase convergence and cohesion in Spain and Europe.