Katharina Schleidt
IT Analyst
Austrian Environment Agency
Austria

Biography
Katharina Schleidt studied technical informatics at TU Vienna. Since 2004 she has been working for Umweltbundesamt GmbH as an expert on environmental data integration and networking. Within INSPIRE she has focuses on the use of use of OGC Observations and Measurements and Sensor Web Technology for the provision of monitoring data. She coordinated the use of O&M in INSPIRE, and defined the new European Air Quality reporting formats based on INSPIRE. She has also been working on utilizing Schematron technology for validation of data provided by INSPIRE download services.

Abstract
Schematron Validation for INSPIRE Air Quality Data

Co-Author: Barbara Magagna, IT Analyst, Umweltbundesamt Austria

Since the end of 2013, all members of the European Environmental Agency (EEA) have had to implement air quality reporting following the requirements of INSPIRE (2007/2/EC) and air quality (2008/50/EC), in accordance with implementing provisions (2011/850/EU). An AQD e-Reporting data model has been established satisfying both the requirements of INSPIRE and the Air Quality directive implementing provisions (IPR). This data model requires the inclusion of various constraints stemming from two different sources: 1) Underlying ISO and INSPIRE data models. 2) Conditional requirements, originating from the Air Quality Directive Legislation. The constraints ensuing from the legal background are not incorporated in the data model; the nature of these constraints does not allow for automatic constraint checking at the schema validation level. This makes it difficult for the EEA and MS to assure that all data being delivered is correct and complete in accordance with the underlying legal requirements. State-of-the-art for this level of conformance checking is Schematron, an XML encoded rule language that allows for automatic checking of constraints. The necessary Schematron rules, based on the stipulated constraints, have been implemented and documented. This allows for fuller validation of the INSPIRE based AQD e-Reporting data by both the EEA as well as the MS, which would not be possible using only XML Schema validation. In addition, documentation on the use of Schematron has been created covering the following aspects: a) Basic Schematron syntax including the use of XPath Functions and XQuery; b) Design Patterns for Schematron rules identified in the process of implementing the rules required for INSPIRE and AQD e-Reporting; c) A documentation of the Schematron rules implemented as well as test files. These exemplary rules and documentation are intended to be of support in developing Schematron rules within other thematic domains; the design patterns provided can be easily re-used and adapted to other purposes. This will make the use of Schematron more transparent and be of help in the further development of INSPIRE compliant validation services.