The strategic aim of the NCP is to promote and divulge the use of the Informative Territorial Systems, allowing access to environmental information concerning the territory to a widespread public, including non-experts, taking into consideration all the projects and activities that are now in corse on a National and European level. [...]
If we think of a big National Library whose shelves are full of books regarding subjects of all kinds, whoever wishes to satisfy a curiosity, acquire further knowledge, study a subject in depth or find elements on which to base a research, can freely access the whole library and find the volumes that are of most interest to him.
We can imagine the National Cartographic Portal (NCP) as a “library” on the web whose shelves contain all the maps of the italian territory that are available concerning territorial and environmental themes.
The maps that form the Cartoraphic base of reference have sets of data that are homogeneous and easy to understand, compare and exchange the content, this information gives life to the National repertory of territorial Data.
These maps are predisposed for cooperation between the various public Administration and also a wider peripheral network of local Administrations that all interact with the Ministry of the environment.
The National Cartographic Portal allows anyone who has internet – students, researchers, administrators, and the general public - to see and freely use any maps that may be of interest to them, choosing them as if from a library shelf.
There are two types of possible users of the National Cartographic Portal. The first group of possible users are those that are simply inerested in visuallly consulting available maps, that can be consulted in the same manner as in a book. The second group of possible users are those that need to elaborate territorial and environmental data, available on the Portal, for professional or accademic reasons. They can do this thanks to the following services wms, wfs and wcs that are available and allow the data to be interoperational.
At the moment amongst the strata of maps available all of which can be superimposed we will find:
- Black and white and colour photo;
- IGM cartograpfy;
- Digital model of landscape;
- toponyms;
- Administrative limits;
- Protected areas;
- Soil description;
- Plan of territory;
- Sea bathymetric;
- Coastal erosion risk;
- Physical map of coast;
- railways;
- Orthophoto dates;
- Geologic data;
- CORINE Land Cover.
The National Catographic Portal therefore is a very useful instrument:
- For public administrators. It is a fundamental support to the planning, running and control of the territory;
- For schools, for teaching history, geography, natural science and all those subjects that require technical maps;
- In universities and scientific institution because constitutes a catalogue of sorts of all available informations concerning the territory and the environment that are available all from the same source and at no cost;
- Also for the safeguard of the environment, of consevation of archeological sites, historical, artistic and architectural sites, allowing an exact delimitation of the site in the territory.
