Spatial location
Do not use the Spatial Location element for describing the spatial coverage of a registry object. Instead, use Spatial Coverage for the spatial topic or characteristics of an entity or object (like the locations where data observations were made or locations that were the subject of experiments or observations).
Meaning & purpose
Spatial location describes where a registry object (such as a collection) is physically located, using geospatial coordinates such as latitude and longitude.
This element can be used to generate place markers on maps that show the physical address of collections, particularly cultural collections such as museums, galleries and archives. It may also be used to describe the location of a party, or of a service such as an instrument. The data values for describing spatial location are the same as used for spatial coverage. Spatial location is contained within the Location element wrapper.
Spatial Location attributes
Spatial Type
A Spatial Type is required. Preferably specify a type from the Spatial Type vocabulary:
Type | Explanation |
|---|---|
dcmiPoint | Spatial location information for a point in space specified in DCMI Point Encoding Scheme |
gmlKmlPolyCoords | A set of KML long/lat co-ordinates derived from GML defining a polygon, as described by the KML coordinates element but without the altitude component |
gpx | GPX (the GPS Exchange Format) is a light-weight XML data format for the interchange of GPS data (waypoints, routes, and tracks) between applications and Web services on the Internet |
iso31661 | ISO 3166-1 Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions - Part 1: Country codes |
iso31662 | ISO 3166-2 Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions - Part 2: Country subdivision codes |
iso31663 | ISO 3166-3 Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions - Part 3: Code for formerly used names of countries |
iso19139dcmiBox | DCMI Box Encoding Scheme derived from bounding box metadata, conformant with the ISO/TS 19139-1 schema |
kmlPolyCoords | A set of KML long/lat co-ordinates defining a polygon as described by the KML coordinates element |
text | Free-text representation of spatial location. Use this to record place or region names where geospatial notation is not available |
Language attribute
The language in which the spatial location metadata is recorded may be included in the Lang attribute, but is not displayed or searchable in Research Data Australia. The RDA Registry accepts language tags consistent with IETF's BCP (Best Current Practice) 47: Tags for Identifying Languages (incorporating RFC 5646). Language codes may be selected from the IANA Language subtag registry (an IANA Language Subtag lookup tool is available also).
Use in Research Data Australia
Geospatial information recorded in the Spatial Location element will generate maps in Research Data Australia, if valid, correctly formatted metadata of Spatial Type: "dcmiPoint", "iso19139dcmiBox", "gmlKmlPolyCoords" or "kmlPolyCoords" is provided. Multiple points or polygons will be displayed on the one map.
Best Practice
- Specify the geospatial information format using the Spatial Type attribute, e.g. kmlPolyCoords.
- Include the spatial values in the Spatial Location element, e.g. latitude and longitude coordinates. A useful tool is the Composite Gazetteer of Australia's Place Names Search which allows users to easily discover, interrogate and download place names information from Australia and its external territories.
- To display a map in Research Data Australia, ensure valid spatial data of types dcmiPoint, iso19139dcmiBox, gmlKmlPolyCoords or kmlPolyCoords is provided.
- To display more than one point or polygon on a map, add each point or polygon into repeated XML elements.
- For registry objects located in Australia, if an address is not available, include an ISO 3166-2 occurrence of the Spatial Location element with the value 'AU' and, when the state is known, an ISO 3166-2 occurrence of the Spatial Location element with the appropriate state code: AU-ACT | AU-NSW | AU-NT | AU-QLD | AU-SA | AU-TAS | AU-VIC | AU-WA.
XML encoding example
Spatial location using country and subdivision code and Type iso31662:
<location>
<spatial type="iso31662">AU-TAS</spatial>
</location>Spatial location using KML coordinates:
<location>
<spatial type="kmlPolyCoords">115.625357,-31.767240 115.754393,-31.774751 115.757967,-32.462250 115.513179,-32.393528</spatial>
</location>