The system comprises a Data Library and the Australian Natural Resources Atlas. The ultimate goal of the Data Library and Natural Resources Atlas system is to have a range of data publicly available that can be used to support natural resources policy making and management at a national and regional scale.
The Data Library provides:
- a source of spatial data and related data and information products (images, text, reports, etc.) produced from Audit projects;
- management of data required for further processing and analysis to develop integrated Audit information products. Data are managed according to data access and security provisions specified by data custodians; and
- controlled access, subject to licence agreements, to selected data and products. Access is both directly to approved users and, more often, through the atlas.
The Data Library stores and manages a series of 'content' databases, developed through Audit projects. The library also manages a summary, integrated view of these content databases, suitable for presentation through the Australian Natural Resources Atlas. There are several interfaces to the Data Library. They include a data directory, the Atlas and an analysis (Internet Mapping) interface.
The Natural Resources Atlas uses Internet mapping technologies for display and some manipulation of the spatial data and associated information products stored in the Audit's Data Library.
The Natural Resource Atlas has two components. The first is a 'story-board' view, consisting of documents with maps, text, graphs, photos and tables. The web pages are generated dynamically from data stored in the Data Library depending on the geography and topics of interest. The second view allows users to generate 'dynamic maps' for any region of interest based on spatial data they select from the Data Library, and link to any associated or linked attributes, information or documentation.