An Introduction to the HLanData Project: a Step Forward in the Harmonization of Spatial Information Throughout Europe

Nowadays spatial information is becoming more and more accessible for various purposes due to local, national and European initiatives. This paper is addressed to one such initiative Hlandata, whose purpose is to make a significant step forward in the harmonization and use of land cover (LC) and land use (LU) geographic data and its related data bases over Europe. The project was developed using the best experiences from previous geographic data harmonization activities with the goal of demonstrating the feasibility of European level harmonization of land information related datasets. The three pilot projects “LU-LC Data Analysis System for intermediatelevel users”, “Harmonized and Interope…