Towards a national atlas-geo web service

A National atlas is a collection of maps with a narrative function. Maps of a National Atlas represent spatial datasets which characterize a country. An important aspect of a National Atlas is the ability to compare maps. A National Atlas can provide an alternative access to the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), this means that National Atlas maps can use spatial datasets from various sources available within the NSDI. The main objective of this research is to formulate and design a conceptual model of the National Atlas - GeoWeb service. The National Atlas - Geo Web service is designed as a loosely coupled system. As an interoperable node, the National Atlas will then be integrated as a node of the NSDI. Keywords The National Atlas, The National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), Geo Web service