A linked open data approach for visualizing flood information: A case study of the Rio Doce Basin in Brazil

Abstract

The availability of open government data offers an easy way to mix and match these data to create new knowledge. Geographic Information Systems powered by Semantic Web technologies and linked data result in an integration of data from multiple sources, facilitating its use and enhancing the discovery and dissemination of new knowledge. In this work, we present a prototype application that integrates heterogeneous data located in various public organizations, related to flooding in Rio Doce Basin — Brazil. For this purpose, data were converted to RDF format, linked and displayed on a Geographic Information System, through SPARQL queries. We validate our approach using a proof of concept. The results show that our proposal of liking open data about flood information is able to answer the identified competency questions.