Interoperability and accuracy requirements for EU environmental noise mapping

The use of geoinformation in the environmental sector got a new challenge by the commencement of the EU Environmental Noise Directive 2002/49/EG (END) in 2002 and its transposition into German law (§ 47 a-f of Federal Immission Protection Law) in 2005. The EU environmental noise map- ping puts high demands on the access, availability and accuracy of numerous thematic and geographical information in 2D, 2.5D, and 3D. A recently conducted study showed, that financial savings in the context of en- vironmental noise mapping of approx. 60% of the total can be reached both by using the appropriate level of geodata accuracy and by the sustainable use of geoinformation in the context of Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI). Interopera- bility of standardised web services (OGC, ISO) meets the requirements of a flexible use of geodata for noise mapping tasks. In our contribution, we will discuss how different strategies for environmental noise mapping are facilitated by the consequent application of Spatial Data Infrastructure techniques.