GEOportale Nazionale National Geoportal of Italy (Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security)

Overview

The Geoportale Nazionale (GN), or National Geoportal, is Italy's official national access point for environmental and territorial geographic data. It is managed and curated by Italy's Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security (Ministero dell'Ambiente e della Sicurezza Energetica, MASE) and functions as the national focal point for territorial information within the framework of the European INSPIRE Directive.

History and Legal Framework

The legal basis for the Geoportale Nazionale was established by Legislative Decree 32/2010, which transposed the European INSPIRE Directive (2007/2/CE) into Italian law. A subsequent Decree of November 10, 2011, from the Presidency of the Council of Ministers established the technical rules for the National Repository of Territorial Data and designated the GN as Italy's central access point for geospatial information under INSPIRE. The cartographic framework accessible through the portal reflects an earlier agreement between the Italian state and regions on a common reference cartographic system, dating to October 12, 2000.

Collections and Data

The Geoportale Nazionale's database consists of territorial and environmental information assembled across multiple projects, including the Extraordinary Environmental Remote Sensing Plan for hydrogeological risk prevention, and data gathered through the National Operational Plan (PON) 'Security for Development' in collaboration with the Carabinieri Command for Environmental Protection. Available data include orthophotos from multiple survey years, digital elevation models at various resolutions, Italian Military Geographic Institute (IGM) 1:25,000 series maps, erosion risk maps, protected area boundaries, coast monitoring data, LIDAR datasets, and interferometric data.

Architecture and Access

The GN operates as a federated network in which national and regional geoportals are 'connected' to the central access point. Data is published using OGC standard web services—WMS (Web Map Services), WFS (Web Feature Services), and WCS (Web Coverage Services)—ensuring interoperability. Metadata complies with both the INSPIRE Directive and the Italian national metadata profile. The portal is freely accessible to all users including students, researchers, administrators, and the general public.