Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs) support discovery, access, and use of geographic
information in the decision-making process [1]. Traditionally, Geographic
Information Systems (GIS) have been used for the extraction of information from
spatial data in order to answer spatial questions. Today, the transition from the
traditional monolithic GIS to an interoperable Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is
taking place. Increasingly research on the consequences of this paradigm shift is
carried out, e.g. in resolving some of the key interoperability problems among GI
services [2] or the chaining of these services [3,4]. SDIs are based on the assumption
that users are usually not interested in data but in a piece of information that can be
generated by Geographic Information (GI) services which are main components of
SDIs [5]. Therefore, Spatial Data Infrastructures provide an important basis in the
field of disaster management where geographic information must be discovered,
processed and visualized quickly to provide critical assistance in emergencies and in
support decision makers and rescue workers [6].