This paper presents a methodology for transforming hydrographic databases to comply with the European INSPIRE Directive. The INSPIRE Directive has been selected as a reference standard because it represents the most detailed and comprehensive hydrographic data specification that covers all critical elements of hydrographic database structures. The research focuses on technical aspects of applying transformation tools to align data with the INSPIRE “Hydrography” model, particularly its “Physical Waters” component. The process stages, technical challenges, and their solutions are described in detail. The methodology was tested on an experimental database created for Lake Sevan basin using open data from OpenStreetMap (OSM), structured according to regulatory requirements. The results show that the proposed methodology effectively adapts hydrographic data structures to European standards with minimal information loss and optimal resource utilization. This research can serve as a methodological guide for standardizing existing databases in various countries, not only in accordance with INSPIRE requirements but also for general standardization of hydrographic data based on international standards.
Petrosyan et al. (Fri,) studied this question.