1. A GeoSpatial Mapping Architecture
Matthew Blanchette
Graduate Student & Research Assistant
Computer Science Department
Research Computer Group & ISIS
University of Southern Maine
GeoPortal Project
Maine GeoLibrary Board

2. Overview System Goals & Layout Data Sources
Open-Source Mapping Servers
OGC Standards
Google Visualization
Visualization Alternative

3. System Goals Functionality: Allow Web Access to Geospatial Data
Display Geospatial Data in a Map Viewer
Implementation:
Flexibility – Swap system components
Cost Minimized
Open Source & Free Geospatial Tools
Geospatial Web Standards

4. System Layout Example Case: ACFISH2 Shapefile Data
Point locations of streams and rivers in Maine with runs and passages of anadromous and catadromous fish.
Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems Catalog

5. Data Source - Shapefile
ESRI Geospatial Data Format
Collection of files to describe geometries (points, polygons, lines) spatially and with attributes
Example case: ACFISH2
acfish2.dbf, acfish2.prj, acfish2.shp, acfish2.shx
Metadata:
acfish2.xml, acfish2.txt., acfish2.htm

6. Data Source - Database
Spatially Enabled (PostGIS for PostgreSQL, MyGIS for MySQL)
Example case: ACFISH2
Attribute columns – ID, NAME, YEAR,…
Geometry column – Points

7. Open Source Mapping Servers
MapServer
University of Minnesota
PhD Project, NASA, 1994
C, CGI, OGR/GDAL
Mapscript (PHP,Java,Python,etc)
PostGIS, Oracle Spatial, ArcSDE, MySQL, Shapefiles
OGC Standards
GeoServer
The Open Planning Project,
Data Sharing - WFS, 2001
Java, GeoTools
PostGIS, Oracle Spatial, ArcSDE, DB2, MySQL, Shapefiles
OGC Standards

8. OGC Standards
Open Geospatial Consortium – international geospatial standards organization
WMS: Web Map Service
Specification for providing map images
MapServer and GeoServer
SLD: Styled Layer Descriptor
XML schema for styling map layers (WMS)
KML: Keyhole Markup Language
XML schema for geographic visualization and annotation
Keyhole, Inc. and Google
GeoServer & GeoTools can output as KML

9. WMS Example
ACFISH2 MapServer WMS Image

10. KML Example
ACFISH2 KML
Libraries in many languages to edit and produce XML
GeoTools and XMLBeans (Java)
Concerns:
Projection Transformation
Embedding Descriptive Information
<Placemark id="acfish2.176">
<name>acfish2.176</name>
<description><![CDATA[
<b>ACFISH2_ID</b>: 33<br />
<b>DMR_ID</b>: F3<br />
<b>ECCM_ID</b>: <br />
<b>YEAR</b>: 1982<br />
<b>ECCM_SP</b>: <br />
<b>USFW_SP</b>: <br />
<b>DMR_SP</b>: ADEGHNS<br />
<b>DMR_NAME</b>: KENNEBEC RIVER<br/>
]]></description>
<MultiGeometry>
<Point>
<coordinates> ,
</coordinates>
</Point>
</MultiGeometry>
</Placemark>

11. Google Visualization Google Maps: free web mapping application
Browser, Javascript, API
Maps, Satellite, Terrain, Traffic, Street View
Google Earth: free 3D globe program
Variety of OS: Windows, Mac, Linux
Google Earth Plugin: same 3D globe service
Browser: Firefox or IE 6/7
Integrates with Google Maps

12. Google Maps WMS Example
Yankee Foliage
MapServer
WMS
counties layer
Colored polygons

13. Google Maps KML Example
ACFISH2 KML

14. Google Earth WMS Example
Atlas of Canada
MapServer – WMS, Lakes and Reservoirs layer

15. Google Earth – NOAA Example
National Weather Service – Doppler Radar locations KML

16. Google Earth KML Example
ACFISH2 KML

17. Google Earth Plugin Example
Google Maps Integration

18. Visualization Alternative
OpenLayers
Open source Javascript library, allows displaying dynamic map data in web browsers
API – Google Maps
The Open Planning Project (same as GeoServer)
Data Sources:
GeoServer, MapServer, Google, WMS, KML, etc.

19. OpenLayers Example
ACFISH2 KML

20. OpenLayers, GeoServer, & PostGIS
Richard Franks USM Thesis Project