QGIS & GRASS: Mature enough for University use? ACMLA / CARTO June 2011 Bibliothèque de l'Université Laval Eva Dodsworth, UWaterloo Library Daniel Brendle-Moczuk, UVic Libraries

QGIS / GRASS Outline -Define FOSS-GIS -Why consider FOSS-GIS? -brief background / history GRASS & QGIS -QGIS vector workshop exercises -QGIS / GRASS workshop exercises -Discussion / Thoughts -Conclusion

FOSS developer and programmer documentation: can know who created what and contact the creators (example of GRASS 6.4 Raster manual: r.colors)

FOSS-GIS programing possibilities

QGIS “Plug-Ins”

So why consider FOSS-GIS? “As adopters of open source technology, academic libraries should consider adding FOSS GIS and becoming involved with the open source movement. GIS and data librarians are in a unique position as they gain familiarity with several applications of GIS under many circumstances, since they have patrons from many different fields whose needs for GIS range from basic to advanced.” (Donnelly, 2010)

FOSS desktop GIS

ESRI GIS history -early 1980s: ARC/INFO: command-line -mid 1990s: ArcView: graphical user interface (GUI) -late 1990s: Arc 8.x -2010: Arc 10.0

GRASS / Quantum GIS -early 1980s: GRASS (Geographic Resources Analysis Support System) -US Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) -command-line -mid 1990s: US Army CERL ended involvement with GRASS with 4.1 -late 1990s: GRASS 5.0 (GUI) with public license -early 2000s: Quantum GIS began with some developers from GRASS -2011: QGIS 1.6 & GRASS 6.4

GRASS / Quantum GIS -enough talking… Let’s get to work…

QGIS: Vector Exercise

What can QGIS do? View and explore vector and raster data Create, edit, manage and export data Spatial data analysis Add special functionalities through plugins Create maps Publish maps on the Internet

Data formats supported Popular Vector formats supported include shapefiles, GML, KML, GeoRSS, PostGIS, Oracle Spatial, and Mapinfo formats Popular Raster and imagery formats supported include GeoTIFF, Erdas Imagine, ECW, MrSID, JPEG2000, and more GRASS raster and vector data from GRASS databases Online spatial data served as OGC-compliant Web Map Service (WMS) or Web Feature Service (WFS) OpenStreetMap data

fTools A comprehensive suite of analysis and data management tools which is equivalent to GIS tools in ArcToolbox, including:  Analysis tools  Research tools  Geoprocessing tools  Geometry tools  Data Management tools

QGIS plugins Many plugins covering special GIS functions are available

Coordinate Reference Systems Support for 2,700 known Coordinate Reference System (CRS) Support on the fly (OTF) projection of vector layers Support custom coordinate reference systems Support reprojection of vector layers.

QGIS Pros and Cons Open source (free) Run on different operation systems (Windows, MacOS and Linux) A small file size Easy to use A variety of plugins Supports MrSid, KML (import and export), WMS, OSM… Lack of customer and technical supports Rely on community support and voluntary developers Sometimes not stable

Import KMLs

Download and Installation The current version was released on 27 November 2010 To download, go to and choose standalone Windows installer Install the download file.

GRASS / Quantum GIS -some quick screen shots of QGIS / GRASS functions

QGIS Plug-Ins: Georeferencer (UVic campus did not exist in 1954!)

QGIS: Display.dem

QGIS: Assign Projection to.dem

(QGIS) GRASS: Vector Analysis Tools

(QGIS) GRASS: Extensive Raster Analysis Tools

Hiking uphill with an 8 yr.old: Least Cost Route

WMS: DFO Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) Charts

ArcMap 10: Bing Hybrid Layer

QGIS 1.6 OpenLayers Plug-in: Google Hybrid layer

ArcMap 10: Bing Maps Hybrid (Miranda, Brasil)

QGIS 1.6: Google Maps Hybrid (Miranda, Brasil)

GRASS Raster Analysis: 7km ViewShed from La Citadelle de Quebec

GRASS / QGIS raster functions -enough talking… Let’s get to work…

Conclusion / Recommendations / Summary “The change to open source requires a different mindset. Rather than one program or one suite of programs delivering everything you need, you go over to different programs that all communicate with each other and use the same (standard) protocols and data formats.” -Respond and recommend according to the needs of our students -Geography -Anthropology -Biology -Business …they all have different needs…

Geo-Spatial Data Sources Canada Department of Fisheries & Oceans. GeoPortal WMS. Natural Resources Canada. Canadian Digital Elevation Data. 021L/14e&w, 82O/04e, 092B/11e Natural Resources Canada. CanVec & National Topographic Data Base. 021L/14, 092B/11e

Selected Sources Chen, D. et al. (2010). Assessment of open source GIS software for water resources management in developing countries. Journal of Hydro-environment Research 4(3), Donnelly, F.P. (2010). Evaluating open source GIS for libraries. Library Hi Tech 28 (1), Open Source Technology & ESRI. (2011). ARC News 33(1): 14. Ming-Hsiang Tsou & Jennifer Smith. (2011). Free and Open Source Software for GIS education. Sherman, G.E. (2008). Desktop GIS: Mapping the planet with open source tools. Raleigh, N.C.: Pragmatic Bookshelf. Steiniger, S. & Bocher, E. (2009). An overview on current free and open source desktop GIS developments. International Journal of Geographical Information Science 23(10), Steiniger, S. & Hunter, A.J.S. [2010]. Teaching GIScience with free and open source software? – A first assessment. GIScience 2010: 6 th Int’l conference Zurich, Sep