Open Source GIS in Salmon Nation Equity, Ecology, and Economics Presented by Aaron Racicot – GIS Programmer November 16, 2005 A Citizen of Salmon Nation

Outline  Introduction  Benefits/Limitations of Open Source  Technology Overview  OS GIS – Desktop Environments  OS GIS – Server Tools  Workflows of interest  Desktop “paper map” publishing  Web map publishing  Web-Based real-time decision support  Where is it all going?  Where to go for more info

Who am I… B.S. Computer Science Split Personality Telemark/BC Skiing Rafting Guide Mountain Rescue M.S. Environmental Science Open Source User/Developer GIS Programmer

Ecotrust - Salmon Nation

Conservation Economy

The many faces of Ecotrust

What is Open Source? “Free software” is a matter of liberty, not price. Free Software!

Freedom

Benefits/Limitations of Open Source Benefits: –Software cost = $0 –Source code is available and modifiable –User and development communities flourish –Development cycles are VERY fast Limitations: –Total cost is NOT = $0 –Many applications are not as polished as the proprietary counterparts –Compatibility with proprietary software can be an issue

GIS Software Background Historically two main categories of GIS –Desktop environments –Server tools Desktop (commercial solutions): Analysis and Data Manipulation (ArcInfo, ArcGrid) Cartography (ArcView, ArcMap) Image analysis (ERDAS Imagine) Server (commercial solutions): Database Storage (ArcSDE, Oracle Spatial) Web Mapping (ArcIMS) Web Services (ArcWeb) Image and Data Processing (ArcInfo, ArcGrid)

What about Open Source GIS We want to take a look at the Open Source alternatives and what the cost/benefits of both proprietary and OS solutions are.

OS GIS – Desktop Environments GRASS GIS

OS GIS – Desktop Environments Pro’s: –Wide variety of platforms supported (UNIX, Linux, Windows, Mac OS) –You can pick the best tool for the job –Most conform to the OGC standards for interoperability Con’s: –Separate packages all with their own strengths –Requires multiple installs and maintenance –User interfaces are often the last part of development –Harder to produce traditional “paper maps”

OS GIS - Server Tools GRASS GIS GDAL/OGR R-Statistics

OS GIS – Server Tools Pro’s: –Wide variety of platforms supported (UNIX, Linux, Windows, Mac OS) –Often very fast and efficient for the job –Many formats supported Con’s: –Linking them together is often hard –Write support is often not supported for proprietary formats –Ability to integrate into proprietary systems is limited (i.e. can not link PostGIS database to ArcMap)

Workflows of Interest Most GIS applications have a similar work flow pattern…  Gather spatially explicit data  Process that data to suit the user needs  Produce outputs useful to the end user

Work Flow – Paper Map Publishing Data Gathering Data Formatting Data Processing Map Formatting Map Production User Request User Response

Workflow – What OSGIS is good at Data Gathering Data Formatting Data Processing Map Formatting Map Production User Request User Response Great at data processing but poor at formatting and creating paper maps Paper Map Publishing

Example – Paper Map Publishing QGISArcMap

Work Flow – Web Map Publishing Map Formatting Map Production Web User Request Web User Response Static Data Storage Web Services

Work Flow – What OSGIS is good at Map Formatting Map Production Web User Request Web User Response Static Data Storage Web Services Great at all aspects of traditional web-based mapping Web Map Publishing

Examples – Web Map Publishing Custom DHTML/JavaScript Chameleon

Examples – Web Map Publishing Ka-Map DM Solutions Cartoweb3 CampToCamp

Work Flow – Real-Time Web DST Web User Request Web User Response Static Data Storage Web Services Data Gathering Data Formatting Data Processing Map Formatting Map Production Real-Time Web Decision Support Tools

Work Flow – What OSGIS is good at Web User Request Web User Response Static Data Storage Web Services Data Gathering Data Formatting Data Processing Map Formatting Map Production The Problem Is The Arrows! Connecting a web request to server side GIS analysis is tricky Real-Time Web Decision Support Tools

Example – Real-Time Web DST Siuslaw Watershed Restoration Initiative

Work Flow – Real-Time Web DST Data Gathering Data Formatting Data Processing GRASS Mapserver Mapserver on the front end… GRASS on the back end…

Ecotrust Example At Ecotrust we are trying to help pull it all together in an Open Source context - QGIS and GRASS as a desktop supplement - PostGIS to store vector data layers - Mapserver as a web-based front end - Chameleon as a client user interface - GRASS as a server side GIS for DST development - OGR/GDAL to pre-process all of the vector and raster data - R-Statistics for graphing and statistical work

Ecotrust Example - OCEANSystem Chameleon Mapserver R-Statistics User driven… Web interactive tools… GIS analytical computing… PostGISGRASS

Ecotrust Example - OCEANSystem QGIS/GRASS

Where is it all going? Real-Time Decision Support Tools Integration of OS software across organizations “Google” type interfaces (smooth user experience) –AJAX driven –Streaming media –Seamless datasets Large datasets require more pre-processing Pressure on large private companies to become more responsive to end user needs Integration of OSGIS with proprietary software – required for migration path… Start of services based business…

The Future of GIS in Salmon Nation QGIS/GRASS GIS Web-Based Mapserver R-Statistics Fully Integrated Open-Source GIS QGIS/GRASS GIS – Fully functional server GIS doing the heavy lifting. Runs on the server located at Ecotrust. UMN Mapserver – Making data accessible via the web. Geo- spatial server viewed through a web browser. Taking our vision to a growing audience. Adding the analytical glue to make smart decisions based upon sound GIS analysis. Making GIS analysis accessible and affordable for Salmon Nation

Where to go for more info OSGIS  Maptools -  FreeGIS -  Open Source GIS - Standards  OGC - Desktop  GRASS -  QGIS -  UDIG -  JUMP –  OpenEV - Server/Web  Mapserver -  GRASS -  PostGIS - Tools  Remote Sensing -  GDAL/OGR -  PROJ.4 -

The End Tool Screen Shots Follow

Backup - GRASS

Backup - QGIS

Backup - OSSIM

Backup - UDIG

Backup - JUMP

Backup – R-Statistics

Backup – PostGIS Geometry WKT Geometry