The map file (.map extension) is created manually or built using one of many open source tools. This file describes the data sources for your map, and defines the map extent, data layers, symbols, and layer classification. Banding Birds with MapServer CGI By Rob Wardwell, U.S. Geological Survey, Vancouver, Washington and Kevin Laurent, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia Contact Information: Rob Wardwell Phone: About the Project Scientists at the Bird Banding Laboratory (BBL) of the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, in Patuxent, Maryland, collect location data for banded birds to track migratory patterns. Data are collected from callers who describe the location of banded birds they have encountered in the field. Web-based forms and maps, which employ the open source Minnesota MapServer, have improved data collection efforts at the BBL. The MapServer component allows call center employees in Patuxent, Maryland, and Walla Walla, Washington, to query a feature names gazetteer and render maps depicting the area where the caller encountered a banded bird. Common landmarks, water features, urban areas, wildlife refuges, and parks are some of the spatial data layers used to identify the location of the banding event, which can then be recorded in the BBL Oracle database. Learning to Fly with MapServer MapServer was chosen for the BBL project because of its simplicity and cost effectiveness. The product is well documented, and supported by an ever growing community of users, which equated to a shallow learning curve. Furthermore, the MapServer CGI program seemed to be a practical choice for our development platform which consisted of Linux, Oracle, and PL/SQL. Here are the basic steps taken to get the BBL MapServer application up and running. Feature Gazetteer and Map Server The Bird Banding application is a robust tool that helps manage many different types of data. MapServer is employed when users need geographic input to make decisions. The screenshot on the left displays a data input form where information is collected about birds that are encountered in the field. A geographic search is initiated in the middle frame, which opens the MapServer interface in the right hand frame of the Web browser. The user identifies the location of the bird encountered, by plotting it on the interactive map. Latitude and longitude coordinates are passed back to the main data entry form in the center of the page. Submitting the Web form records the event. These steps are illustrated below. Construct the map with a map file + Design your map page layout with HTML The HTML file is a map interface template that can be customized and enhanced with JavaScript. The MapServer CGI program will process your map file and pass values to ‘substitution strings’ that are enclosed in square brackets(‘[ ]’). The CGI variable examples in this snippet include ‘map’, imgext’, 'zoomdir’, ’zoomsize’, ’layers’, and ‘img’. = View the map! MapServer CGI will return the map image to your template HTML page in the format you specify, such as.gif or.png. Symbols and layer classifications will appear as specified in the map file MapServer Resources Minnesota MapServer Website - Web Mapping Illustrated - Using Open Source GIS Toolkits by Tyler Mitchell, O’reilly 2005 Beginning MapServer: Open Source GIS Development by Bill Kropla, Apress 2005 For the Birds Step 3: Select the Location: The caller guides the BBL call center employee to the location of the bird encounter where an interface tool is used to mark the location with an “X marks the spot” symbol. The latitude and longitude of this chosen location will be recorded when the data entry form is submitted. Step 1: Query a location: Searching the feature names gazetteer generates a clickable list of locations in the upper right section of the page. Clicking a place-name link sends a corresponding latitude/longitude request to MapServer which displays a map of the location in the lower right portion of the window Step 2: View the Map: MapServer renders a map centered on the chosen location. The map is interactive, allowing the user to zoom and pan. Layers, symbols, and labels turn on or off as the user zooms in and out, to avoid cluttering the map. Brown Thrasher Photo by Dan Twedt, USGS. The Patuxent Wildlife Research Center - Since its establishment in 1936 as the nation's first wildlife experiment station, the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center has been a leading international research institute for wildlife and applied environmental research, for transmitting research findings to those responsible for managing our nation's natural resources, and for providing technical assistance in implementing research findings so as to improve natural resource management. MapServer - Originally developed by the University of Minnesota (UMN) ForNet project in cooperation with NASA and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR). Presently, the MapServer project is hosted by the TerraSIP project, a NASA sponsored project between the UMN and consortium of land management interests.ForNetTerraSIP The software is maintained by a growing number of developers (nearing 20) from around the world and is supported by a diverse group of organizations that fund enhancements and maintenance. The Patuxent BBL Application – Went into production use in March The feature names gazetteer combines over 3.6 million named points in more than 50 countries. These data include points from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), Natural Resources of Canada Gazetteer, and the National GeoSpatial Agency’s Geographic Names System (NGA GNS). International collaboration was needed for the development of a 51-layer Map Server, with detailed layers for transportation, parks, and hydrology obtained from our partner natural resource agencies in Canada and Mexico. Digital Mapping Techniques Conference 2006, Columbus Ohio Summer Tanager Photo by Scott Somershoe, USGS. Great Crested Flycatcher Photo by Scott Somershoe, USGS.