Web-Based Open Source GIS: Decision Support Tools OCEANSystem and FORESTSystem Presented by Aaron Racicot – GIS Programmer April 18th, 2006 A Citizen of Salmon Nation

Outline  Introduction - Ecotrust  Benefits/Limitations of Open Source  OCEANSystem  Problem description  Technology Overview - Software Stack  FORESTSystem  Problem description  Technology Overview - Software Stack  Where is it all going?

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

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

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 & GMT for graphing and statistical work

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

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 GMT 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