Transcript Future of GIS - Mohawk College
Future of GIS
GIS & the Internet
Access spatial data interactively anywhere in the world http://www.geographynetwork.com/
Software as a Service
Everyday the Internet is becoming more important in our lives Today I shop, get traffic conditions, compare products, buy tickets, and read product reviews Today I can’t find restaurants in my area that serve a particular cuisine that can take a reservation at 7PM Today a business can’t find a vendor that has an item in stock or which vendor is cheapest or which can ship it to me the soonest There are 2 main reason why services like this don’t exist today – No standard for integrating information (XML Schemas fix this) – It’s too complex to integrate such services
Web Services
Provide a mechanism for packaging functionality across the Internet – Maps with http://411.ca
– http://Maps.google.com
– Local services with http://www.google.ca
– ESRI’s Web Services
Standards
OpenGIS
–
Based on XML
XML stands for EXtensible Markup Language
XML is a markup language much like HTML.
XML was designed to describe data
.
XML tags are not predefined in XML. You must define your own tags.
XML
The motto of HTML is: "I know how it looks," whereas the motto of XML is: "I know what it means, and you tell me how it should look." Said another way, HTML is about making pretty presentations (bold text and neatly formatted tables, etc.) while XML is a semi-structured document that holds "content."
Sample XML Document Fragment
Element “start” tag Attribute Attribute value - must be quoted
Different XML Schemes
GML – GML provides a standard means to encode
Geographic Information (position, location, extent etc.) in XML.
ArcXML – ESRI’s version of XML LandXML
Popular Mechanics, 1954
Changing Emphases:
From Data to Analysis
Spatial 5% Analysis 10-15% Attribute Tagging 75% Data Conversion:
Past
Spatial Analysis Attribute Tagging Data Conversion
Future
Changing Emphases
From Description to Simulation & Modeling
Picture worth a thousand words: Visual simulation & virtual reality:
maps & diagrams of how is, or how was
Past
Iconic models:
scaled down representations of the real thing
real time display of how is, and how might be -forest fire -freeway traffic flow
Future
Symbolic models:
based on logical relationships in mathematical or statistical form
Changing Emphases
from 2-D description to 4-D interaction
Past
2-D flat map displays
Future
Effective 3-D 4-D incorporation of time
LIDAR and Digital Imaging
A LIDAR system that collects elevations every meter on the ground at a rate of 30,000 times per second or more while a digital camera produces six-inch-pixel data equates to mass quantities of instantaneously available data never dreamed of until recently.
Imagery Processing and Distribution
Promise – Cheaper – better resolution Problems – image- processing software isn't easy to learn or use; – most geotechnology users don't have access to image-processing software; and – the raw datasets required for image processing can be many gigabytes in size. Covering the world at one-meter resolution requires a staggering 1,800TB or 1,800,000GB of uncompressed imagery.
Hardware
Cost drop for PC’s – $1,000 -$1500 Notebooks also much cheaper PDA’s Wireless Technology – G1 GSM/GPRS 24 - 36 Kbps – G3-Data rate (up to 2Mbps) – G4-Higher bandwidth (up to 100Mbps).
Support interactive multimedia services: teleconferencing, wireless Internet, etc. Deployed around 2010 New 64 bit chips – Intel March 21, 2005 – AMD 18 months ago
Interoperability
Open GIS Consortium (OGC) specifications mature Normalizes playing field, independent of: – Operating System – Programming Languages – Development Environments
Open Source
Open Source Software – Open Source programs are applications of which you can access the source code. – http://opensourcegis.org/ – OSGeo
WMS & WFS
WMS: Web Map Service – Scope: geographic data rendered as images ("maps"), no actual data values WFS: Web Feature Service – Scope: storage & retrieval of geographic vector feature data (point/line/polygon) – http://www.demis.nl/quakes/