Advanced Technologies

Business Models

Case Studies

Databases and Routing

Desktop GIS and Publishing

Devops and Testing

Disaster Management and Health

Earth Observation and Remote Sensing

Land Information

Linked Data and Metadata

Mobile

Not Software

Open Data

Point Clouds

Processing

Project Reports

Web Mapping

Academic Track

#025: Using Mapillary data for editing maps

Speaker: Peter Neubauer (Mapillary AB)

Abstract

This talk is going to give an overview of the different data endpoints of Mapillary, for example images, object detections (e.g. street signs), objects and vector tiles.

We will look at different integrations like OpenStreetMap iD editor, JOSM, Wiki Loves Monuments and others using portions of this data to improve or document physical spaces.

Also, the talk will cover different Open Source integration libs like OpenSfM, MapillaryJS and the iD editor.

Links to project: http://mapillary.github.io/mapillary-js/ https://github.com/mapillary/OpenSfM

#031: Evolving JSTS to a modern port of JTS using AST transformation

Speaker: Björn Harrtell (Sweco Position AB)

Abstract

JTS is a well known Java library of spatial predicates and functions for processing geometry.

JSTS has since 2011 provided a port of JTS to JavaScript that provides that proven library for use in browsers and other popular JavaScript runtimes. It brings the functionality of JTS to the browser without having to make a roundtrip to a server which enables advanced spatial operations to web applications even in offline conditions and is, for example, used by MapBox as a significant part of turf.js.

The initial effort to create JSTS was a long, arduous and manual process and has since lagged behind JTS missing crucial new bug fixes and features. Resorting to additional manual porting effort was not in anyone's interest, it seems. Instead there was dreams of an automated translation from Java to JavaScript.

In this talk I will explain how I managed to automatically translate JTS to create a new version of JSTS that supersedes the old manual port with a more complete, correct and up to date implementation.

Links to project: https://github.com/bjornharrtell/jsts

#035: birdhouse: a collection of web processing services for climate data

Speaker: Nils Hempelmann (Le Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement)

Abstract

Processing of climate data is often connected with big data processing, but a frequent problem is that users of the processing outcome are not optimally-equipped with appropriate hardware (computing and storage facilities) nor programming experience for software development to perform the processes themself. Web Processing Services (WPS) can close this gap and offer users a valuable practical tool to process and analyze big data. WPS represents an interface to perform processes over the HTTP network protocol, enabling users to trigger specific processes over a website. The appropriate processes are predefined, together with access to the relevant data archives where appropriate data are provided. This presentation is an introduction to the birdhouse project which provides WPS for climate data processing. Besides calling the WPS with Python libraries, birdhouse provides easy-to-use user-interfaces (web-based and command-line) to run WPS processes and combine them with climate data. The provided processes are reaching from simple climate metadata checks to complex climate impact models used e.g. in agriculture or forestry. The birdhouse is conform with the standardization defined by the Open Spatial Consortium (OGC) allowing combination with WPS from other institutions to establish a network of computing providers

Links to project: https://github.com/bird-house http://birdhouse.readthedocs.org/en/latest/

#041: Auditing PostgreSQL Databases Using Logical Decoding

Speaker: Sebastian Schmidt (Stadtwerke München)

Abstract

Have you ever been wondering what edits are happening inside your databases?

Logcial Decoding, introduced in PostgreSQL 9.4, allows to keep track of changes commited to the database. This talk presents how this mechanism can be used to audit PostGIS/PostgreSQL databases. After an introduction to the concepts of logical decoding, two use cases are presented:

  • Quality Assurance: writing an audit log into the database after each commit so that someone else can do a review of the modified data.
  • Cache Invalildation: refreshing a GeoWebCache instance at the regions in which the data has changed after each commit.

To support these two use cases, a little Java program able to be run as a mircoservice was developed and will be shared under an open source license with the community via github.

Links to project: http://github.com/sebastian-r-schmidt/logicaldecoding/

#042: ORFEO ToolBox status report

Speaker: Manuel Grizonnet (CNES)

Abstract

Orfeo ToolBox (OTB) is an open-source C++ library for remote sensing images processing. It has been initiated and funded by CNES (French space agency) in the frame of a program named ORFEO to prepare, accompany and promote the use and the exploitation of the images derived from Pléiades satellites (PHR). Orfeo ToolBox aims at enabling large images state-of-the-art processing even on limited resources laptops, and is shipped with a set of extensible ready-to-use tools for classical remote sensing tasks, as well as a fully integrated, end-users oriented software called Monteverdi and also access via Quantum GIS processing module. This presentation highlights new features included in the last version of OTB, mainly major improvements of the classification framework which facilitate large scale analysis for automatic image mapping, new methods for SAR image processing as well as a recap of the main features added in recent releases. It further shows the current and future directions of the project and opportunities for interested developers and users. The presentation will be also illustrate by example of how ORFEO ToolBox is used at CNES in the development of operational products, scale over France, like annual Land Cover Map or snow cover product to exploit ESA Sentinel missions provided with a free, full and open data policy adopted for the EU Copernicus program.

Links to project: https://www.orfeo-toolbox.org/

#043: One year of open governance for OTB: thoughts and context

Speaker: Manuel Grizonnet (CNES)

Abstract

One year ago, in the frame of the OSGeo incubation process, OTB team decides to initiate a Project Steering Committee to formalize the way that decisions are taken. It was largely inspired by existing governance in other OSGeo projects related to OTB like GDAL, Quantum GIS or GRASS. This initiative aims in encouraging people and organization to join the effort and participate more actively in the evolution and the decision process of the library. Most people well understand this approach and join the effort to provide high level guidance and coordination for the ORFEO ToolBox to guarantee that OTB remains open and company neutral.
This presentation will come back on the set up of this open governance, how it improves the way that the project progress, how it could evolve in the future. It will be also the occasion to interact more largely about open governance and decision making processes in free and open source projects.

Links to project: https://www.orfeo-toolbox.org/

#045: hale studio: Effective Data Analysis and Transformation for Open Standards

Speaker: Thorsten Reitz (wetransform GmbH)

Abstract

hale studio is an open source environment for the analysis, transformation and publication of complex, structured data. We're developing hale studio since 2009 and have reached more than 5.000 downloads per year. Most of our users employ it to easily create INSPIRE data, CityGML models, or to fulfill e-Reporting duties. Some use it with BIM data, health data or even E-Commerce information.

In the last year, hale studio has gained a number of headline features and improvements, such as integration with GeoServer app-schema and deegree's transactional WFS. We have also added support for more open formats, such as SQLite and SpatialLite, but also for enterprise formats such as Oracle Spatial and Esri Geodatabases.

In this talk, we will provide a quick introduction to the declarative real-time transformation workflow that hale studio affords, highlight the latest developments and provide an outlook on the roadmap for 2016 and 2017. We will also highlight some of the most interesting projects our users are doing.

Links to project: https://github.com/igd-geo/hale

#047: Provide applications with Geoportal Framework Mapbender3

Speaker: Astrid Emde (WhereGroup Bonn)

Abstract

Mapbender3 is a client framework for spatial data infrastructures. It provides web based interfaces for displaying, navigating and interacting with OGC compliant services.

Mapbender3 has a modern and user-friendly administration web interface to do all the work without writing a single line of code. That sounds good and is fun! Mapbender3 helps you to set up a repository for your OWS Services and to create indivdual application for different user needs.

The software is is based on the PHP framework Symfony2 and integrates OpenLayers. The Mapbender3 framework provides authentication and authorization services, OWS Proxy functionality, management interfaces for user, group and service administration.

Mapbender3 offers a lots of functionality that can be individually integrated in applications like redlining, digitizer, search modules.

Links to project: http://mapbender.org https://github.com/mapbender/

#048: Open Source as part of an Open Data initiative.

Speaker: Brent Wood (National Institute of Water and Atrmospheric Research (NIWA) New Zealand)

Abstract

In 2011, the New Zealand Government released the Declaration on Open and Transparent Government, a directive to government agencies to establish open data programmes to enable data reuse, for the wider benefit of New Zealand.

This presentation discusses one environmental research agency's approach to providing open data that is not just accessible, but genuinely reusable.

Early feedback regarding the programme was positive - but there was a frequent question. Many potential users of open data have had no GIS background, and wanted help in finding tools, and training in the use of those tools to actually make use of the data.

In answering this question, it became apparent that a genuinely successful open data programme has three components, with far too many such programmes stopping at the first:

  1. Discoverable, accessible metadata and data;
  2. Effective, available and affordable tools to work with the data, and;
  3. Affordable training for interested users in the use of the tools with the data.

This presentation discusses this three pronged approach to an open data programme, actively enhancing and making use of open source and open standards to provide usable open data. One outcome of this programme is presented as “The Democratisation of GIS”, where open Source GIS tools are enabling GIS to become as pervasive as an office suite or web browser on a personal computer.

#049: Towards a more readable Openstreetmap based world map for westerners

Speaker: Sven Geggus (Fraunhofer IOSB)

Abstract

The standard rendering style used in Openstreetmap today produces hardly readable maps in countries where the usage of latin script is not the norm, at least from an average westerners point of view.

Our map style uses a renderer independent approach to solve this. We use localization (l10n) functions that create readable names. They are implemented as stored procedures in the PostgresSQL database which contains the Openstreetmap data. The targeted latin langage (german, english, …) can be easily selected. The talk will show how these functions currently work and will give an outlook on potential future extensions.

In contrast to almost all legacy geographic data Openstreetmap does already contain a lot of localized data acquired by mappers from all around the world, which should be used whenever possible (Example: japan instead of 日本). Automatic transliteration can then be used as an alternative if no latin names are available in the database.

Especially when using transliteration there are many pifalls which have to be addressed depending on language and country. Some of them have already been dealt with by the current implementation and are presented in the talk. Others, which appear difficult or impossible to solve are also shown.

Another challenge which exists in localization of maps are political problems. I will briefly describe some of these issues at the end of my talk.

Links to project: https://github.com/giggls/mapnik-german-l10n

#050: Geospatial web services using little-known GDAL features and modern Perl middleware

Speaker: Ari Jolma (Private)

Abstract

GDAL has a little-known feature vsistdout_redirect, which is a virtual file system driver that can redirect standard output to any GDAL virtual file. This feature is exploited in GDAL 2.1 Perl bindings to make streaming objects possible. Streaming objects are objects, which belong to a class, which implement 'write' and 'close' subroutines. Such objects happen to be important in modern Perl web middleware, code that are based on PSGI - Perl Web Server Gateway Interface Specification. In this talk I will present a suite of new Perl modules, which implement OGC geospatial web services. I have two of these modules already in production use, one for raster tile service and one for feature service. In this talk I will present and discuss how GDAL and Perl have made it easy to develop and extend these services.

Links to project: https://github.com/OSGeo/gdal https://github.com/ajolma/Geo-OGC-Service https://github.com/ajolma/Geo-OGC-Service-WFS https://github.com/ajolma/Geo-OGC-Service-WMTS

#053: A crowd-sourced public transportation map for Nicaragua's capital

Speaker: Felix Delattre

Abstract

There has been no map for the forty-five bus lines in Metropolitan Managua, where around 1.5 million inhabitants are dependent on buses to commute to work or school. But engaged citizens used Free Technology and the power of collaboration to create the first complete public transportation map of a Central American capital, by using OpenStreetMap and through crowd-sourcing and also crowd-funding methods.

We present the final products and talk about the publication of our outcomes as Open Data. We will also mention the local challenges and the nature of creating a map of informal transit information of a partially unregulated bus network

It is a case study about Open Geo Software can empower people and enhance development, where information about transportation is lacking.

#055: GDAL 2.1: what's new ?

Speakers: Even Rouault (Spatialys), Ari Jolma (Private), Dmitry Baryshnikov (NextGIS)

Abstract

Initiated in 1998, the GDAL/OGR (Geospatial Data Abstraction Library) library has dramatically grown, supporting from 20 raster and vector formats in its early 1.1 version to more than 220 in the latest v2.0 In the meantime, it has been successfully adopted by hundreds of software projects, being at the foundation of many GIS stacks.

After a quick overview of the current capabilities, we will focus on recent developments and achievements that will be available in GDAL 2.1: new raster drivers (WMTS, Sentinel 2, …), new vector drivers (MongoDB, VDV-452, …), improvements in existing drivers (GeoJSON, PDF, ElasticSearch), management of the Measure dimension for geometries, support for geographic network models, availability of the C++ command line utilities as library functions usable in different programming languages, ...

Finally, we will explore potential future directions for the project.

Links to project: http://svn.osgeo.org/gdal

#058: Effects of Opening up Data

Speaker: (Hans) Gregers Petersen (Septima)

Abstract

In 2013 the Danish Government freed most of the basic data in Denmark under the "Basic Data Program"-program. My talk will go through the effects we have experienced so far;

The release of data has not only changed what we can do for both private and public sector clients, it has also changed how we do it. As data is now free, we do not have to wait for public sector clients to approach us with ideas - we can now approach all types of clients with products and proposals of our own. An apparently tiny thing as being able to product develop on our own, has turned the business model upside down in many instances. Although you cannot sell a free beer, you can sell the knowledge of how to open the free beer, or a ready-to-use bottle opener, and possibly some consulting on how you can get to enjoy the free beer the most.

The wider use of data has also meant that public servants have had to adapt; to face fear of errors and ever more demanding "customers." It is important to acknowledge that opening data up has consequences that public servants need to face.

#059: Durable geospatial data and the budding open-source ecosystem driving it

Speaker: Jack Reed (Stanford University)

Abstract

Too often geospatial data is treated in an ephemeral manner. Its metadata is missing, it is hard to find, and usually it is not preserved. Stanford University Libraries presents an approach for preservation, access, and discovery of geospatial data and maps in a digital repository. This community approach uses a sustainable, collaborative ecosystem of existing open-source software projects and standards, while also developing new FOSS4G tools to fill gaps. These new tools include GeoBlacklight and OpenGeoMetadata. Presented topics will include an overview of geospatial data in a digital repository, an introduction to the tools that make it possible, a live demonstration, and discussion about the role of libraries and repositories within the FOSS4G community.

Links to project: https://github.com/geoblacklight/geoblacklight

#060: Software comes and goes. Mind the Data!

Speaker: Arnulf Christl (Metaspatial)

Abstract

Software developers complain about wrong data. It just does not comply to the specs. It is a complete mess. The owners of the data do not understand the agitation because they have worked with some odd, old software for ages and it sort of always worked out. Why change now? The meta of the data sits in the mind of so many people but has never been organized and fixed (to fit into your software). The Data Monger on the other hand has the same problems but the other way round. The data does not download, the encoding is wrong, the coordinate system is screwed and at the end all the decimals are cut off. Who is right? It is always the data owner! Because software comes and goes, the data stays. This talk is a plea to mind the data. Remember this: Never use software that does not work on open formats. Really open. Like in Open Source but even better.

#064: Routing for Driving Pleasure

Speaker: Dan "Ducky" Little (dbSpatial LLC)

Abstract

Americans have miles and miles of open highways. Set the cruise and drive for hours in straight lines. Routing a user to find the fastest way from an origin to a destination is performed by any number of providers. But what if you're not interested in the shortest route? What if you're looking for the most scenic route? The most entertaining?

This is a problem for planners of regularity rallies. Planners hope to provide challenging roads at legal speeds that avoid heavily residential and developed areas. OpenStreetMap, PostGIS, QGIS, and pgRouting to the rescue! Learn how to create alternative routing-cost structures to find and create new types of routes. An affinity for routing, driving, and/or gravel roads a plus.

#065: Open Source Motorsports

Speaker: Dan "Ducky" Little (dbSpatial LLC)

Abstract

No, it's not the Stig. It's the Stig's Open Source Cousin! Hear from an actual racing driver how open source software can be used to take an average driver and turn them into a hero. Open source software and hardware is used to run the fuel injection system (MegaSquirt), model aerodynamics (MatPlotLib, OpenFOAM), log g-forces in real-time (RaspberryPi, Arduino), and track the car's telemetry and performance over time (PostGIS, QGIS).

This presentation covers the accessibility and use of technologies once thought only available to F1 and NASCAR teams!

Links to project: Project has not yet been released. It will be by the time of the conference

#066: Automating your analysis using SAGA Gis

Speaker: Johan Van de Wauw

Abstract

SAGA (System for Automated Geoscientific Analyses) is an open source geographic information system (GIS) used for editing and analysing spatial data. It includes a large number of modules for the analysis of vector (point, line and polygon), table, grid and image data. Among others the package includes modules for geostatistics, image classification, projections, simulation of dynamic processes (hydrology, landscape development) and terrain analysis. The functionality can be accessed through a GUI, the command line or by using the C++ API.

SAGA has been in development since 2001, and the centre of SAGA development is located in the Institute of Geography at the University of Hamburg, with contributions from the growing world wide community.

This presentation will show some of the newer modules of SAGA and how these can be combined to scripts and toolchains to reproduce different steps of an analysis.

Links to project: http://www.saga-gis.org

#068: How GIS-friendly are Graph Databases today?

Speaker: Felix Kunde (Beuth University of Applied Science)

Abstract

In the crowd of NoSQL data storage solutions that support spatial data, graph databases are one of the more fascinating technologies. Their data model is easy to understand and provides a high flexibility for handling deeply nested relationships.

In this session I will introduce different case studies where graph databases have been used in research projects at Beuth University: As an integration layer for querying metadata of different data stores (Neo4j) [1]. As a routing engine (part of the Smart Data Project ExCELL (Neo4j) [2]). As a plattform for generic mapping of standardized OGC data models (e.g. SensorML, CityGML) (Neo4j, ArangoDB, Jsonix) (running master thesis).

We will discuss the strengths and drawbacks of each approach in order to give a proper answer to the talk's title.

[1] http://www.fossgis-konferenz.de/2014/programm/attachments/494_virtuelle-integration.pdf

[2] http://www.bmwi.de/BMWi/Redaktion/PDF/M-O/smart-data-innovationen-aus-daten-englische-version,property=pdf,bereich=bmwi2012,sprache=de,rwb=true.pdf [page 8]

#072: 3D Tools in gvSIG using NASA World Wind

Speakers: Óscar Martinez Olmos (gvSIG Association), Cesar Martinez Izquierdo (SCOLAB / gvSIG Association)

Abstract

In gvSIG 2.2 was integrated the library NASA World Wind, adding the feature to see 3D Views in gvSIG. This way we can choose between 3D spherical and 3D flat views, allowing us to work with all potential of gvSIG and visualizing our data in 3D, using the Digital Terrain Model provided for Nasa Worl Wind or any other that the user selected.

With this presentation we want to show you the improvements that have been developed this last months around this module, increasing the potential of gvSIG 3D: support for vectorial data, Lidar 3D, extrusion, automatic height detection of buildings, animations, temporal dynamic layers on the data base, simbology and 3D labeling.

Also, we will see how to exploit all the opportunities that bring us this 3D Module from Scripting.

#074: A RESTful API for linking geodata

Speaker: Francesco Bartoli (Geobeyond Srl)

Abstract

Publishing open data is a trend movement but still nowadays geographical information are often released as shapefiles despite this common format isn't recommended for such scope. We have used GeoNode, a spatial data infrastructure for publishing open geodata through standard OGC Web Services, with a RESTful API to model such resources to the semantic interoperability. GeoLinkeData is a django application based on a GeoNode template that allows to publish interlinked shapefiles as triple stores and search them with GeoSPARQL queries from a Virtuoso backend.

Links to project: https://github.com/geolinkedata/api

#076: Faster, smaller, better: Compiling your application together with OpenLayers 3

Speakers: Tobias Sauerwein (Camptocamp), Beraudo Guillaume (Camptocamp)

Abstract

OpenLayers 3 uses the Closure Compiler to compile JavaScript to better JavaScript. Developed by Google, the Closure Compiler is more than just a code minifier. Variable and function names are not only shortened, based on static code analysis a number of optimizations are applied, like dead-code removal or function inlining. Of special interest is the type checking and a syntax check which allows to detect errors at an early stage which otherwise would only emerge during runtime.

You can use OpenLayers 3 without getting in touch with the Closure Compiler. But once you compile your application together with OpenLayers, you will benefit from a few interesting advantages. First, because the compiler removes unused code, only that part of OpenLayers that is actually used in your application, will be included in the build. Because only a fraction of the extensive functionality of OpenLayer is often required, the build size can be reduced considerably which results in faster loading times. The compilation of your application together with OpenLayers also makes it easier to extend OpenLayers with custom components. Notably, the application code is also analyzed and checked by the Closure Compiler, so that you benefit for example from the type checking.

This talk introduces the Closure Compiler, which offers a robust platform for the development of complex web-mapping applications with OpenLayers. Advantages, special characteristics and experiences from own projects will be presented.

Links to project: http://openlayers.org/

#077: RESTful Geoprocessing API

Speaker: Benjamin Pross (52°North GmbH)

Abstract

We are seeing an increasing demand for a standardized REST binding for web-based geoprocessing. In this talk, we will present the ongoing discussions and developments that will lead to a RESTful binding for WPS 2.0. In the ongoing OGC Testbed-12, REST bindings for different OGC Web Services, among them WPS, will be developed and described in Public Engineering Reports. 52°North is leading the developments regarding WPS. However, this effort will need the support of the interested communities inside and outside the OGC. We want to use this talk to inform the audience about our concepts for a RESTful Geoprocessing API and we are eager to getting input for the way to go.

Links to project: http://52north.org/wps

#078: MapFish Print 3: Reporting meets maps

Speakers: Tobias Sauerwein (Camptocamp), Marion Baumgartner (Camptocamp)

Abstract

Generating reports is an important feature in many web-mapping applications. MapFish Print 3 is an interesting tool for this job. The project MapFish Print project consists of a Java library and a web application for generating reports with maps from many different raster and vector sources, like WMS, WMTS, tile services, WFS or GeoJSON.

The integration with the reporting engine JasperReports facilitates the creation of complex reports. A WYSIWYG report designer makes it easy to layout report templates and to position tables, graphics, diagrams, sub-reports, maps or map components like scale-bars or legends.

This talk introduces MapFish Print 3 and addresses the following topics:

  • The architecture of MapFish Print 3
  • The configuration of report templates
  • Using the report designer
  • Examples for complex reports
  • JavaScript libraries that ease the integration with OpenLayers projects
  • Upgrade from the previous version
  • New features and current developments

Links to project: https://github.com/mapfish/mapfish-print http://mapfish.github.io/mapfish-print-doc/

#079: Develop without developing

Speaker: Karl-Magnus Jönsson (Kristianstads kommun)

Abstract

As a gis manager in a city you often don’t have time or resources to do coding. But with powerful tools like Qgis and PostGIS you maybe not need to. In Kristianstad, Sweden, we had an outdated system for greenspace management. We were not satisfied with the commercial options. Thus we decided to build the new system in Qgis and PostGIS with just standard functionality such as spatial queries, forms, relations etc. I will present the work and some technical hints. Quite simple but yet powerful solution. No need to overdo things.

#085: OGC Soil Interoperability Experiment - Experiences in using a standard to exchange soil data

Speaker: Jorge Samuel Mendes de Jesus (ISRIC — World Soil Information)

Abstract

Soil data is crucial for environmental studies and analysis, but access to it and proper exchange formats and mechanisms are still poorly developed. The OGC Soil Data Interoperability Experiment (SoilIE), undertaken in the second half of 2015, had the objective of developing and testing a soil standard that harmonised existing standards defined in Europe and Oceania. During the SoilIE, participants from Europe, North America and Oceania mapped data in their soil databases to the SoilIE XML schema. Multiple OGC Web Feature Services (WFS) delivering soil observation data using the XML schema were established, along with OGC Web Processing Services to allow on-line derivation of new data. The SoilIE was successful with access to data in multiple clients from multiple soil data providers, each using different software configurations. The interoperability results will be presented along with next steps on progressing the SoilIE XML schema, RDF vocabularies, linked data and remaining major issues.

#093: Crunching Data In GeoServer: Mastering Rendering Transformations, WPS Processes And SQL Views

Speaker: Andrea Aime (GeoSolutions)

Abstract

This presentation will provide the attendee with an introduction to data processing in GeoServer by means of WPS, rendering transformations and SQL views, describing real applications and how these facilities were used in them.

We'll start with the basic WPS capabilities, showing how to build processing request based on existing processes and how to build new processes leveraging scripting languages, and introducing unique GeoServer integration features, showing how processing can seamlessly integrate directly in the GeoServer data sources and complement existing services.

We'll also discuss how to integrate on the fly processing in WMS requests, achieving high performance data displays without having to pre-process the data in advance, and allowing the caller to interactively choose processing parameters.

While the above shows how to make GeoServer perform the work, the processing abilities of spatial databases should not be forgotten, so we’ll show how certain classes of processing can be achieved directly in the database.

At the end the attendee will be able to easily issue WPS requests both for Vectors and Rasters to GeoServer through the WPS Demo Builder, enrich SLDs with on-the-fly rendering transformations and play with SQL views in order to create dynamic layers.

Links to project: http://geoserver.org/ https://github.com/geoserver/geoserver/

#094: Creating Stunning Maps in GeoServer: mastering SLD and CSS styles

Speaker: Andrea Aime (GeoSolutions)

Abstract

Various software can style maps and generate a proper SLD document for OGC compliant WMS like GeoServer to use. However, in most occasions, the styling allowed by the graphical tools is pretty limited and not good enough to achieve good looking, readable and efficient cartographic output. For those that like to write their own styles CSS also represents a nice alternatives thanks to its compactness and expressiveness.

Several topics will be covered, providing examples in both SLD and CSS for each, including: mastering multi-scale styling, using GeoServer extensions to build common hatch patterns, line styling beyond the basics, such as cased lines, controlling symbols along a line and the way they repeat, leveraging TTF symbol fonts and SVGs to generate good looking point thematic maps, using the full power of GeoServer label lay-outing tools to build pleasant, informative maps on both point, polygon and line layers, including adding road plates around labels, leverage the labeling subsystem conflict resolution engine to avoid overlaps in stand alone point symbology, blending charts into a map, dynamically transform data during rendering to get more explicative maps without the need to pre-process a large amount of views.

The presentation aims to provide the attendees with enough information to master SLD/CSS documents and most of GeoServer extensions to generate appealing, informative, readable maps that can be quickly rendered on screen.

Links to project: http://geoserver.org/ https://github.com/geoserver/geoserver/

#096: The secret story of real time routing told by OpenStreetMap, pgRouting and OpenLayers

Speakers: Daniel Urda (Teamnet Solutions International ), Florin Iosub (Teamnet Solutions International)

Abstract

OSRM has rapidly become the solution of choice for open-source routing. However, probably its single most important drawback is the requirement to rebuild a significant part of the routing graph whenever something changes in the street network. An open source solution able to exploit dynamic networks seamlessly does already exist: pgRouting. We have developed a tool that allows loading an OpenStreetMap dump directly into the format required by pgRouting. In order to take advantage of the new turn-restriction shortest path algorithm, the tool also converts all possible restrictions in the appropriate format, while migration from OSRM was streamlined by using a very similar configuration file. To illustrate the advantages of dynamic networks we also built a simple OpenLayers 3 tool that allows the user to define blockage zones and determine optimal routes avoiding them. Furthermore, in order to provide a fully open-source routing suite, we developed an OL3 tool, along with the support backend functions, that enable the calculation of much more realistic drive-time polygons (when compared with the current capabilities of pgRouting).

Links to project: https://github.com/danieluct/pypgroutingloader

#104: GeoNetwork: State of the Art

Speakers: María Arias de Reyna (GeoCat bv), Francois Prunayre (titellus), Jose García (GeoCat bv), Juan Luis Rodríguez (GeoCat B.V.), Paul van Genuchten (GeoCat bv)

Abstract

On the last couple of years, GeoNetwork has evolved a lot. What are the latest features? What challenges are their developers facing now? Where are metadata catalogs heading to? Can we merge the tradicional spatial data with the most modern open data technologies? Are data catalogs deprecated or are they still useful?

Links to project: http://geonetwork-opensource.org/

#105: Spatial data and the Search engines

Speakers: María Arias de Reyna (GeoCat bv), Clemens Portele (interactive instruments), Joana Simoes (GeoCat), Lieke Verhelst (Linked Data Factory), Paul van Genuchten (GeoCat bv)

Abstract

Why is it so hard to discover spatial data on search engines? In this talk we'll introduce you to an architectural SDI approach based on FOSS4G components, that will enable you to unlock your current SDI to search engines and the www in general. The approach is based on creating a smart proxy layer on top of CSW and WFS which will allow search engines (and search engine users) to crawl CSW and WFS as ordinary web pages.

The research and developments to facilitate this approach have been achieved in the scope of the testbed "Spatial data on the web", organised by Geonovum in the first months of 2016. The developments are embedded in existing FOSS4G components (GeoNetwork) or newly released as Opensource software (LDproxy).

We'll introduce you to aspects of improving search engine indexing and ranking, setting up a URI-strategy for your SDI, importance of URI persistence, introducing and testing schema.org ontology for (meta)data. We’ll explain that this approach can also be used in the context of linked data and programmable data, but it is important not to mix it up.

Links to project: http://geonetwork-opensource.org/

#106: Free, Open and Libre

Speaker: María Arias de Reyna (GeoCat bv)

Abstract

What are the differences between free and open source? Is it just a legal issue or does it have direct consecuences? Does it really matter if a software is free or open? Which one is better for my usecase? How does the difference affect us? And how does it affect private companies? But, above all, what is "libre"? Why do we even need a third word on this subject? Will it really make a difference?

#107: Stress Testing and Analysing MapServer Performance

Speaker: Seth Girvin (Compass Informatics)

Abstract

After 5 years in production the open source based Pavement Management System for Ireland has amassed over 15 years of road-related data. The back-end mapping engine is powered by MapServer and we are looking to improve performance when dealing with more and more data.

The talk will focus on how to set up Locust, an open source Python load testing tool, to automatically get average load times for each WMS and WFS layer from MapServer, and how many users MapServer can handle concurrently. A small open source project is currently being written to help this process. Whilst MapServer is the focus of the talk, any OGC-compliant server can be tested in the same way.

The talk will then briefly run through a series of experiments to see how changing various components affects performance. These are:

  1. Running MapServer on Linux as compared to Windows
  2. Using the MapServer native SQL Server driver, and using the OGR driver
  3. Map file size

Links to project: https://github.com/mapserver/mapserver https://github.com/locustio/locust

#108: From outer space to your browser

Speaker: Carmen Tawalika (mundialis)

Abstract

With the Copernicus programme of the European Union everybody can access remote sensing data produced by the so called "Sentinels", the satellites designed for observing the earth from space. The data can be accessed in raw state or via Copernicus Services which are dedicated to a certain topic. But if you would like to extract certain information, you need to process the raw data. How would it be possible to use open source software to process the raw data and then make it available for further use, e.g. in the web by using open geospatial web standards? This talk presents a webmapping client containing footprints of all currently available Sentinel 2A scenes which you can filter and select and send a job which processes this scene including download, atmospheric correction and several image processing algorithms (e.g. NDVI). When the job is done the processed scene will be loaded in the web client, published as an OGC web service which makes it reusable elsewhere. The client is built using OpenLayers3, ExtJS6, GeoExt3 and BasiGX. The processing is done with sen2cor, GDAL and GRASS GIS. The product is published with GeoServer.

#111: SMW @ OSGeo Wiki – How semantics improve the wiki and facilitate a collaborative database for OSGeo

Speaker: Christian Willmes (University of Cologne)

Abstract

Recently, the OSGeo wiki was updated from an ancient version to the current LTS release of MediaWiki. This update broke the functionality of the first OSGeo wiki usermap implementation, dating back to 2008. The map shows the location of OSGeo members on a web map integrated into the wiki. A new version of the usermap [1] was implemented based on Semantic Mediawiki (SMW) [2] to replace the first usermap [3].
This presentation will describe the new features and possibilities that SMW adds to the OSGeo Wiki. After a short introduction to SMW, based on the OSGeo member model, that recently replaced the old usermap, a basic data model and its use in the wiki, as well as major features of SMW are explained.
The datamodel development approach, using mobo [4], applied for implementing the OSGeo Members map will be explained briefley. Additionally, simple examples for bootstrapping smaller semantic models are given too.
The presentation concludes with ideas for further applications of SMW in the OSGeo wiki, like the already implemented Advocate and Board lists pages, as well as possible applications, for example a collaboratively maintained OSGeo/FOSS4G service provider directory, or even a collaborative open geospatial data directory are proposed or suggested.

[1] http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Category:OSGeo_Member
[2] https://www.semantic-mediawiki.org/
[3] http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/UserMap_Documentation
[4] https://github.com/Fannon/mobo

#115: Open Source strategies in a federal office - migrating from closed software to OS development

Speaker: Dr. Marco Lechner (German Federal Office for Radiation Protection)

Abstract

On of the task areas of the German Federal Office for radiation protection (BfS) in an case of a radiological emergency is to collect available and capture own relevant data, process and evaluate these and create documents including the necessary information to enable the crisis unit to make the right decisions for emergency preparedness and response.

Some time ago, the BfS started to migrate from a proprietary monolithic system to an approach combining several OSGeo projects into a whole emergency system, including PostGIS, GeoExt, OpenLayers3, Geoserver, GeoNetwork and MapfishPrint and other software even from non-Geo but Open Source projects.

To fill missing links between software components and to meet all demands of radiological disaster management, the BfS does not only use Open Source GIS software, but started several own software projects using free licenses as well. To seriously follow the Open Source strategy the BfS started to publish some of its projects using GitHub as a commonly used platform for Open Source projects, but not a common way for a federal office.

The talk presents GitHub-driven Open Source projects of the BfS embedded in an OS driven software stack using several well known OSGeo projects.

#118: Spatial tools for LiDAR based watershed management and forestry analysis integrated in gvSIG

Speakers: Silvia Franceschi (HydroloGIS - Free University of Bolzano), Andrea Antonello (HydroloGIS)

Abstract

In 2014 we started the development of the library LESTO (LiDAR Empowered Sciences Toolbox Opensource): a set of modules for the analysis of LiDAR point cloud with an Open Source approach with the aim of improving the performance of the extraction of the volume of biomass and other vegetation parameters on large areas for mixed forest structures. LESTO contains a set of modules for data handling and analysis implemented within the JGrassTools spatial processing library. The main subsections are dedicated to: preprocessing of LiDAR raw data (LAS), creation of raster derived products, normalization of the intensity values and tools for extraction of vegetation and buildings. The core of the LESTO library is the extraction of the vegetation parameters. We decided to follow the single tree based approach and implemented the extraction of tops and crowns from local maxima, the region growing method and the watershed method, all can be applied on LiDAR derived raster datasets as well as point clouds of raw data. An automatic validation procedure has been developed considering an Optimizer Algorithm based on Particle Swarm (PS) and a matching procedure which takes the position and the height of the extracted trees respect to the measured ones and iteratively tries to improve the candidate solution changing the models' parameters. On a watershed level, the resulting extracted trees with position and main characteristics, can be used for forestry management or for the evaluation of natural hazards (hillslopes stability, large wood transportation during floods).

Links to project: https://github.com/moovida/jgrasstools http://www.gvsig.com/

#120: Digital field mapping with Geopaparazzi and gvSIG

Speakers: Andrea Antonello (HydroloGIS), Silvia Franceschi (HydroloGIS - Free University of Bolzano)

Abstract

Geopaparazzi is an application for fast field surveys. Its simplicity and the possibility to use it on as good as any android smartphone makes it a trusty field companion for engineers and geologists, but also for tourists who wish to keep a geodiary and any user that needs to be aware of his position even in offline mode. In Geopaparazzi it is possible to create text and picture notes and place them on the map. Notes can also be complex and form based in order to standardize surveys in which many people need to be coordinated. The data collected in the field can be directly exported from Geopaparazzi as KMZ or GPX. The plugin for Geopaparazzi in gvSIG supplies an userfriendly GUI with GIS functionalities to visualize all the data collected in the field, GPS tracks, text notes, pictures and form based notes and gives the possibility to save them as shapefiles. It works as a useful and fast tool to check the data collected in the field within a GIS directly from the file of the Geopaparazzi project without the need to export and save different shapefile. With this tool it is also possible to share projects with others, check the contents and periodically verify the results of the surveys.

Links to project: https://github.com/geopaparazzi/geopaparazzi/wiki http://www.gvsig.com/

#121: Standard-compliant geoprocessing services for Earth Observation time-series data access and analysis

Speaker: Jonas Eberle (University of Jena, Department for Earth Observation)

Abstract

Earth Observation time-series data are valuable information to monitor the change of the environment. But access to data and the execution of analysis tools are often time-consuming tasks and data processing knowledge is required. In order to allow user-friendly applications to be built, tools are needed to simplify the access to data archives and the analysis of such time-series data.

In this work, web services for accessing and analyzing MODIS, Landsat, and Sentinel time-series data have been developed based on the Web Processing Service specification of the Open Geospatial Consortium and made available within the Earth Observation Monitor framework. The Python library "pyEOM" has been developed to combine access and analysis tools for Earth Observation time-series data.

Algorithms developed to analyze vegetation changes are provided as web-based processing services in connection to the prior developed access services as well. Using the services developed, users only need to provide the geometry and the name of the dataset the user is interested in; any processing is done by the web service. The services and applications (web and mobile) are based on geospatial open source software.

Links to project: https://github.com/jonas-eberle/pyEOM

#125: Using and extending GeoPackages

Speaker: Pirmin Kalberer (Sourcepole)

Abstract

GeoPackage is an OGC standard combining vector data and raster tiles in a single database file. Since its official publication in February 2014 adoption has grown very quickly and the new format got support by most major Open Source and proprietary software products. Its combination of easy distribution and efficient use thanks to an SQL interface makes it interesting in a wide range of usage scenarios from embedded devices up to Open Data portals.

This presentations shows the current state of support in Open Source applications like GDAL and QGIS, but also covers recent and planned extensions of the format. Examples are the proposed GeoPackage Elevation Extension, an extension for storing point cloud data and the recent QGIS all-in-one GeoPackage format. The latter implements storing map styling information right in the GeoPackage file, allowing to distribute a dataset together with map views and print layouts in one file.

Links to project: https://github.com/OSGeo/gdal/tree/trunk/gdal/ogr/ogrsf_frmts/gpkg https://github.com/qgis/QGIS https://github.com/rb-rialto/geopackage QGIS Plugin will be published in April

#128: QGIS Lessons plugin. A new way of teaching QGIS

Speaker: Víctor Olaya (Boundless)

Abstract

The QGIS Lessons plugin allows users to interactively run lessons and tutorials from QGIS. It automates certain steps such as data loading or preparing the QGIS interface, and leaves other steps to be manually executed by the user. This way, it is ideal for self-paced tutorials and allows the user to focus on the most important steps and concepts.

The Lessons plugin also includes functionality to easy create new lessons, with tools that capture user interaction or automatically create screenshots of the QGIS interface.

New lessons them can be shared as QGIS plugins, and our goal is to promote the usage of the Lessons plugin and have a large collection of free lessons that cover most of the QGIS functionality.

Links to project: https://github.com/boundlessgeo/qgis-lessons-plugin

#130: The Blue Hub, an integrated analysis platform with a WebGIS front-end to exploit maritime Big Data

Speaker: Vincenzo Gammieri (JRC)

Abstract

At the Joint Research Centre (JRC), scientists involved in maritime situational awareness are confronted with a growing volume of data. Every day millions of ship positions from terrestrial and satellite receivers are gathered globally and in real-time, as well as optical and radar Earth Observation images, leading to a significant variety of data. To support the researchers, policy makers and operational authorities in their activities a analysis platform with WebGIS functionality has been developed with the aim of turning data into valuable information and demonstrating pre-operational tools for maritime awareness. The platform is mostly based on FOSS software and consists of a front-end visualization tool and a back-end analysis engine. Fusion algorithms provide the ability to integrate data from multiple sources on the fly. A series of tools provide predictive analysis, activity mapping, anomaly detection, and cross disciplinary information, to support maritime security and safety and to improve marine knowledge. The web application is developed using open source programming languages (e.g. Javascript, Python), frameworks (e.g. Django, Geoserver), and interchange data format (JSON) to enable researchers to seamlessly integrate ad hoc algorithms developed in scientific languages (e.g. R, Matlab). A case study will be presented, showing examples of how the WebGIS architecture can provide visualisation and analysis tools to support decision makers and scientific and operational actors in the fields of fisheries science, maritime spatial planning, and maritime surveillance.

#131: Integrating the spatial web with linked open data using GeoDCAT-AP

Speakers: María Arias de Reyna (GeoCat bv), Joana Simoes (GeoCat), Paul van Genuchten (GeoCat bv)

Abstract

GeoDCAT-AP is an extension of DCAT-AP for describing geospatial datasets, dataset series, and services. It provides an RDF syntax binding for the union of metadata elements defined in the core profile of ISO 19115:2003 and those defined in the framework of the INSPIRE Directive. Its basic use case is to make spatial datasets, data series, and services searchable on general data portals, thereby making geospatial information better searchable across borders and sectors. This can be achieved by the exchange of descriptions of datasets among data portals.

#133: Command Line Geography

Speaker: Erik Escoffier (Vizzuality)

Abstract

The keyboard is the new compass !

In this entertaining session, we will see how our beloved shell can fit into the workflow of the modern cartographer in the most surprising ways, and we will generate maps in the least expected places (your terminal, your desktop, your IDE...)

  • analyse and visualise geo data with expressive SQL one-liners ;
  • manipulate file formats with shell I/O and useful libraries ;
  • geocode with the blink of an eye (or with your voice) ;
  • make ASCII and emoji maps ;
  • transform Atom into a supercharged geo IDE ;
  • set up the perfect web mapping project environment in seconds ;
  • and many more !

The CartoDB SQL APIs, along with the CartoDB Node client, SQL and PostGIS, plus a host of other open source libraries (GDAL, CSVKit, Yeoman...), will be showcased as the "survival kit" for the hurried but demanding mapper.

Links to project: https://github.com/CartoDB/cartodb-nodejs https://github.com/nerik/generator-cartodb

#136: Sensor Web for Oceanology

Speakers: Simon Jirka (52°North Initiative for Geospatial Open Source Software GmbH), Matthes Rieke (52°North GmbH)

Abstract

In the marine community, observation data sets are a critical input for many scientific questions. Thus, significant investments are made in equipment and data acquisition technology. To ensure that the collected data is efficiently used by a larger number of researchers, the interoperable sharing of observation data is getting more attention in recent time. This presentation introduces open source Sensor Web components from several European projects such as NeXOS, FixO3, BRIDGES and ODIP II that cover different requirements for Sensor Web technology in marine applications. On the one hand there are server-side tools such as the 52°North Sensor Observation Service which facilitate the publication and download of marine observations. On the other hand this is complemented by tools such as the 52°North JavaScript SOS Client, which offers a lightweight approach to explore and visualise observation data sets generated by mobile (e.g. research vessels) as well as stationary sensors (e.g. buoys). In our presentation we will introduce the basic principles of an interoperable Sensor Web infrastructure for Oceanology as well as show how this infrastructure can be implemented using the open source software components of 52°North.

#137: The economics of bringing a new geo product to market by leveraging open standards, FOSS and FOSS4G

Speakers: Michael Terner (Applied Geographics, Inc. (AppGeo)), Calvin Metcalf (AppGeo)

Abstract

The cloud and open source software have fueled a wave of innovation that has enabled both large and small companies to bring products to market more easily and with less cost and friction than ever before. This talk will describe our journey to bringing such a new product to market. In 2014 Google began selling its high resolution imagery and purchasers received the data as large buckets of files deployed within Google’s Cloud Platform (GCP). This opened a requirement for high performance serving of that imagery via the Open Geospatial Consortium’s (OGC) WMS and WMTS standards. This talk will describe the process of a small company developing this image serving technology by both incorporating and contributing to open source and geo open source initiatives. The talk will describe the market opportunity for the new product as well as the business case that led us to choosing an open source approach even for something that is ultimately sold. The talk will also describe the Node.js technical approach that was chosen and the array of geo tools, such as Mapnik and PostGIS, and other open javascript frameworks (e.g. Bootstrap, Handlebars.js, etc.) that underpin the solution. The talk will also highlight our development team’s open source contributions back to projects and the community. The talk will conclude with a description of the lightweight server and its features that enable an “imagery as a service” business model that daily serves hundreds of users in Utah and Texas.

#138: QWCII: A new QGIS Web Client

Speakers: Andreas Neumann (Kanton Zug, GIS-Fachstelle), Karl-Magnus Jönsson (Kristianstads kommun)

Abstract

QGIS Web Client (QWC) is a Web-GIS client based on OpenLayers 2 and ExtJS and tailored to use special extensions of QGIS Server, such as extracting information from QGIS Project settings, extended GetFeatureInfo Requests, GetPrint and DXF export. It uses standard WMS/WFS commands, but extends them where needed. QWC is used by several cities and provinces in Europe.

There are four main reasons why QWC needs to be overhauled:

  1. The code structure is not very modular and should be better structured.
  2. QWC only works well on Desktops. Despite a separate mobile web client based on OpenLayers 3 and jQuery Mobile, for maintenance reasons it would be much better to have a single web client that uses responsive design and works for all devices from a single viewer.
  3. The base libraries ExtJS 3.4 and Openlayers 2 have been phased out and there are newer versions available. However, the upgrade to the newer versions is not trivial.
  4. Having a more modern foundation based on newer web technologies

This presentation discusses the requirements, the progress of this project, technical decisions taken and challenges solved during the project. While the first goal of the project is to establish a modern foundation for the coming years and reach feature parity with the old QWC project, it is already planned to implement a QWCII python plugin that offers a GUI and assists with the global configuration of the client. This tool should also facilitate the management of topics and projects.

Links to project: https://github.com/qgis/QGIS-Web-Client

#140: Trying to visualize GIS & BIM information on the web: a solution using Leaflet and Cesium

Speaker: Fabrizio Massara (CSI Piemonte)

Abstract

While GIS is a term whose use has now been consolidated for years now, BIM is a term whose use is increasingly widespread over the past few years. The both deal with geo-localized "objects", so the ongoing studies for a common point of the GIS and BIM different views of the same object is somewhat unavoidable. A first attempt at integration information belonging from these two worlds is presently under way in the framework of EU funded DIMMER project. This project integrates BIM, district level 3D models with near-real time data from sensors and user feedback in order to analyze and correlate buildings utilization, and to provide information about energy-related behaviors to users and other stakeholders. From the point of view of technology, the project uses open source technologies such as Java, Leaflet and Cesium, as far as GIS is concerned: here you're an architectural schema. The web application integrated GIS data read directly from a POSTGIS data base, with data flows from BIM services, near-real time data from sensors distributed over the territory under examination, and on line processed indexes/calculations. The present version of the project makes it possible to consult sensor information in near-real time, as well as the other processed calculations/indexes, through a web dashboard that includes as primary elements both a 2D map (based on Leaflet)(link1), as well as a 3D map (based on CesiumJS)(link2, link3).

#141: Interoperability with OpenLayers 3

Speaker: Bart van den Eijnden (Boundless)

Abstract

This talk will focus on the many ways that OpenLayers 3 can integrate with different systems out there. Some of the abilities are integrated into the library itself, think of open standards such as WMS, WMTS, KML, GeoJSON. Other ways to provide integration is through external libraries such as ole, which integrates with Esri ArcGIS REST services (Map Services and Feature Services), or JSONIX to provide parsing (and serialisation) of a huge amount of OGC standards.

Links to project: https://github.com/openlayers/ol3 https://github.com/boundlessgeo/ole https://github.com/highsource/jsonix

#144: Create Vector Tiles from OpenStreetMap

Speakers: Manuel Roth (HSR University of Applied Science Rapperswil Switzerland), Lukas Martinelli (HSR University of Applied Sciences Rapperswil Switzerland), Petr Pridal (Klokan Technologies GmbH)

Abstract

The OSM2VectorTiles project offers free downloadable vector tiles ready to use by people interested in hosting custom base maps on their own infrastructure. The whole world fits on a USB stick and can be served from an ordinary web hosting and styled and enriched to make beautiful and fast maps for web and mobile applications.

The advantages of vector tiles over traditional raster tiles are well known. There are already a handful of vector tile provider present, but they may not always serve your use case optimally. After this talk you will know how to create your own custom vector tiles based on OpenStreetMap and will know the tools and processes you need to use.

The talk will cover how to import OpenStreetMap data into PostGIS and then shows how to generate vector tiles using Tilelive and Mapnik. We will present the open source workflow we use at OSM2VectorTiles to prerender global vector tiles and instruct you how to adapt the workflow to create custom vector tiles. Thanks to Docker and tools such as Mapnik, PostGIS, Tilelive and Mapbox Studio Classic the process is straightforward and repeatable.

Links to project: https://github.com/osm2vectortiles/osm2vectortiles

#145: QGIS what's new

Speaker: Marco Hugentobler (Sourcepole)

Abstract

Since FOSS4G 2015, two new QGIS versions have been released. At the time of the FOSS4G 2016, it will even be three new releases. This presentation shows some highlights out of the huge number of new features. For instance the labeling system received a number of enhancements which might not be obvious for users by just looking at the GUI. Another major improvement is the new authentication system in QGIS 2.12. In the area of cartography, there is the new 2.5d renderer, which allows the display of 3D-like visual effects. And the release of 2.16 end of June 2016 will bring some other hightlights for sure.

Links to project: http://www.qgis.org

#146: An overview of Docker images for geospatial applications

Speaker: Daniel Nüst (Institute for Geoinformatics, University of Münster)

Abstract

Docker is a growing open-source platform for building and shipping applications as cloud services in so called containers. But containers can be more than that! Following the idea of DevOps, Dockerfiles are a complete scripted definition of an application with all it's dependencies, which can be build and published as ready to use images. As each container is only running "one thing" (e.g. one application, one database, a worker instance), multiple containers can be configured with the help of docker-compose.

More and more geospatial open source projects or third parties provide Dockerfiles. In this talk, we try to give an overview of the existing Docker images and docker-compose configurations for FOSS4G projects. We report on test runs that we conducted with them, informing about the evaluation results, target purposes, licenses, commonly used base images, and more. We will also give a short introduction into Docker and present the purposes that Docker images can be used for, such as easy evaluation for new users, education, testing, or common development environments.

This talk integrates and summarizes information from previous talks at FOSS4G and FOSSGIS conferences, so I'd like to thank Sophia Parafina, Jonathan Meyer, and Björn Schilberg for their contributions.

#150: Leveraging Big Geo Data through Metadata

Speakers: Joana Simoes (GeoCat), Ana Freire (Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Paul van Genuchten (GeoCat bv)

Abstract

The increase in the scale of traditional data sources, along with an explosion in the availability of sensor data, have originated massive volumes of data, a great deal of which is actually geolocated. This is partly due to the wide adoption of cheaper position technologies, and to the exponential growing of Volunteered Geographic Geographic Information (VGI) movements, which rely on crowdsourcing approaches.

Big Data has generated a lot of interest amongst industry, the developer community and the public in general, and it has been at the core of many technology innovations which took place recently (e.g.: NoSQL, MapReduce); these new approaches already started to involve the geo community with projects such as the ESRI Spatial Framework for Hadoop or GeoTrellis, just to mention a few. However, the focus has been mostly on storing data (at the infrastructure level) and using data (at the analysis level), leaving aside challenges such as discoverability, integration or security.

In this talk, we will address some of these outstanding challenges through the use of metadata and the semantic web, and show how the use of a decentralized and standardized catalog can help to unlock the five V's of Big Data: Volume, Velocity, Variety, Veracity, and most importantly, Value.

Links to project: http://geonetwork-opensource.org

#152: Scalability of GeoNetwork: Current Status and Future Directions

Speakers: Joana Simoes (GeoCat), Jose García (GeoCat bv), María Arias de Reyna (GeoCat bv), Francois Prunayre (titellus)

Abstract

In recent times, phenomenon such as the Internet of Things or the popularity of social networks, among others, have been responsible for an increase availability of sensor data and user generated content. To be able to ingest, store and analyze these massive volumes of information is a standing challenge that is no longer ignored. The data about this data is generally speaking, less of a problem, if we think for instance that trillions of sensor records, may share the same metadata record; for this reason catalogs have been less exposed to the challenges that took by storm the database community.

Nevertheless, a large variety of datasets can also pose some performance challenges to traditional catalogs, and demand increase scalability. In this talk we will look at strategies for scaling GeoNetwork through load balancing, at its current limitations, and we will discuss potential improvements by adopting distributed search server technologies such as SOLR or ElasticSearch. On the database side, we will review the current database support, which is limited to ORM, and discuss the possibility of extending it to support NoSQL databases, which could be horizontally scaled, unleashing a new generation of metadata storage.

Links to project: http://geonetwork-opensource.org

#154: Vector Tiles with GeoServer and OpenLayers

Speakers: David Blasby (Boundless), Andreas Hocevar (Boundless)

Abstract

The latest release of GeoServer adds support for creating Vector Tiles in GeoJSON, TopoJSON, and MapBox Vector Tiles format through its WMS service for all the vector data formats it supports. These tiles can be cached using GeoWebCache (built into GeoServer), and served with the various tiling protocols (TMS, WMTS, and WMS-C). Thanks to very recent OpenLayers 3 development, these Vector Tiles can be easily and efficiently styled on a map.

This technical talk will look at how GeoServer makes Vector Tiles accessible through standard OGC services and how they differ from normal WMS and WFS usage. It will also look at how OpenLayers 3 - as a simple-to-use vector tiles client - interacts with GeoServer to retrieve tiles and effectively manage and style them. OpenLayer 3’s extensive style infrastructure will be investigated.

Links to project: https://github.com/geoserver/geoserver/tree/master/src/community/vectortiles https://github.com/geoserver/geoserver https://github.com/openlayers/ol3

#156: Still waiting for someone else to do it: Writing documentation for an open source project

Speaker: Mike Pumphrey (Boundless)

Abstract

Many people will cite how their adoption of software was based on the quality of its documentation. At the same time, documentation can be one of the largest gaps in quality with an open source project.

This talk will discuss why that is, what you (yes you) can do about it, and how the author has (so far) managed to avoid burnout by learning to (grudgingly) accept less-than-perfect grammar.

Examples will include things done well and lessons learned, as well as humorous and painful failures, specifically from within the GeoServer community, where the author has lots of (perhaps too much) experience.

Links to project: https://github.com/geoserver/geoserver

#158: QField, a touch driven QGIS interface

Speakers: Matthias Kuhn (OPENGIS.ch), Marco Bernasocchi (OPENGIS.ch GmbH)

Abstract

Ubiquity: The ubiquity of mobile devices has seen a huge increase in the last years. With more than 2 billion mobile devices shipped 2015 and a growing market, such devices also become more important at the workplace.

The geo stack: Thanks to its multi-platform nature and its broad feature set QGIS is one of the most widespread open source GIS applications and does a good job on the desktop. A native mobile touch interface for field based data review and acquisition is the missing bit in the open source geo stack.

Core requirements: From developing QGIS for Android we have identified the core requirements for mobile applications. More than that, we have identified what must be avoided: complexity, small UI elements and project definition work.

Less is more: Thanks to pre-defined modi for tasks like data acquisition and data review users can focus on the task at hand. Clear user interface elements and adaption of tools for touch input while offering great precision for coordinate recording with an intuitive interaction design make it a pleasure to use and an efficient tool.

Synchronisation: To bring the data back into your infrastructure from the device we have developed a new offline synchronisation tool to allow seamless data exchange between the device and the existing geo infrastructure.

Links to project: http://qfield.opengis.ch/repo

#161: Open Source Street Routing With PgRouting For Local Government - Dynamic Data and Performance

Speaker: Joseph Miller (Boundless)

Abstract

A recap of a prototype project that was created for the NYC Department of Transportation to demonstrate the utility of Open Source routing applications in support of large vehicle permitting processes. The DOT asked us to review software options to support the creation of street route and turn by turn directions solutions for large vehicles entering the city of New York. They needed the solution to be performant, scalable, and to support the use of the city's LION dataset with the dynamic inclusion of street closures, turn restrictions, and weight and height restrictions based on analyst data entry.

This session will cover the Open Source software we reviewed, our analysis process, and why we ultimately selected PgRouting from a group of candidates that included Open Source Routing Machine (OSRM), Valhalla, and GraphHopper. In particular we will discuss the tradeoffs between schema, data, link traversal costs, and restriction flexiblity and the performance gains offered by indexing solutions using Contraction Hiearchies.

#162: Building Sustainable Resilient Communities with FOSS4G and Open Data

Speaker: Jeffrey Johnson (Terranodo LLC)

Abstract

Effective Disaster Risk Management (DRM) programs can make a significant difference in how communities prepare and respond to disasters. Countries that are most vulnerable to natural hazards, but where fewer investments in DRM programs are made, often suffer from the inability to collect, share and effectively use available risk information. Contributing factors to the problem are the costs of procuring, managing and sharing data, the expertise and training required to analyze the information, and the poor implementation of interoperability standards.

The Open Data for Resilience Initiative (OpenDRI) seeks to address these challenges by applying the concepts of open data, community mapping, and open source geospatial software with a keystone role. As a World Bank sponsored initiative, OpenDRI supports DRM programs across the globe to build capacity and long-term ownership of open data projects that rely on open source software like Geonode, QGIS, and InaSAFE. This talk will discuss:

  • Benefits and advantages of using FOSS4G in DRM and development programs
  • Key success stories from OpenDRI and Code for Resilience (CfR) projects
  • Challenges and strategies in building sustainable open source communities for international development and DRM

Links to project: https://www.gfdrr.org/opendri http://codeforresilience.org

#163: Nobody cares about your datum: or the Kleinstaaterei of spatial reference systems

Speaker: Calvin Metcalf (AppGeo)

Abstract

What is the difference between people that make maps and GIS people: GIS people waste much of their time dealing with spatial reference systems while people making maps just avoid them like the plague and instead focus on the projections they need to use to represent their data with.

Most discussions on the topics of projections and spatial reference systems is mainly on the large number of small spatial reference systems each used by a limited number of groups. Work for the state of Massachusetts, use EPSG 2805, work for the Boston police? then you use EPSG 2249.

This talk will focus on the gap between how projections work in theory vs how people constantly waste their time dealing with projections. Most of the mental energy spent on projections and spatial reference systems is spent on incompatible local systems used for storage of data, which are also known as internal details nobody should care about with disproportionate time spent converting between datums whose differences are smaller then the precision of the data.

#164: An environmental modelling and information service for health analytics

Speakers: Oliver Schmitz (Utrecht University, The Netherlands), Dr Derek Karssenberg (Utrecht University), Kor de Jong (Utrecht University)

Abstract

Enriching patient information with environmental information such as individual exposure to air pollution or noise is a relevant procedure in health care and research. Generating this exposure information, however, is computationally intensive as the processing of large datasets with fine spatial and temporal discretisation is necessary; thereby usually exceeding hardware resources e.g. of family doctors. In an interdisciplinary research project (Healthy Urban Living, http://hul.uu.nl/) we develop an environmental modelling and information service (EMIS), consisting of these parts:

  • a set of environmental models calculating exposure (e.g. NO2, PM10) on Dutch scale
  • a set of algorithms to calculate exposure of individuals along their space-time paths
  • a set a of microservices to maintain a flexible workflow in generating and executing queries

The microservices architecture enables us to perform the computational intensive modelling tasks on institutional or national computing facilities, and allows lightweight client applications such as web portals to query the EMIS and thereby give health researchers straightforward access to exposure data.

The presentation gives a general overview of the research project, the EMIS system architecture and outlines how open-source software tools (e.g. GDAL, PCRaster, flask, docopt, sqlalchemy and more) are used to process the spatio-temporal data sets. We additionally demonstrate use cases from the health researcher's perspective.

#165: OpenSource tools for water network management

Speakers: Vincent Picavet (Oslandia), Vincent Mora (oslandia)

Abstract

This presentation details some OpenSource tools dedicated to water network management, be it for water distribution or wastewater networks.

The qWAT project is a specific tool based on QGIS and PostGIS. it aims at managing water distribution networks. The data model is part of the project and covers most use cases for this kind of assets. The qWAT project is strongly linked to QGIS, and tries to contribute to the core of QGIS so as to mutualize developments and features among other QGIS-based applications.

Similarly, the QGEP project is dedicated to wastewater networks. We also present a use case for an implementation of a wastewater information system in France, based on QGIS and PostGIS.

Furthermore, we show how PostGIS-based projects allow to do network and graph analysis, so as to extract meaningful information for decision-taking and planning.

QGIS-Epanet and QGIS-SWMM are two QGIS Processing extensions integrating simulation features on water distribution and wastewater networks. They let the user run simulations to analyze the network, dimensioning, and identify specific issues.

These set of tools show that OpenSource GIS now tend to fulfill use cases for specific fields of application, and water management is among them.

Links to project: https://github.com/qwat/QWAT/ https://github.com/QGEP/QGEP https://github.com/Oslandia/qgis-epanet https://github.com/Oslandia/qgis-swmm https://github.com/qgis/QGIS

#166: iTowns, a new framework for 3D web visualization

Speaker: Vincent Picavet (Oslandia)

Abstract

We present iTowns, a web framework developed in Javascript / WebGL for 3D geospatial data visualization, with capabilities for precise measurement directly in the browser.

The first use case of iTowns is Street-view data type visualization : immersive images, but also terrestrial LIDAR Point Cloud data. But iTowns now supports much more data types :

  • Oriented images
  • Panoramic images
  • Point Clouds
  • 3D textured models
  • WFS vector data

iTowns OpenSource is the descendant of the initial iTowns software developed at MATIS research laboratory of the French National Mapping Agency. iTowns OpenSource version 1.0 has been released in February 2016.

The framework allows to : - Visualize projected images on a mesh ( cube, 3D model) - Visualize panoramic images - Display depth panoramic images - Display extruded building ( from WFS, other sources ) - Navigate in 3D (click & go) - Display Point Clouds - Visualize textured 3D models ( B3D, 3DS) - Use a simple API

We detail iTowns features with videos. The data showcased was acquired by IGN's Stereopolis car.

Aside from presenting the software, its present state and the future 2.0 version, we also explain the project history, which is an interesting case of technology transfer from research to industry.

Links to project: https://itowns.github.io

#169: Implementing Open Geospatial Data Portals with CKAN, pycsw and PublicaMundi: the geodata.gov.gr case

Speaker: Angelos Tzotsos (OSGeo)

Abstract

PublicaMundi is a successfully completed EU FP7-ICT project aiming to make open geospatial data easier to discover, reuse, and share by fully supporting their complete publishing lifecycle in open data catalogues. PublicaMundi extends and integrates leading open source software for open data publishing and geospatial data management. In particular, PublicaMundi extends CKAN, the leading open data catalogue, into treating geospatial data as “first-class citizens” and providing automatic OGC- and INSPIRE-compliant access to geospatial data, through integration with pycsw, rasdaman, ZOO-Project, GeoServer, MapServer, PostGIS and GDAL. PublicaMundi was recently deployed to geodata.gov.gr to serve as the main open geospatial data catalogue of the Greek government. The production system provides multilingual data access to data publishers, open data users, and developers through the main catalogue, an integrated mapping application, and various APIs (CKAN, data, mapping and OGC APIs). This presentation will provide an overview of the production system, the cloud infrastructure used and future developments.

Links to project: http://publicamundi.eu/ https://github.com/PublicaMundi

#172: Postgis Topology will replace simple feature.

Speaker: Lars Aksel Opsahl (The Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO) )

Abstract

Postgis Topology is a must if correct and up to date maps are important for you. 1) Normalize data, for instance shared edges should only be represented once. Why : Avoid the possibility for gaps , overlaps, spikes and other error in the result. 2) Must be simple to expand or reduce a polygon surface even if the border line contains thousands of points. Why : Moving many points on a screen is difficult and time consuming and its's often is easier just to draw a new line. 3) Only the actual changes should be written to the database. Why : Or else you may get problems because of projections, different number off decimals in client, protocol and server. 4) Removing lines should cause old surfaces reappear with original borders for layers that has 100% coverage. Why : We want end users update our maps because they know best what is like there, but then we must accept errors and then it should easy to correct these error in a efficient way. 5) Generalize and simplify on the fly. Why : To reduce the amount bytes on wire it's important to give the user a good end user experience. We have now made a simple web client for updating topology layers of type surface, line and points where we are using a simple generic protocol based on JSON.

Links to project: https://github.com/NibioOpenSource/pgtopo_update_sql

#174: Open Data Revolution of the Deutsche Bahn (German Railways)

Speaker: Alexey Valikov (DB Systel GmbH, a Deutsche Bahn Company)

Abstract

Deutsche Bahn (German Railways), one of the world-leading passenger and logistics company is long-known to be very closed and conservative.

Therefore, for many it was a complete surprize when Deutsche Bahn has announced the DB Open Data Portal in Novemeber 2015 and started publishing datasets under very permissive Creative Commons licenses.

These datasets include geodata like stops, stations, complete railway track network and many others, growing almost weekly.

DB Open Data is now extended by DB Open APIs like timetable of the long-distance trains.

In this talk, we tell the story behind DB Open Data. About our challenges and failures, our successes and lessons learned on the way to become more open, to enable and to be enabled by the community.
We show projects which were already implemented using our Open Data and point out to boundaries we still have to break.

Links to project: http://data.deutschebahn.com/datasets/

#175: OpenSky Network - Crowdsourced and Open Air Traffic Surveillance Network

Speaker: Alexey Valikov (DB Systel GmbH, a Deutsche Bahn Company)

Abstract

The OpenSky Network is a community-based receiver network which continuously collects air traffic surveillance data. Unlike other systems, OpenSky keeps the collected data forever and makes it available to researchers from different fields. With almost 50 billion ADS-B messages collected so far, the OpenSky Network exhibits the largest air traffic surveillance dataset of its kind in the world.

In this talk, we explain how the OpenSky Network functions, what you can do with our data and how you can participate.

We will show how you can easily build an ADS-B base station under 100 Euro. Composed from the cheap off-the-shelf components, this station will be still powerful enough to "see" planes in the radius of up to 150km.

Links to project: https://opensky-network.org/

#176: GeoServer Styling Hints and Tips for Prettier Maps

Speaker: Ian Turton (Astun Technology)

Abstract

Web maps needn't be dull and this talk will show you how you can take your cartographic skills from the desktop GIS to the web using SLD and GeoServer.

The initial part of the talk will introduce desktop tools such as QGIS and UDig and how they can help novices get started with styling maps.

Moving beyond the basics it will continue with a look at the use of functions to modify the features being drawn. It will include an in depth look at how to control the placement of labels to enhance the readability of the map especially when using tile caching to speed up map service.

The talk will finish with a discussion of using GeoServer's composite and blending modes to provide pretty effects that can enhance your web mapping.

#178: KNReise: OpenSource access to open, geospatial cultural and natural datasets

Speaker: Atle Frenvik Sveen (Norkart AS)

Abstract

KNReise is a collaboration-project among Norwegian governmental bodies working with cultural, historical and natural data.

As the project neared it's conclusion, and had gathered, created and geolocated a huge amount of data and published it using REST APIs the next step was to present the data in a uniform manner.

We where tasked with making a client-side only, fully configurable, OpenSource web solution for displaying data from a number of different APIs.

Using OpenSource components we where able to pull this off, and this talk will present both the product as well as the process.

Links to project: http://github.com/knreise/demonstratorer

#179: An Open Source Approach to Multi-user Distributed Geospatial Data Management

Speaker: Dami Sonoiki (eHealth Africa)

Abstract

Open source tools have been successful in managing geospatial data in central data stores. However, performance issues can arise from many users accessing the same table in a geospatial database at once, especially in a multi-user editing environment. The geospatial landscape also changes constantly, as a result of human activity and natural forces, this gives a need to track these changes within the geospatial database and perform change detection activities to understand changes across time, hence a need to version history. These use cases springs up the requirements to employ a data distribution across multiple geospatial databases using versioning and replication technology to integrate several desktop and mobile user applications into an adaptive geospatial communications environment connecting operations across the enterprise and throughout the organisations to improve data availability to multiple users, tracking change history within multiple table versions while increasing system performance.

Several commercial geospatial applications have successfully implemented full versioning replication capabilities by leveraging middleware with the core database versioning capabilities – for example ArcSDE technology from Esri . The realization of a full solution has been far-fetched on open source geospatial applications. This presentation discusses the development of QGIS plugin and implementation of FOSS4G solutions for versioning and replication capabilities with to support multi-user access while optimizing performance using QGIS, PostgreSQL, PostGIS and SpatialLite DB technologies.

#180: An R-tree index for RocksDB

Speaker: Volker Mische

Abstract

This talk is about implementing a R-tree on top of RocksDB, an LSM-tree (log-structured merge-tree) based key-value store. It will give an introduction about how RocksDB works and why LSM-trees are such a perfect fit to build an R-tree index on top of them. Finally there will be a deep dive into the actual R-tree implementation.

RocksDB is a popular key-value store by Facebook (based on Google's LevelDB). It supports key and range lookups and basic spatial indexing based on GeoHash, but not an R-tree implementation which makes multi-dimensional queries possible. Those queries can combine things like location and time, but also any other property that can be represented as a numeric value, such as categories. This makes it possible to query e.g. for all flats with a certain size in a specific area that are not older than a few years and have a balcony.

Links to project: https://github.com/vmx/rocksdb/tree/wip-rtree-index

#181: State of GeoGig

Speakers: Gabriel Roldán (Boundless Spatial Inc.), Tyler Battle (Boundless)

Abstract

GeoGig is having an amazing breakout year! GeoGig is a library and command line tool for distributed spatial data management. This talk will introduce you to the GeoGig team, the committers and the organizations behind the project.

We will take an extensive look at the GeoGig 1.0 release and some of the features we are excited about (improved revision management, faster import, spatial index, postgresql backend, and sqlite for local storage).

GeoGig technology is an important addition to the open source community. We will look at the work done with the QGIS project to bring distributed data management to desktop users. What is especially exciting (for those with a land management background) is the integration with GeoNode for enterprise data management.

Attend this talk to lean how GeoGig can help your organization and what the project has planned for your future.

Links to project: https://github.com/locationtech/geogig

#183: GIS FOSS based products for renewable energy mapping and assessment in the Arabian Peninsula

Speaker: Luis Calisto (ReCREMA, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology.)

Abstract

The Research Center for Renewable Energy Mapping and Assessment (ReCREMA) in Masdar Institute (UAE) was established in 2012 with the mandate to develop local capacity and accurate databases of renewable energy potentials in the United Arab Emirates and the Arabian Peninsula. To help the achievement of these goals, ReCREMA created a powerful Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) based in open source and open standards. On the top of this SDI several GIS-based tools were developed and published over the last four years. The UAE Solar atlas, the UAE Solar Technology Simulator, the UAE wind atlas and the Gulf Earth portal are some of the main webgis products developed as part of this initiative. Also, a satellite-based real time tool that shows real time solar maps updated every 15 minutes was developed in both mobile and desktop formats. Mobile apps have the advantages of using the device location for a better user experience. Recent developments include a real time dust monitoring and forecasting tools covering the whole Arabian Peninsula. All these products were made publicly available in app stores and in ReCREMA website. The decision to use open source GIS platforms in ReCREMA will allow to outreach a large pool of potential end-users and to provide accurate, reliable and updated tools to decision makers, industrial developers, investors and the general public.

#185: How WebGL vector maps work

Speaker: Vladimir Agafonkin (Mapbox)

Abstract

Mapbox GL JS is an open source library for modern interactive maps, powered by WebGL. Developed for more than 3 years, it combines a variety of sophisticated algorithms, smart ideas and novel approaches to deliver 60fps rendering of vector data with thousands of shapes and millions of points. In this talk, you will find out how it works under the hood and why it's so challenging to build dynamic WebGL applications.

The talk will cover scalable font rendering, line and polygon tessellation, in-browser spatial indexing, collision detection, label placement, point clustering, shape clipping, line simplification, sprite packing, efficient binary data encoding and transfer, parallel processing using Web Workers and more!

Links to project: https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js

#186: Web maps & WebGL

Speaker: Iván Sánchez Ortega (MazeMap AS)

Abstract

WebGL is a technology enabling web browsers to efficiently display massive amounts of 3D data in real time, which has achieved widespread support in most web browsers. But despite being fast and efficient, there not a lot of web mapping libraries or applications using its potential.

In this talk we'll visit the most well-known web mapping libraries and platforms, we'll see what kind of state-of-the-web technologies they support and what are the challenges of writing WebGL code

Other web tecnologies such as Service Workers and binary typed arrays mean that commonly used standards such as OGC WMS, OGC WFS and TMS might need to change if we want these formats to perform as good as the bleeding-edge technologies.

Links to project: https://github.com/Leaflet/Leaflet https://github.com/openlayers/ol3 https://github.com/AnalyticalGraphicsInc/cesium

#188: Global Forest Watch: Using Open Data to Save the World’s Forests

Speaker: David Gonzalez (Vizzuality)

Abstract

Global Forest Watch (GFW) is an interactive online forest monitoring platform designed to empower people everywhere with the information they need to better manage and conserve forest landscapes.

Thanks to open data, GFW is able to do the following:

  • Monitor when and where forests are changing. NASA’s freely available Landsat and MODIS data has allowed hundreds of scientists and researchers to develop innovative solutions to monitor landscape changes. Algorithms are now used to process and analyze this remotely-sensed data to show when and where forests are changing with surprising precision and speed.

  • Understand why forests are changing. Open data showing boundaries of land allocated for specific purposes, such as commodity production and conservation, as well as land management, allows us to understand why forests are changing. Are trees being cleared for palm oil? Are certain swaths of forests still standing because they are managed by indigenous groups?

  • Gauge the significance of deforestation. Additional open data provided by research institutions, governments, and others is used to understand the implications of deforestation on biodiversity, climate change, and provision of ecosystem services. For example, was a recently clear-cut area of forest home to endangered species? Was it a carbon rich primary forest?

  • Spark further innovation. GFW’s open-source code and APIs allow others to leverage GFW’s analysis tools and open data to create additional forest monitoring and management tools.

Links to project: https://github.com/vizzuality/gfw, https://github.com/wri/gfw-fires-app, https://github.com/wri/gfw-commodities-app, https://github.com/Vizzuality/gfw-climate

#189: Challenges of indoor mapping formats

Speaker: Iván Sánchez Ortega (MazeMap AS)

Abstract

New data formats for mapping the indoor spaces of buildings have been appearing lately - the shift from Autocad files to BIM systems and the adoption of OGC IndoorGML should mean a better standardization of the data.

The reality from the trenches is somehow more grim - indoor mapping data is still in silos, hasn't seen any big breakthroughs in creating and editing, and most of the challenges remain.

Sometimes a format or specification covers a very specific and non-general use case, and sometimes the generality of a format incurs in a great overhead for every simple use case. Sometimes new concepts are really old concepts from a different industry but with a new name.

This talk will review what's good, what's bad and what's ugly with indoor mapping.

#190: The new PyWPS-4: your Python based WPS server (PyWPS project report)

Speakers: Luís de Sousa (EAWAG - Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology), Jonas Eberle (University of Jena, Department for Earth Observation), Jáchym Čepický (Geosense.cz)

Abstract

PyWPS is an open source, light-weight, Python based, implementation of the OGC Web Processing Service (WPS) standard. It provides users with a relatively seamless environment where to code geo-spatial functions and models that are readily exposed to the Internet through the WWW.

Initially started in 2006, PyWPS has been completely re-written for PyWPS-4 taking advantage of the state-of-the-art Python infrastructure in order to provide new and useful features. The current version 3 implements the WPS 1.0 standard almost entirely. The recent publication of WPS version 2.0 - which brings forth important new functionalities - is also prompting this re-structuring of the code for PyWPS-4.

PyWPS offers a straightforward WPS development framework with the increasingly popular Python language. Python offers easy access to a vast array of code libraries that can be easily used in the processes, in particular those for geo-spatial data manipulation, e.g. GRASS, GDAL/OGR, Fiona, Shapely, etc., but also to statistics packages (e.g. rpy2 for R statistics) and data analysis tools (e.g. pandas). PyWPS offers storage mechanisms for process inputs and outputs and spawns processes to the background for asynchronous execution requests.

Future goals of the project include automatic publication of geo-spatial results through a WFS/WCS server such as MapServer and Geoserver and support for Transactional WPS with a process scheduler.

The authors present general project news like to on going OSGeo incubation and the new Project Steering Committee as well as the current state of PyWPS, and show demonstrations how these services are currently being provided.

Links to project: www.pywps.org

#192: From a Knitting Podcast to a Geospatial Meetup. Building community to share your passion.

Speaker: Guido Stein (Applied Geographics, Inc.)

Abstract

Community can be a place for learning, sharing, and commiserating. You cannot deny the importance of face to face communications, so how do you find people in your area to talk about geospatial?

This session will focus on the challenge of building community around geospatial technology and the lessons learned from podcasting to running events including ignites, camps, and day conferences. Boston has a large and strong technology sector within its businesses, government, and universities and yet, it is sometimes hard to see where geospatial fits into this community. This session is for people looking to start a meetup and people who are new to the community and interested in how to find community in their area.

#194: Towards pycsw 2.0 - project report

Speakers: Angelos Tzotsos (OSGeo), Tom Kralidis

Abstract

pycsw is an OGC CSW server implementation written in Python and is an official OSGeo Project. pycsw implements clause 10 (HTTP protocol binding - Catalogue Services for the Web, CSW) of the OpenGIS Catalogue Service Implementation Specification, version 2.0.2 and the upcoming version 3.0. pycsw allows for the publishing and discovery of geospatial metadata, providing a standards-based metadata and catalogue component of spatial data infrastructures. The project is certified OGC Compliant, and is an OGC Reference Implementation. The project currently powers numerous high profile activities such as US data.gov/geoplatform.gov, Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS), US National Geothermal Data System (NGDS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), USGS Coastal and Marine Geoscience Portal, US Department of State, US Department of Interior, Greek National Open Data portal (geodata.gov.gr) and the WMO World Ozone and Ultraviolet Radiation Data Centre (WOUDC). This presentation starts with a status report of the pycsw project, followed by an open question/answer session to give a chance to users to interact with members of the pycsw project team. This presentation will cover the main features and enhancements made to pycsw last year (1.10 series), the upcoming 2.0 release as well as the future direction of the project.

Links to project: http://pycsw.org/ https://github.com/geopython/pycsw

#195: Shortest Path search in your Database and more with pgRouting

Speakers: Daniel Kastl (Georepublic), Vicky Vergara (Georepublic)

Abstract

pgRouting extends the PostGIS / PostgreSQL geospatial database to provide shortest path search and other network analysis functionality.

This presentation will show the inside and current state of the pgRouting development, from its wide range of shortest path search algorithms to driving distance calculation or “Traveling Sales Person” (TSP) optimization. Additionally we will give a brief outlook and introduction of upcoming new features like the “Vehicle Routing Problem” (VRP) solver, and what we have in mind for future releases.

We will explain the shortest path search in real road networks and how the data structure is important to get better routing results. Furthermore we will show how you can improve the quality of the search with dynamic costs and make the result look closer to the reality. You will also learn about difficulties and limitations of the library, and when pgRouting might not be not the right tool to solve your routing problem.

Links to project: https://github.com/pgrouting/pgrouting

#196: Point Clouds in a Browser with WebGL

Speakers: Daniel Kastl (Georepublic), Markus Schütz (Potree)

Abstract

Potree is an open source project that implements point cloud rendering capability in a browser. It is a WebGL based point cloud viewer for large datasets. Thanks to WebGL, it runs in all major browsers without plugins. Over the past years Potree has evolved from a small library to an active open source project with an active community, several companies funding development and an increasing user base.

This presentation will give an overview over the current state of point cloud rendering with Potree, about the difficulties and challenges. Pointcloud data is expected to play an increasing role in the next years with falling prices for previously very expensive hardware such as laser scanners, the development of autonomous vehicles and the popularity of drones. Powerful hardware and WebGL will open up a wide range of innovative browser-based web services in the near future.

Links to project: https://github.com/potree/potree

#197: Visualizing uncertainty in data

Speaker: Sven Christ (Stellenbosch University student)

Abstract

A talk about data quality, how it is understood and if visualization can improve the understanding of data quality. A lot of focus has been put on data quality and methods of accuracy assessment. Most of these methods are however statistical. The focus here is on how users and producers view uncertainty and a view into what is the current reality especially relating to the statistics that are presented. A research based section deals with uncertainty perceptions specifically in South Africa but also related to international literature. A tool (QGIS plugin) for uncertainty visualization in continuous raster datasets is also shown. Finally there is a brief demonstration of how visualization can aid in showing the results of uncertainty in data that is put through a model. Thus giving a visual example of the power of visualization.

#198: Two-way-databinding on mobile applications with Yaga

Speaker: Arne Schubert (Wheregroup GmbH & Co. KG)

Abstract

This talk is about the Angular components of the early open source project Yaga.

Angular serves an elegant and modern way to structure HTML-single-page-applications with its MV* pattern. Directives are one of the most powerful tools in Angular. Yaga provides directives for webmapping proposes, like the map itself, markers and different kind of layers. All directives are ready to use with two way data-binding. The main goal of Yaga is to harmonize it with Ionic. Ionic combine the power of Angular with the power of Cordova, a framework to create hybrid mobile Apps from HTML sources for all common mobile smart-devices. Additionally Ionic adds a UI that is close to the native look and feel of the mobile devices.

With this stack you are able to create a GIS application for Android, iOS and Windows at once.

In my talk I want to create a sample application and present the pros of Angulars two way data-binding and Ionics mobile UX design for mobile GIS applications with Yaga.

Links to project: https://github.com/yagajs/yaga

#200: Using Open Source Tools to Visualize Spatial Activity Drone Restrictions

Speaker: Aäron Trippaers

Abstract

Drone service providers are currently spending a lot of time on researching which permissions they need to fly their drones over a certain area. Today, most governmental regulations forbid to operate drones nearby transportation infrastructures or urban environments. In our talk we present a web application build based on open source tools to visualize such geographically-bound activity restrictions and therefore ease the process for drone service providers.

The resulting system makes it possible for drone service providers to draw a flight path and receive immediate feedback on which permissions they will need to fly their drones in a specific area. A user is also enabled to edit the flight path to omit certain features and view live changes on the map and the instruction list.

The project is implemented using a PostGIS database to store the space usage rules (SURs) (in our case the drone regulation of a specific country). A potential flight path drawn in an OpenLayers map by the user is send to the back-end which returns the regulations enforced in that area. In the front–end WFS-requests are performed to check whether the SURs apply to the specified flight path (i.e. when one or more features triggering certain rules are close enough to the flight path). Geoserver is used to create these WFS’s, the geometries of the features are extracted from OpenStreetMap. All instructions for the flight path are visualized in an instruction list linked to the maps highlighting the features in OpenLayers and in Cesium.

#201: OL3-Cesium: 3D for OpenLayers

Speaker: Beraudo Guillaume (Camptocamp)

Abstract

OL3-Cesium is a Javascript library for adding a 3D globe to OpenLayers applications. Concretely, a globe is created and synchronized using raster and vector data from the 2D map. This is done without plugin thanks to WebGL.

This talk is a general presentation of Cesium and OL3-Cesium. We will compare OpenLayers and Cesium and demonstrate how a 2D map can be enhanced with 3D. Current stand and work in progress will be discussed, both in Cesium and Ol3-Cesium.

This talk is for anyone interested in 3D with OpenLayers 3. Come to this talk if you are interested in new ways of presenting and interacting with your map.

Links to project: https://github.com/openlayers/ol3-cesium

#203: Microservice approach of sensor data integration

Speaker: Nikolai Bock (Hochschule Mainz - University of Applied Sciences)

Abstract

The flexible integration of sensor data from several sources with different concepts is a interesting current research topic. This talk will show a solution which is developed as part of the “ActOnAir” project. The aim of “ActOnAir” is the development of a mobile recommendation system based on personalized environment sensor information in the e-health section. The talk focuses the sensor integration part. The system receives information from the following sources: mobile sensor devices (for particulate matter, ozone, etc.); activity trackers; human sensor information from smartphone apps. Additionally different online services for air quality data or weather information will be merged. Social Media information from concepts like “Collective Sensing” are also possible. Considering the interoperability of the sensor information the persistence of the information for data mining and visualization will be based on Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) standards. In respect to the flexibility and scalability, the presented approach will be based on microservices which provide the different sensor sources, processing steps for integration as well as sinks (such as a Sensor Observation Service (SOS)). The integration process can be defined in data streams using the provided services as modules. Also tapping into existing streams is possible. The deployment on different platforms will be easily supported, because of the microservice approach. During the talk the overall integration system concept, as well as the development of central modules, will be shown.

#204: 500+ Billion Points: Organizing Point Clouds as Infrastructure

Speaker: Connor Manning (Hobu, Inc)

Abstract

Massive point cloud data collections present unique processing challenges. The first roadblock in providing large scale point cloud web services is data organization. We will describe the techniques used in the open source Entwine library for indexing and organizing province-scale LiDAR collections for delivery as streaming web services. We will describe how the software organizes point cloud data, demonstrate its use in providing web service infrastructure, and discuss future integration possibilities of Entwine with other point cloud softwares.

Links to project: https://github.com/connormanning/entwine

#205: The PDAL Pointcloud Engine

Speaker: Michael Smith (US Army Corps of Engineers)

Abstract

An introduction to the PDAL pointcloud library, how to accomplish basic data processing, read/write files and how to scale to do batch processing. Also covering the use of PDAL docker images for quick installation. Also covering various PDAL plugins, optional drivers and connections to other projects that use PDAL.

Links to project: http://pdal.io

#206: Cheap (and good) data capture for environmental projects

Speaker: David Currie (GeoAnalytic Inc.)

Abstract

Satellite image archives provide a wealth of valuable historical data that can be used to assess changes in the environment, but extracting high quality information can be costly and time consuming if we restrict the interpretation to experienced image analysts. We attempt to reduce these limitations by crowd sourcing the interpretation process via a web based digitizing system based entirely on open source tools. This approach can lower project costs by eliminating the cost of office space and equipment for the analyst, as well as allowing flexible working hours and locations.

The challenge with this approach is to ensure that the quality of the interpretation remains high. Within the context of a project to model historical iceberg occurrences off the coast of Greenland, this talk will discuss the methods we have implemented for quality control while providing training and feedback to our analysts from an interpretation expert.

The business case for this approach will also be discussed, including the risks and rewards of paying interpreters for each correct feature digitized. In our case we were able to quickly and accurately interpret several hundred images resulting in the measurement of tens of thousands of features. By using cloud based image archives and client/server strategies, this approach can be economically scaled up to much larger projects.

#213: Development of national spatial information sharing system using the FOSS4G and CKAN , Drupal

Speaker: Yoichi Kayama (Aeroasahi Corporation)

Abstract

The Japanese government has begun to create and execute a plan to take advantage of the combined spatial information and ICT technology. From 2014 the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has developed the G-space platform for circulating to collect spatial information of the public and private sectors. I have participated in the development to use the FOSS4G in this system. The G-Space platform of Japanese Goverment is based on data catalog system configured with CKAN and Drupal. We improved spatial information data preview feature in CKAN. We created additional data processing functions for the space-based resources in the CKAN. We did a feature extension for space resources of the selected in CKAN　to be displayed using LeafLet . Also we use the GeoServer + PostGIS as a back-end to provide spatial information. Even if the use request to this system becomes much, as can be supported by clustering the back-end system.

I'm going to the explanation how we had used the FOSS4G in this system.

#215: MapProxy in practice

Speaker: Oliver Tonnhofer (Omniscale)

Abstract

MapProxy is much more that just simple cache for WMS and tile services. The presentation shows how the more powerful features of MapProxy are used in practice.

The talk explains new and less known features of MapProxy and how they can be combined. All examples are from actual requests form the community or requirements from customer projects.

Covered topics are:

  • Mobile applications: Retina/HQ-tiles
  • Use of existing tile services: Transformation, combining
  • Image processing: Optimizations, watermarks, etc.
  • Security: Limiting layers or geographical areas
  • Efficient seeding: Updating changes and removing stale tiles
  • etc.

Links to project: http://mapproxy.org

#216: Magnacarto – Create map designs for MapServer and Mapnik

Speaker: Oliver Tonnhofer (Omniscale)

Abstract

Magnacarto is a new open-ource tool that makes it easier to create map styles for MapServer and Mapnik.

It uses CartoCSS - a styling language similar to CSS - to create both Mapfiles for Mapserver and XML-files for Mapnik. CartoCSS provides powerful functions: You can create base-styles and extend them for specific map scales or attributes. This avoids unnecessary repetition for similar map objects. CartoCSS styles are typically just 1/5th to 1/10th of the length of comparable mapfiles.

With variables, expressions and color functions (darken, lighten, mix, etc) it's possible to create new design variations by changing only a few lines of the style.

Magnacarto comes with a modern web interface that shows the final map design with MapServer and Mapnik. Live-refresh and multiple map windows makes it easy to directly verify any changes made to the map style.

Additionally, there is a command line tools to automate the conversion of CartoCSS to Mapfiles and XML.

The presentation briefly talks about the history of CartoCSS and Magnacarto. It shows important functions, how they are used in practice and it discusses the power and limitations of CartoCSS. It will also show new and upcoming features and possible extensions (SLD).

Links to project: http://magnacarto.org/

#218: Optimizing Last mile Vaccine Supply Chain in Northern Nigeria using FOSS4G Solutions

Speaker: Dami Sonoiki (eHealth Africa)

Abstract

In 2012, the Federal Government of Nigeria launched the Saving One Million Lives Initiative aimed at expanding routine immunization to 87% coverage that will protect over 6 million children against vaccine preventable diseases such as measles, meningitis, polio, tetanus, hepatitis, yellow fever and tuberculosis . In 2013, the GAVI Alliance approved US$ 21 million to help improve vaccine supply chains . Despite several innovations and initiatives to optimize the supply chain and storage of health commodities in Nigeria, there are still known gaps in the supply chain in the health sector in Nigeria. Achieving a good coverage of routine immunization is almost impossible without the optimization of last mile delivery – especially in the hardest-to-reach places of Nigeria. Geographic Information science (GIS) techniques play a big role in the design and optimization of last mile delivery of vaccines down to Local Government Areas and health facilities in remote places. This presentation discusses how eHealth Africa has implemented FOSS4G solutions to enhance an effective vaccine delivery system in Kano State, Nigeria; the second most populated state in Nigeria using open source tools like OpenDataKit, QGIS, JOSM, OSRM. We also discuss the importance of OpenStreetMap and open data to replicating this in other countries.

#219: geotiff.js and plotty.js - Visualizing Scientific Raster Data in the Browser

Speaker: Fabian Schindler (EOX IT Services, GmbH)

Abstract

Exploitation of Scientific Raster Data stored in large online archives used to be cumbersome: either the data has to be transformed in an RGB version on the server using parameters supplied by the client, or the original data is downloaded and then inspected using a desktop GIS system. Browsers without specific extensions simply were not capable of dealing with the types of data found in scientific context. Today with HTML5 and WebGL browsers finally have the necessary prerequisites to create tools to dynamically visualize and explore scientific data sets. geotiff.js is a small JavaScript library to parse GeoTIFF files containing any kind of 2D raster data. The library handles various different configurations and common data types far beyond RGB data. On the other hand, plotty.js provides functionality to dynamically style 2D arrays for visualization using either predefined color scales or custom ones. In the presentation, I’m going to show how both libraries complement each other to allow a very dynamic form of data exploitation. Additionally, it will be shown how the techniques can be applied to more traditional Web Mapping concepts as dynamically styled data is displayed on a globe widget in various forms including 3D data cubes and time series of data.

Links to project: https://github.com/santilland/plotty https://github.com/constantinius/geotiff.js

#221: Spatial is not special: architecting for high performance geo

Speaker: Mark Varley (AddressCloud)

Abstract

Spatial is not special. Enlightenment comes from the realisation that a spatial index is just an index, a very cool one yes, but an index all the same. Gone are the days where the spatial database was the domain of a few large vendors and the GIS department. Spatial databases are everywhere now with almost every RDBMS and NoSQL DB supporting some kind of spatial index. In this presentation we delve into the realm of microservice architectures and containers and how applying the right tool for each job and how pushing geo-processing down the stack can cut response times from seconds to milliseconds and unlock the holy grail of IT architecture: unlimited scalability

#223: What's new and cool in OpenLayers

Speakers: Andreas Hocevar (Boundless), Marc Jansen (terrestris GmbH & Co. KG)

Abstract

OpenLayers 3 aims to be a full-featured, flexible, and high-performance mapping library leveraging the latest web technologies. Since the initial release of 3.0 at the end of 2013, the library has matured significantly, and great new features and improvements are rolling out with each monthly release.

Are you are still using OpenLayers 2 and feeling that the time has come to upgrade? Or curious to see what a comprehensive mapping library can do? Join us for this feature frenzy of OpenLayers 3, where we will present our recent and ongoing work on making the library more user-friendly, robust and powerful.

Whether you're a developer or decision maker, this talk will get you up to date with the current status and upcoming features and improvements of OpenLayers 3.

Links to project: http://openlayers.org/

#224: Validating services and data in an SDI

Speakers: Clemens Portele (interactive instruments), Jon Herrmann (interactive instruments GmbH), Roy Mellum (Norwegian Mapping autorithy), Thijs Brentjens (Brentjens Geo-ICT)

Abstract

To achieve interoperability in a spatial data infrastructure (SDI), conformance to specifications is essential for services and data. Service and data providers need a capability to validate their components.

For several OGC standards, the OGC CITE tests provide such a capability. This covers base standards, but in SDIs typically additional specifications are added, for example, service profiles or data specifications.

In the European Location Framework (ELF) the test framework ETF is used to validate INSPIRE services and data provided by National Mapping Authorities against the INSPIRE Technical Guidelines as well as against ELF-specific requirements.

ETF is a test framework for spatial data infrastructure components. It supports SoapUI (for testing web services) and BaseX (for testing XML documents, including very large ones) as test engines to develop and execute test suites. ETF has been implemented in several iterations over recent years as existing open source test environments could not be configured to provide uniform test reports that were readable by and useful for non-developers. Outside of the ELF project, ETF is currently mainly used in Germany and the Netherlands, partly extending the INSPIRE-specific tests based on national profiles.

We present the approach for developing user-friendly test suites and discuss typical issues that have been encountered in the ELF testing.

Links to project: The ETF source code is available under the Apache 2.0 license and is currently in the process to be published and documented on GitHub in repositories in https://github.com/interactive-instruments. In April 2016 all source code will be on public GitHub repositories. A docker image is available at https://hub.docker.com/r/iide/etf-webapp/.

#226: ZOO-Project 1.6.0: News about the Open WPS Platform

Speakers: Gérald Fenoy (GeoLabs SARL), Venkatesh Raghavan (Osaka City University), Nicolas Bozon (Esri France)

Abstract

ZOO-Project is an Open Source Implementation of the OGC Web Processing Service (WPS), it was released under a MIT/X-11 style license and is currently in incubation at OSGeo. It provides a WPS compliant developer-friendly framework to easily create and chain WPS Web services. This talk give a brief overview of the platform and summarize new capabilities and enhancement available in the 1.6.0 release. A brief introduction to WPS and a summary of the Open Source project history with its direct link with FOSS4G will be presented. Then an overview of the ZOO-Project will serve to introduce new functionalities and concepts available in the 1.6.0 release and highlight their interrests for applications developpers and users. Various use of OSGeo softwares, such as GDAL, GEOS, PostGIS, pgRouting, GRASS, OTB, SAGA, as WPS services through the ZOO-Project will be presented. The ZOO-Client, will be presented to show how it can be easily used to create automatically dynamic HTML forms to interact with WPS services. The ongoing developments and future innovations will be then presented.

Links to project: http://www.zoo-project.org

#231: Borsch: modern build system for C/C++ GIS projects

Speakers: Dmitry Baryshnikov (NextGIS), Maxim Dubinin (NextGIS)

Abstract

Many C/C++ GIS libraries are usually built via autoconf/make/nmake/VC. While this is valid approach, we believe there is a better new alternative - CMake. Enter 'Borsch' - new build system that is a) easier to use, b) better solves depencies and c) provides more uniform way of building packages. Needed dependencies are automatically fetched from repositories. We’ve built an early prototype of such system and tested if on GDAL build process (over 50 core dependent libraries). Now a developer with only three lines of code in CMakeLists.txt for any project he is working on can add dependent GIS library. If needed library exists in the system the build system will use it, if not - it will be downloaded from Github. Our new build system works for both Windows and Linux. In my talk, I will describe our suggestiong for new GDAL sources tree structure and CMake based build system. I will also provide examples how this new build system can be used in other projects.

Links to project: https://github.com/nextgis-extra/common_cmake

#232: Bait and don't switch: Using FOSS4G to attract bright young talent

Speaker: Robert P. V. Nordan (NORKART AS)

Abstract

In Norway, the demand for technical talent in our field far outstrips the supply, so when you want to recruit the best, you have to sink your teeth in them at an early stage. Since 2010, Norkart has run a summer internship program where we assign students projects with a lot of freedom in how to reach their goals, and encourage them to explore new technologies. Unsurprisingly, this often means a lot of Open Source software! Some projects end up as writeoffs, some have modest returns, and one has even made a 1000% return on investment... This talk aims to show how the program has recruited good talent, enchanced our image, and given us new impulses that have changed our corporate culture and led to an expansion of our market offerings.

#233: NextGIS Mobile - mobile GIS alternative

Speakers: Maxim Dubinin (NextGIS), Dmitry Baryshnikov (NextGIS)

Abstract

NextGIS Mobile is an open-source SDK for developing mobile applications and a reference mobile GIS application. It is also accompanied by a set of tools for building custom forms and transfering data between mobile and other software. It was first presented at FOSS4G 2015 and after a year of development undergone considerable changes and improvement. We will review improvements of SDK and application and talk about development based on libraries it provides, case studies and challenges.

Links to project: https://github.com/nextgis/android_gisapp

#234: MapMint 2.0: a new version of the 100% service-oriented GIS platform

Speakers: Gérald Fenoy (GeoLabs SARL), Venkatesh Raghavan (Osaka City University), Nicolas Bozon (Esri France)

Abstract

MapMint is an comprehensive manager for publishing webmapping applications. It is a robust open source geospatial platform allowing the user to organize, edit, process and publish spatial data to the Internet. MapMint includes a complete administration tool for MapServer and a simple user interfaces to create mapfiles visually. Its use does not require any coding and most of the mapfile parameters are supported, so the user can fully focus on the map features and not on its source code. The latter is generated using various WPS requests which are using the user’s data and settings as input.

MapMint is based on the extensive use of OGC standards and automates WMS, WFS, WMT-S and WPS. Most of the MapMint core functions are run through WPS requests which are calling general or geospatial web services (vector and raster operations, mapfiles creation, spatial analysis, queries and much more). MapMint server-side is built on top of ZOO-Project, MapServer and GDAL and its numerous WPS services are mainly written in Python and JavaScript. MapMint client-side is based on OpenLayers, Jquery, ZOO-Client and Bootstrap and provides user-friendly interfaces to create, publish and view maps.

MapMint architecture and main features will be introduced in this presentation, and its modules (dashboard, data, maps and apps) will be described with an emphasis on the OGC standards and OSGeo software they are using. Some short case studies and examples will finally illustrate some of the the key functionalities.

#235: Open Collaboration and the Price of Butter

Speaker: Andrea Ross (LocationTech)

Abstract

The problems we face as a species are far more complex than potential solutions offered by any single vendor’s products. They are more complex than any nation’s initiatives. To get there, we are going to need to work together closely and across so many national, company, technology domain, and community borders. What role do open communities have to play in solving the tough problems facing society?

This talk will examine a bit about how open communities work. It will talk about passion, purpose, governance, enabling technologies, enabling legal constructs, giving, taking, being open, being welcoming, the need for limits, and more.

And what does this all have to do with the price of butter?!

Links to project: http://osgeo.org, http://locationtech.org, and much more.

#237: FloodWatch: Combining Wearable Tech + Disaster Alerts

Speaker: Tomas Holderness (SMART Infrastructure Facility, University of Wollongong)

Abstract

FloodWatch is a prototype application that provides location-based alerts of flooding on Pebble Smartwatches. Building on the open source flood map PetaJakarta.org, FloodWatch aims to provide residents of Jakarta, Indonesia with time critical alerts of monsoon flooding via their wearable devices.

PetaJakarta.org is a real-time flood map which integrates emergency services information, social media, citizen journalism and sensor data to provide real-time situational awareness for both residents and government agencies in Jakarta.

Existing disaster maps and mobile alerts require the user to interact with their smartphone device to consume and interpret reports. Alternatively, connecting real-time disaster data to wearable devices for the provision of actionable intelligence "at a glance" reduces disruption to user activity, improving time to response. Furthermore, through the use of predefined locational filters the user is able to register for alerts for specific regions of the city providing a semi-automated user-centric interface to incoming reports of disaster.

This presentation examines the motivation behind developing wearable tools for disaster response in the world's fastest growing city, and explores the software's underlying open source geospatial technologies.

Links to project: https://github.com/smart-facility/cognicity-floodwatch

#240: IWRM* in Mongolia (MoMo): Managing geodata with SHOGun and empowering the people

Speakers: Hinrich Paulsen (terrestris GmbH & Co. KG), Jürgen Hofmann (Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB)), Vanessa Bremerich (Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB))

Abstract

Mongolia is a huge country sandwiched between Russia in the North and China in the south with a particularly harsh climate. Temperatures in winter reach -40°C and the originally nomadic way of life is disappearing fast. Rich in natural resources, many stakeholders compete for water whose supply is also subject to rapid change. An ideal setting to research water related problems also affecting many other regions of the world.

Currently in the 3rd three year phase the MoMo-project, funded by the Germany Ministry of Education and Research, has implemented an open source spatial data infrastructure using the SHOGun framework that utilises Spring, Hibernate, OpenLayers and GeoExt amongst others. The focus of the current phase is on capacity development so this talk is a showcase for employing open source geospatial software in a development context.

  • IWRM stands for Integrated Water Resources Management

Links to project: https://github.com/terrestris/shogun2 https://github.com/terrestris/momo3

#241: There is no such thing as a free lunch

Speaker: Steven Feldman (KnowWhere)

Abstract

There is no such thing as a free lunch On being an open source citizen Have you ever wondered? τ Why do people write software for nothing? τ How do those volunteers earn a living? τ How do those companies pay wages? τ How much did it cost to put this event on? τ Is there really such as thing as a free beer let alone free software? τ Is there any obligation on me as a user of open source software to contribute? τ How can I contribute to open source if I am not a developer? This talk will explore the open source business model and the motivations of individuals, organisations and businesses that contribute to open source projects. It will hopefully prompt a discussion on what might be reasonably expected of users of open source software.

#242: When politics meet maps there is no right

Speaker: Steven Feldman (KnowWhere)

Abstract

A light hearted look at how digital maps have changed the way that we represent political boundary disputes.

At any point in time there are over 200 political boundary disputes. How they are represented on digital maps is in itself highly politicised. This talk will explore: - changes from paper to digital - the politics of digital mapping - the wisdom of the crowd - how some recent disputes have been resolved - possible models of resolution for digital mappers

#243: GeoDataStore; governmental open data cloud storage and easy metadata creation

Speakers: Paul van Genuchten (GeoCat bv), Erwin Folmer (Kadaster / University of Twente)

Abstract

At the beginning of 2016 the Dutch SDI organisation ‘PDOK’ has released a cloud service to facilitate spatial open data publishing. PDOK is a cooperation of several public bodies: Kadaster, Rijkswaterstaat, Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment, Ministry of Economic Affairs, the four big cities Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht, the Open Data project, the collaborating provinces unified in IPO and Geonovum. Each governmental organisation in the Netherlands can use the service to publish spatial open data sets. The goal of the project is to make data publishing as easy as possible, while being in accordance with the applicable open data standards (iso19139). The developments are based on GeoNetwork opensource and made available on Github. Metadata is automatically extracted from any uploaded dataset or taken with default values, so an user has to supply up to only 10 properties of the metadata in an easy to use form.

In the presentation we’ll demonstrate the application, we introduce you to the policy aspects that led to these developments, explain the choice for Open Source Software and future steps of the project.

Links to project: https://github.com/geocat/core-geonetwork/tree/geodatastore

#245: Coordinate systems and map projections with EPSG.io

Speakers: Petr Pridal (Klokan Technologies GmbH), Petr Sloup (Klokan Technologies GmbH)

Abstract

EPSG.io allows to search in a global database of spatial reference systems, datums, ellipsoids and projections to identify transformation parameters required for a software to correctly handle the geographic location in a known coordinate system.

This presentation shows various functions of the search system, and demonstrates how to use it efficiently to discover and identify the right coordinate system, transform the sample coordinates online, pick a position on a map, convert units, etc. It is possible to export definitions of coordinate systems in various formats, including WKT, OGC GML, XML, Proj.4, SQL or JS and directly use these in compatible systems such as Proj4JS and OpenLayers or PostGIS.

The whole system is open-source with code on GitHub, and in the background it uses OSGeo Proj4 / OGR for all the transformations and it is powered by the latest EPSG Geodetic Parameter Registry released by IOGP regularly. The open-source tools used in backend could be used called on a command line in batch operations.

Ideas for future improvement and cooperation with the community will be discussed.

Links to project: http://epsg.io/ https://github.com/klokantech/epsg.io

#249: Bringing benthic data to the surface - moving Marine Recorder into an open source spatial database.

Speaker: James Hutchison (Joint Nature Conservation Committee)

Abstract

The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) is one of a number of organisations that run inshore and offshore surveys to collect data on seabed biodiversity (e.g. species records and habitat types). The main storage and collation system for these data is Marine Recorder, a Microsoft Access-based database application developed by JNCC in 2002. Despite several updates since then, the system is now significantly out of date, and the lack of internet connectivity or the ability to store spatial data is a major problem. As a result of these issues, organisations in the UK that collect benthic data are investigating more up-to-date systems and there is a significant risk of data fragmentation. JNCC are currently in the process of moving all of our spatial data from a file based system into PostGIS. This talk will describe JNCC’s open-source geospatial information strategy and how we are integrating Marine Recorder into this, discussing the efficiency savings that this provides, as well as our plans for developing a full open-source, online replacement for Marine Recorder in the future.

#251: How Linked Open Data finds the bar near you

Speaker: Rob van Loon (Ordina)

Abstract

Within the GIS community we became very fond of our web map servers and feature request possibilities to share and access data. Sharing data is relevant and applicable to other fields and communities. This led to the rise of the semantic web and to web 3.0. Clearly defined relationships between objects make it possible to interlink them and allow to search for relationships themselves. In this presentation I will demonstrate a web application that uses different techniques to access linked open data and show how the individual results can be used as input for the next search request.

An open innovation platform on linked data was started in the Netherlands. One of their results was to open a server to store and access linked open data. I have used this data warehouse as a starting point for a demonstration in a geo web application. The application is based solely on open source frameworks (OpenLayers, proj4js, jQuery, and pure). The user enters a zipcode and house number, and the application uses linked data techniques to retrieve the location. This first search result connects to the next open dataset to obtain statistical information about the area. One of these statistics is the average number of bars within a 1 km radius. But where exactly are these bars? Using yet another open dataset (OpenStreetMap with Overpass API) we can pinpoint the location of bars and pubs.

Links to project: https://github.com/borrob/LOD_example

#252: mapchete - parallelized batch geoprocessing using Python

Speaker: Joachim Ungar (EOX IT Services)

Abstract

Processing geodata can be fairly simple until the input data reaches a certain size. Creating a hillshade or extracting contour lines from a DEM can be done quickly, but if you want to do this with e.g. the global SRTM dataset (1296001 x 417601 pixel), the process will crash (unless you are visiting from the future). Besides, if there are additional steps required like clipping the data to the 400MB landpolygon behemoths from OSM or applying custom filters, you probably find yourself starting to write your own tool chunking the data.

mapchete tries to solve this issue by helping you to focus on developing your geoprocess written in Python and applying this process to the data. It does so by automatically reprojecting and chunking the input datasets into tiles (based on the “WMTS simple profile”) and running your Python process for each tile individually and in parallel on all available CPU cores.

mapchete offers two command line tools. mapchete_execute runs the process on the full dataset, similar to tile pyramid seeding for map caches. mapchete_serve hosts an OpenLayers interface and processes only the data in areas and zoom levels you are currently inspecting. This allows you to test and assess your process on the full dataset on the server, instead of clipping and downloading subsets on your laptop.

mapchete is used as the data preprocessing backbone of EOX Maps, a service which provides background maps for example to the European Space Agency.

Links to project: https://github.com/ungarj/mapchete

#254: Garbage Collection with FOSS4G

Speaker: Daniel Kastl (Georepublic)

Abstract

Garbage collection is a topic for sustainable cities that are moving from picking up on individual houses to pick up garbage stored on containers. Minimizing trucks on the street, minimizing the travel times, while maximizing the number of containers that are picked up are desirable of the routes planned.

This kind of problems have different types of constraints, for example, capacity constraints: limited number of trucks and each of different capacity. Some are time constraints, for example, a set of driver might have the morning shift, while some others work the night shift. Some constraints are topology based: a truck can not make a U-turn or an acute turn.

This presentation you will learn the concepts behind this kind of optimization problems and how FOSS4G can facilitate finding a solution.

Links to project: https://github.com/woodbri/vehicle-routing-problems

#257: geOrchestra SDI - Project Status Report

Speaker: François VAN DER BIEST (Camptocamp)

Abstract

geOrchestra is the free, modular and secure Spatial Data Infrastructure software born in 2009 to meet the requirements of the INSPIRE directive in Europe. It is built on top of the latest stable versions of GeoServer and GeoNetwork.

In this talk we will briefly present the geOrchestra SDI, before going through the major contributions during the previous year, to answer the following questions: * how the project moved from tainted to generic artifacts (war files, debian packages, docker images) * how to deploy a geOrchestra SDI instance in 10 minutes * how to build your robust, high performance and high availability SDI in the clouds

Links to project: https://github.com/georchestra/georchestra

#261: How to Visualize Indoor Data in 2D Map? Is This the Way to Go?

Speaker: Jiří Kozel (Masaryk University)

Abstract

It seems easy. Tag rooms, doors, and other indoor features with level number (or floor or storey), put level selector to the map and show features just from selected level. End of story. But what if there are two buildings A and B connected by passage? And what if these buildings are on a slope and level A1 is on the same height as level B3? And what about mezzanines? Are stairs part of the lower floor or upper floor? And where to show it? Aren't some big lecture rooms stepped? And aren't they also used to take more levels?

Masaryk University maintains geospatial database of its own buildings including polygon features like floors, rooms, doors, windows, or walls. It contains more than 200 buildings and 20,000 rooms. Based on the database we are building web maps in OpenLayers 3 for specialized users as well as for students and academic staff. Therefore we have faced similar questions as mentioned above many times and I would like to share our experience.

#262: Mastering Security with GeoServer and GeoFence

Speakers: Simone Giannecchini (GeoSolutions Founder), Mauro Bartolomeoli (GeoSolutions Sas)

Abstract

The presentation will provide an introduction to GeoServer own authentication and authorization subsystems. We’ll cover the supported authentication protocols, such as from basic/digest authentication and CAS support, check through the various identity providers, such as local config files, database tables and LDAP servers, and how it’s possible to combine the various bits in a single comprehensive authentication tool, as well as providing examples of custom authentication plugins for GeoServer, integrating it in a home grown security architecture. We’ll then move on to authorization, describing the GeoServer pluggable authorization mechanism and comparing it with proxy based solution, and check the built in service and data security system, reviewing its benefits and limitations. Finally we’ll explore the advanced authentication provider, GeoFence, explore the levels on integration with GeoServer, from the simple and seamless direct integration to the more sophisticated external setup, and see how it can provide GeoServer with complex authorization rules over data and OGC services, taking into account the current user, OGC request and requested layers to enforce spatial filters and alphanumeric filters, attribute selection as well as cropping raster data to areas of interest.

Links to project: https://github.com/geoserver/geofence

#265: GeoExt3 — Universal WebGIS applications with OpenLayers 3 und ExtJS 6

Speakers: Christian Mayer (meggsimum), Marc Jansen (terrestris GmbH & Co. KG)

Abstract

The talk introduces GeoExt 3 [1] including a short introduction to the parent libraries ExtJS [2] and OpenLayers [3]. At the beginning the thematic focus is on the main features of the libraries / frameworks before it is shifted to the development of 'universal' WebGIS applications. 'Universal' in this context means a GeoExt 3 based application, which runs on classic desktop browsers as well as on mobile devices (tablets and phones) with an optimized usability.

Especially with GeoExt 3 and its new foundation framework ExtJS 6 the development of such 'universal' applications is easily possible by one code base without duplicating code. OpenLayers 3, the other base library, is device independent from the beginning.

So the talk will present the GeoExt 3 library itself and will also show a concrete application example. By this example the basic conditions of a GeoExt 'universal' app are shown as well as how the libraries and tools (such as Sencha Cmd [4]) help in the development process.

The presenters Christian Mayer (meggsimum) und Marc Jansen (terrestris) are both core developers and members of Project Steering Committee of GeoExt.

[1] http://geoext.github.io/geoext3/, https://github.com/geoext/geoext3

[2] https://www.sencha.com/products/extjs/

[3] http://openlayers.org/

[4] https://www.sencha.com/products/sencha-cmd/

Links to project: https://github.com/geoext/geoext3

#268: The most popular OpenStreetMap editing application

Speaker: Ilya Zverev (MAPS.ME)

Abstract

OpenStreetMap is known for its openness, scale and diverse community. There are almost half a million editors, most using one of three desktop editing applications: iD, JOSM or Potlatch 2. This year, a challenger appeared.

MAPS.ME is an open-source multiplatform application for using OpenStreetMap offline on phones and tablets. It's extremely popular, second only to pre-installed mapping apps. With this application we are bringing the power of open maps to millions of users, and now starting to direct that flow the other way: giving millions of casual users a tool for updating the map.

In this talk Ilya will share a history of adding editing features to the app, some statistics and how this change has affected OpenStreetMap, both the map and the community. How bad is it when a horde of newbies comes ruining your map?

Links to project: https://github.com/mapsme/omim

#269: Integration testing of Web Mapping applications (including web mapping server) using Python

Speakers: Jáchym Čepický (Geosense.cz), Eva Jelínková, Magdalena Kabatova (Geosense)

Abstract

When you are developing applications, you need to write tests. A unit test is a test written by the programmer to verify that small piece of code is doing what it is intended to do. The tests are intended for the use of the programmer. An integration test on the other hand is done to demonstrate that different pieces of the system work together. Integration tests cover whole applications, and they require much more effort to put together. The integration tests do a more convincing job of demonstrating the system works than a set of unit tests can. Unit tests can be great but they tightly couple your tests to your code, making it really fragile and anti Agile.

We will show integration testing of web mapping applications using Python bindings to Selenium browser automation tool. We can test JavaScript application from Python environment, using standard unittest module. Since Python is very easy to be used and it's very universal language, it's easy to be learned by non-programming co-workers, who can automate application tests and help the developers with testing.

Using integration tests in continuous integration development, enables us to be more agile, making sure that both parts - frontend and backend remain integrated even bigger refactoring occures.

Part of testing is also background data services, with new project called WMSChecker. This is used in our Jenkins environment, so that system administrators can have overview about current status of running custom nad 3rd party services.

Links to project: https://github.com/geosense/WMSchecker

#270: Sat-utils: Landsat, Sentinel and the use of open raster data

Speakers: Matthew Hanson (Development Seed), Alireza Jazayeri (Development Seed)

Abstract

Open satellite data from the US and EU have provided scientists and businesses with a wealth of data, but it can be difficult to fully easily access and process it. Recent efforts to put Sentinel-2 data on AWS S3 along with Landsat-8 has made it easier to build tools to access both data sources.

At Development Seed, we are building tools called sat-utils to process and access open raster data like Landsat and Sentinel. We've expanded development on the tools to be a suite of Python libraries and command line tools for querying, downloading, managing, and processing other remote sensing data.

It's been two years since we've launched the first sat-util, landsat-util, which has proven to be a valuable tool with a growing user base. sentinel-util is an tool that will provide the same easy access to data that landsat-util provides.

We will discuss the processing for turning spectral band data into usable products such as color corrected RGB images, radiance data, top of the atmosphere reflectance, and various indices. We will also demonstrate the available APIs we have for open raster data: sentinel-api and landsat-api, that our client utils use for searching available metadata.

Links to project: https://pythonhosted.org/landsat-util/

#273: Kickstart your web map app!

Speaker: Sami Mäkinen (CGI Finland)

Abstract

Do you want to avoid writing boilerplate code for map applications? Would you rather take a ready-made template for your apps and start hacking away the cool stuff? Oskari and RPC may be just what you're looking for! Oskari (http://oskari.org/) is an extensible and versatile map application platform which provides an easy user-interface for creating embeddable maps to websites. Embedded maps can be controlled from the website with an API to create innovative and user-friendly applications. The API includes features that allow you to 'visualize data' on the map and/or 'react to user interaction' with the map, allow users to give feedback by 'drawing on the map' or create a custom trip planner with routing features. The API can be easily extended by adding features to Oskari platform.

Oskari has been originally developed by the National Land Survey of Finland, but now being developed and used by multiple organizations, also internationally. There are numerous websites already making use of embedded maps, including Finnish national e-services.

Links to project: http://oskari.org/ https://github.com/nls-oskari/rpc-client https://github.com/nls-oskari/oskari https://github.com/nls-oskari/oskari-server https://github.com/nls-oskari/oskari-server-extension-template

#277: GeoServer in Production: we do it, here is how!

Speakers: Simone Giannecchini (GeoSolutions Founder), Andrea Aime (GeoSolutions)

Abstract

The presentation will describe how to setup a production system based on GeoServer from the points of view of performance, availability and security. The suggestions will start covering how a single node GeoServer should be prepared for internet usage, tuning logging, connection pools, security, data and JVM preparation, keeping disk, memory and CPU usage in check within the limits of the available resources. We’ll then move to tools used to monitor the production instances, ranging from probes to request auditing and watch-dogs. Finally the presentation will cover setting up a cluster of server and the strategies for keeping them in synch, from the traditional multi-tier setup (testing vs production) to the systems that need to keep an ever evolving catalog of layers constantly on-line and in synch.

Links to project: https://github.com/geoserver/geoserver/

#278: Serving earth observation data with GeoServer: addressing real world requirements

Speakers: Simone Giannecchini (GeoSolutions Founder), Andrea Aime (GeoSolutions)

Abstract

The presentation will cover GeoSolutions experience in setting up GeoServer based production systems providing access to earth observation products, with indications of technical challenges, solutions, and deployment suggestion. The presentations will cover topics such as setting up a single unified mosaic from all the available data sources, tailoring access to it to different users, determining the most appropriate stacking order, dealing with multiresolution, different coordinate systems, multiband data, SAR integration, searching for the most appropriate products using a mix of WFS, CSW and so on, serving imagery with high performance WMS and WMTS, performing small and large data extractions with WCS and WPS, closing up with deployment examples and suggestions.

Links to project: https://github.com/geoserver/geoserver/

#282: Train the users! No GIS is easy...

Speaker: Erik Meerburg (Geo Academie)

Abstract

Every software platform needs three things in order to be successful: Good and solid software, reliable support and maintenance services in order to make it run smoothly, and training possibilities for the endusers to make sure they use it in a most effective way.

Open geospatial software is the basis. And, with the progress that has been made in the last few years, it is among the best around. Support and other services are more and more common. In the Netherlands, you can identify several commercial organizations specializing in FOSS4G, and others adding it to their existing portfolio of services. But what about training possibilities? Few specialized training services for geospatial software are existing, and service providers might do some on-the-job training, but it is by no means comparable to the well oiled training machine that distributers of closed source software usually run.

So, how to set up training courses for open source geo? At the Dutch Geo Academie we have some experience with this kind of training, and we’d like to share some ideas.

#284: Development of a new framework for Distributed Processing of Big Geospatial Data

Speakers: Angéla Olasz (Department of Geoinformation, Institute of Geodesy, Cartography and Remote Sensing (FÖMI),), Daniel Kristof (FOMI - Institute of Geodesy, Cartography and Remote Sensing)

Abstract

The Geospatial world is still facing the lack of well-established distributed processing solutions tailored to the amount and heterogeneity of geodata, especially when fast data processing is a must. However, most current distributed computing frameworks have important limitations regarding both data distribution and data partitioning methods. Hence, this paper presents a prototype for tiling, stitching and processing of big geospatial data. The system is based on the IQLib concept (https://github.com/posseidon/IQLib/) developed in the frame of the IQmulus EU FP7 research and development project (http://www.iqmulus.eu). The data distribution framework has no limitations on programming language environment and can execute scripts (and workflows) written in different development frameworks (e.g. Python, R or C#). It is capable of processing raster, vector and point cloud data. Our intention is to provide a solution to perform a wide range of geospatial processing capabilities in a distributed environment with no restrictions on data storage concepts. Our research covers methods controlling data partitioning, distributed processing and data assimilation as well. Partitioning (also referred to as “Tiling”) is a very delicate yet crucial step having impact on the whole processing. After algorithms have processed these “chunks” or “tiles” of data, partial results are collected to carry out data assimilation or “Stitching”. The paper presents the above-mentioned prototype through a case study dealing with country-wide processing of raster imagery. Assessment is carried out by comparing the results (computing time, accuracy, etc.) to concurrent solutions. Further investigations on algorithmic and implementation details are in focus for the near future.

#285: MapStore 2, modern mashups with OL3, Leaflet and React

Speaker: Mauro Bartolomeoli (GeoSolutions Sas)

Abstract

MapStore 2 is an overhaul of the existing MapStore with the goal of creating a webmapping framework which is more lightweight but still modular and easy to work with. It can leverage both OpenLayers 3 or Leaflet as the mapping engine and uses ReactJS and Redux as the core JavaScript libraries. Moreover a 3D viewer based on CesiumJS is available.

MapStore 2 is both a framework and a standalone application. You can use it as a framework to develop your custom WebGis application composing MapStore ReactJS components and components from other libraries (like React Bootstrap), choosing the best mapping library for your purposes. You can also use the MapStore2 application directly, to create, save, and share in a simple and intuitive way maps and mashups created by selecting content from the server such as Google Maps, OpenStreetMap or WMS and WMTS.

The MapStore 2 application consists of two main components MapManager and GeoStore, respectively front-end and back-end. MapManager allows through a unique interface to create, modify, delete and search on maps definition as well as generate a univoque link to embed a map in an external website, share your own maps with the others. GeoStore implements a flexible Java Enterprise infrastructure to manage and search maps with proper management of authentication and authorization.

The presentation will give the audience an extensive overview of the MapStore 2 functionalities for the creation of mapping portals. Eventually, a range of GeoSolutions case studies of MapStore 2 will be presented.

Links to project: http://github.com/geosolutions-it/MapStore2

#286: GeoMapFish 2 - Ready for the Future

Speakers: Yves Bolognini (Camptocamp SA), Emmanuel Belo (Camptocamp)

Abstract

GeoMapFish is an open source WebGIS platform developed in close collaboration with a large user group. The second version offers a modern UI based on AngularJS. OpenLayers 3 and an OGC architecture allow to use different cartographic engines. Highly integrated platform, large features scope, fine grained security, reporting engine, top performances and excellent quality of service are characteristics of the solution. In this talk we’ll present the technical aspects of the platform and its modular architecture.

Links to project: https://github.com/camptocamp/ngeo/ https://github.com/camptocamp/c2cgeoportal/

#287: How the Land Administration community profits from Open Source

Speaker: Arnulf Christl (Metaspatial)

Abstract

The Social Tenure Domain Model (STDM) is a concept, model and information tool to map people-to-land relationships. STDM is developed and maintained by the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN) under the lead of the UN Habitat. The data model was closely aligned with LADM, an ISO standard on Land Management followed by most implementers. When it came to implementing the software tool the GLTN group decided against reinventing the wheel but to check out existing Open Source components (as maintained by the OSGeo Foundation) and Open Standards (as maintained by the OGC). So basically everything from the data model, technology standards and up to all the tools required to do proper Land Administration is already there. But it is too complex for non-technical people to grapple with. Therefore the GLTN group started to implement a software package which shipped with the right data model for the Postgres and PostGIS database, the desktop software QGIS, reporting tools and comprehensive documentation.

This presentation will give an overview of the software tool and underlying components to give participants with limited technological background a better understanding of how it works and how they can also profit from the abundance of great Open Source software that is out there.

Links to project: https://github.com/gltn/stdm

#288: Hosting vector tile maps on your own server

Speakers: Petr Sloup (Klokan Technologies GmbH), Petr Pridal (Klokan Technologies GmbH)

Abstract

Custom styled map of the whole world served from your server? Easy!

This talk shows examples of practical use of the vector tiles downloaded from the OSM2VectorTiles project or other tiles in MVT format.

A new open-source project called TileServer GL is going to be presented. This project serves JSON map styles into web applications powered by MapBox GL JS library as well as into native mobile SDKs for iOS and Android.

The same style can be rendered on server side (with the OpenGL acceleration) into good old raster tiles to ensure compatibility and portability. Maps can be opened in various viewers such as Leaflet, OpenLayers, QGIS or ArcGIS.

Alternatively it is possible to use a tileserver powered by Mapnik to render the raster tiles out of vector tiles and existing CartoCSS styles made in MapBox Studio Classic.

Other approaches for independent hosting and using of vector tiles are going to be presented as well.

Links to project: https://github.com/klokantech/tileserver-gl https://github.com/mojodna/tessera

#289: A complete toolchain for object-based image analysis with GRASS GIS

Speaker: Moritz Lennert (Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB))

Abstract

Object-based image analysis (OBIA) is the current state of the art feature extraction technique for very high resolution (VHR) satellite imagery. While one proprietary tool dominated the market for years, more and more alternative solutions now appear, including free software based, and research continues to produce new approaches. However, many of the techniques implemented in free software are not easily accessible to the inexperienced user. This presentation presents efforts to develop a complete tool chain of easy-to-use modules for OBIA in GRASS GIS, ever since the development of an image segmentation module i.segment during GSoC 2012. Amongst the other modules presented are i.segment.uspo for unsupervised segmentation parameter optimization, i.segment.hierarchical for hierarchical segmentation, v.stats and i.segment.stats for the collection of statistics characterizing the objects, v.class.ml and v.class.mlR for supervised image classification. Combining these modules enables semi-automatic treatment of VHR imagery in a completely free software environment, as shown through examples of the two research projects SmartPop (funded by ISSeP) and MAUPP (funded by BELSPO). The talk will end with some reflections about possible further enhancements of this process, including through the combination of GRASS GIS with other FOSS4G tools.

Links to project: http://grass.osgeo.org (source code: https://grass.osgeo.org/download/software/sources/)

#290: OpenDEM Generator: combining open access Digital Elevation Models into a homogenized DEM

Speakers: Luca Delucchi (Fondazione Edmund Mach), Markus Neteler (mundialis GmbH & Co KG)

Abstract

OpenDEM Generator is a new Free and Open Source Python tool to combine several existing Digital Elevation Models (DEM) into a unified DEM with homogeneous resolution and proper pixel alignment in a simple way. By just using a configuration file the user is able to download the available input data and to process them subsequently. With the source code also several sample configuration files are distributed, so everyone will be able to recreate the DEM without much efforts. OpenDEM Generator uses a Python standard library to download data, while the processing part is managed by GDAL and GRASS GIS in an automated way.

OpenDEM Generator has the following capabilities:

  • simple and automatic way to create the DEM output
  • weighted resampling and optional interpolation to increase the resolution of input data
  • automated cleanup of lacking data such as holes along the borders of adjacent datasets

Future enhancements may include the support of contour lines and/or elevation points as input where full DEMs are not yet existing.

Links to project: https://gitlab.com/lucadelu/OpenDEM_Generator

#292: Unleashing the potential of your sensor data with istSOS

Speakers: Milan Antonovic (IST-SUPSI), Massimiliano Cannata (SUPSI)

Abstract

istSOS is a complete and easy to use sensor data management system for acquiring, storing and dispatching time-series observations. istSOS is compliant with the Sensor Observation Service standard (SOS) version 1.0 and 2.0 from the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) and offers unique extended capabilities to support scientific data analyses (integrated quality assurance, RESTful API, on the fly processing with virtual procedures, remote data aggregation, time-space re-projection etc.). istSOS core libraries are written in Python while it easy to use interface is Web based. This presentation will illustrates the projects and its latest enhancements, including:

  • The OGC SOS 2.0 standard implementation
  • Authentication and Authorization System
  • Alert and Notification system

Finally the presentation will discuss the challenges that istSOS need to face for entering in Big Data showing results of scalability tests and ongoing new IoT driven development features.

The robustness of the implemented solution has been validated in a real-case application: the Verbano Lake Early Warning System. In this application, near real-time data have to be exchanged by inter-regional partners and used in a hydrological model for lake level forecasting and flooding hazard assessment. This system is linked with a dedicated geoportal used by the civil protection for the management, alert and protection of the population and the assets of the Locarno area.

Links to project: https://sourceforge.net/projects/istsos/

#293: MapServer MapCache: Project Status Report

Speaker: Thomas Bonfort (Terriscope)

Abstract

This talk will present the recent developments that happened in MapCache, the tiling server from the MapServer project. Main features include enhanced support for dimensions allowing easy creation of imagery mosaics, and further integration with cloud based infrastructure.

Links to project: http://mapserver.org/mapcache/

#294: Geomajas: Where did we go wrong?

Speaker: Oliver May (Geomajas)

Abstract

Geomajas is an open source geospatial web development framework that has been around for almost a decade. Despite lots of hard work from our community, until today we have not been able to turn Geomajas into the big success we initially planned. I have been around Geomajas from almost the beginning, as developer, architect and PSC member.

During this talk I will shine a personal light on my hate love affair with Geomajas. I will be sharing my observations on some decisions that had a huge effect on the evolution of the framework and try to pass on my vision on how to learn from both our mistakes and successes. To conclude I will to reach out to fellow OSGeo projects, and share my view on how we, as the open source geospatial community, can help each other in becoming more successful open source projects.

Links to project: http://www.geomajas.org/

#295: MapServer Status Report

Speakers: Thomas Bonfort (Terriscope), Daniel Morissette (Mapgears), Stephan Meißl (EOX IT Services GmbH), Stephen Lime (MnIT Services at DNR)

Abstract

2015 was a big year for the MapServer project with the release of the 7.0 major version. This presentation highlights the new features included in this version, like WFS 2.0 for Inspire, UTFGrids, or heatmaps, as well as a recap of the main features added in recent releases. It further shows the current and future directions of the project and discusses contribution opportunities for interested developers and users.

After the status report of the MapServer project there will be the opportunity for users to interact with members of the MapServer project team in an open question/answer session. Don’t miss this chance to meet and chat face-to-face with members of the MapServer project team!

Links to project: http://mapserver.org

#296: Open data and the 'power of the crowd'

Speaker: Jaap-Willem Sjoukema (Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment)

Abstract

Open data is becoming more and more available, but is mostly designed as a one-way street. Data will flow from the governments to the data users, but the information flow from users to the government is either overlooked or ill-constructed. In the case of the Dutch geographical key registries (BGT/BRT/BAG) the ambition is to get both data flows right, by embracing concepts as volunteered geographic information (VGI) and user-centred scrum development. This talk will show the 'improve the map'-application which is developed by the Dutch Cadastre, including its concepts and theories behind it, its current looks and experiences and its bright future. The application is created entirely from opensource components. Moreover, more Dutch open geodatasets are currently interested in using the application which will bring data providers and data users closer together. Our ambition is that every open dataset deserves its easy-to-use feedback application which is open to everyone. And with everyone we really mean everyone: even primary school kids will help us to keep our maps of good quality.

#297: Delivering high resolution deformation maps with high performance and extensive proc

Speaker: Marco Duiker (SkyGeo)

Abstract

SkyGeo uses Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) by satellites for mapping ground and infrastructure deformation. This leads to maps with millions of virtual sensors, each measuring deformation by time series containing hundreds of measurements. Examples of monitoring infrastructure and managing water injection in oil fields are shown.

The deformation maps and maps with derived information are delivered via a customer portal. The portal tries to provide the rather complex data derived from InSAR together with extensive features to investigate, analyze and further process the data in a user friendly way. As customers are free to use any GIS package as well as the portals own viewer, all functionality is delivered by fully leveraging the (hidden) potential of the open standards WMS, WFS and WPS.

Building the portal proved challenging because of the sheer amount of data combined by the need of live rendering to allow for styling by users and dynamic filtering using WMS dimensions. On top of that, the portal must be alive 24/7, be very secure and required new functionality must be in production within 2-4 weeks. The portal should allow a growth of 10 times per year.

How these requirements can be met using Docker, Nginx, Mapserver, Heron-MC, PostGIS and PyWPS and some custom components will be discussed. Special attention is given to the rich feature set while retaining standards compliance and the encapsulation of mapserver for on the fly mapfile building and easy management of a very large amount of layers.

#303: OSM Stats: Rewarding contributors and real-time tracking of OSM

Speaker: Matthew Hanson (Development Seed)

Abstract

Mapathons are an increasingly effective way to get data into OpenStreetMap. The Missing Maps project hosts mapathons to increase the amount of data in areas that don't have large local OSM communities. The American Red Cross and Development Seed have built an analytics platform that tracks user trends in real-time and rewards contributors for their efforts, as can be seen at missingmaps.org

OSM-stats tracks user's activity, consistency and relative reputation, reporting detailed metrics and awarding a variety of themed badges based on the type and magnitude of contributions. Badges range from simple tasks ("Add 4 roads") to challenging ("Map in 10 countries"). Leaderboard pages display up to date detail on the most active users for a current project, while hashtag groupings display statistics to be separated out, allowing tracking of groups. A map of each users commits can be seen, as can a map view indicating the last 100 changes.

Most of the contributions for the Missing Maps project occur during mapathons where hundreds of volunteers submit edits and additions over a couple of hours. This means that the system needs to handle large spikes of activity when thousands of edits are added. We deployed the OSM-stats components using AWS Lambda functions and Kinesis streams. These scale very well to meet the needs of Mapathons and incur minimal cost when not in use.

Links to project: https://github.com/AmericanRedCross/osm-stats

#304: Building an open source imagery browser: UX and technical decisions to develop OpenAerialMap

Speaker: Daniel da Silva (Development Seed)

Abstract

Last summer the new OpenAerialMap launched. OpenAerialMap (OAM) is now providing access to open satellite, aerial, and UAV imagery around the world. Users can search through a web-based map browser, conduct geographic queries to an API, upload imagery to publish openly licensed imagery, and process imagery into tile map services.

Searching through many sources of imagery in a usable way was one of the biggest challenges we saw when designing the system. We knew usability was going to be critical to the adoption and success of OAM so we created a new type of grid interaction to search and find imagery. This talk will present the design and technical build process for developing the new OAM map browser and the open source tools that power the system. We'll discuss our UX experiments and how they influenced the build process, and talk about how and why we used React JS to build a grid-based imagery browser.

The OAM community of open source tools is growing over the next year. We'll also provide a recap of the roadmap for the next year and how anyone can get involved.

Links to project: http://openaerialmap.org/

#305: QGIS 3: plans, wishes and challenges

Speaker: Hugo Mercier (Oslandia)

Abstract

QGIS is a very powerful GIS environment. More and more features have kept coming in the 2.0 branch, thanks to a growing number of users, developers and funders. But it is occasionally time to look up and envision the future to make sure this growth of energy is used at its full potential, especially to make sure new features are not added to a base that will become hard to maintain or evolve. Discussions and active work have already been done about how to transition away from the obsolescence of Python 2 and Qt 4. Some API breaks will have to occur and this is an opportunity to include major changes, both for users and for developers. This talk will present some of the changes that are planned or wished for the 3.0 version of QGIS and will detail challenges that remain to see them exist, from a technical, organisational or economical point of view.

Links to project: http://qgis.org

#306: A New Vision for OSGeo

Speaker: Jody Garnett (Boundless)

Abstract

The Open Source Geospatial Foundation is undergoing a period of change. For the tenth anniversary of the foundation the board is embracing this change with a new vision, mission statement and goals.

This talk introduces this new direction for the foundation, and explores details of 2016 strategic plan. This talk is of particular importance to foundation projects, community participants and our sponsors.

Attend this talk if you are interested in what OSGeo does in the FOSS4G community and where we are heading next.

Links to project: https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Board_of_Directors

#309: Welcome to the FOSS4G Community

Speaker: Jody Garnett (Boundless)

Abstract

Welcome to the Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial community. Freedom is one of the tools we use to take on the world. This presentation breaks down the principles on which our community built.

This welcome presentation is a quick orientation on open source, open data, open standards and open development.

Please attend this talk if you are new to the FOSS4G community, or would like some background on how all the fun toys you see on display fit together to form a larger picture. A larger picture we like to call the future.

#311: Flood mapping and analysis platform based on open satellite data and free and open source geospatial

Speaker: Vasile Crăciunescu (Romanian National Meteorological Administration)

Abstract

Flooding remains the most widely distributed natural hazard in Europe, causing significant economic and social impact. Nowadays, availability of earth observation data generates fundamental contributions towards mitigation of detrimental effects of extreme floods. The technological advance allows development of online services able to process high volumes of satellite data without the need of dedicated desktop software licenses. The talk presents the data, the algorithms and the technologies used to develop such an online system that can use multi-scale satellite data, together with reference and in-situ information, to map the areas affected by floods and giving the users the possibility to inspect, process, analyze and validate the information. The platform, created by National Meteorological Administration of Romania, offers services based on Open Geospatial Consortium standards for data retrieval (WMS, WCS, WFS) and server-side processing (WPS, WCPS). The services were built using open source solutions such as GeoServer, OpenLayers, PostGIS, GDAL, rasdaman.

#313: Enterprise Single Sign-On in GeoServer: where do we stand?

Speaker: Francesco Bartoli (Geobeyond Srl)

Abstract

Security is a major concern in the enterprise and treats all aspects of identity and access management. Moreover the proliferation of devices and digital assets connected to the Internet of Things is a massive source of growing geographic information. GeoServer has buit-in a lot of features to manage authentication and authorization but often this kind of problem can be better dealt with a dedicated tool (i.e. Forgerock IAM suite) which allows to provide identities and access policies likewise to several clients. What are the best practices to integrate GeoServer into an existent single sign-on and identity lifecycle? Althought tools like CAS and GeoFence allow to enable such features it's more likely that GeoServer needs a leaner and cleaner path towards the externalization of authentication and authorization for the OGC services and its REST API.

Links to project: https://github.com/geoserver https://github.com/OpenRock/OpenAM https://github.com/OpenRock/OpenIDM https://github.com/OpenRock/OpenIG

#315: State of GeoServer

Speakers: Jody Garnett (Boundless), Andrea Aime (GeoSolutions)

Abstract

State of GeoServer provides an update on our community and reviews the new and noteworthy features for the Project. The community keeps an aggressive six month release cycle with GeoServer 2.8 and 2.9 being released this year.

Each releases bring together exciting new features. This year a lot of work has been done on the user interface, clustering, security and compatibility with the latest Java platform. We will also take a look at community research into vector tiles, multi-resolution raster support and more.

Attend this talk for a cheerful update on what is happening with this popular OSGeo project. Whether you are an expert user, a developer, or simply curious what these projects can do for you, this talk is for you.

Links to project: https://github.com/geoserver/geoserver

#318: Processing Copernicus Sentinel data with GRASS GIS

Speakers: Markus Neteler (mundialis GmbH & Co KG), Carmen Tawalika (mundialis)

Abstract

Copernicus (http://www.copernicus.eu/) is an European Earth observation programme headed by the European Commission in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA). It consists of different systems for data acquisition, combining remote sensing and on-site measurements. Copernicus addresses several thematic areas including land, marine, atmosphere, climate change, emergency management, and security.

The core of the Copernicus programme are a series of new satellites called Sentinels. In total six different types will be operating in space by 2025 which differ in channels, sensors and resolution. They include a Radar mission (Sentinel-1 series), a High Resolution Optical Multispectral mission (Sentinel-2 series), and Medium Resolution Imaging and Altimetry mission (Sentinel-3 series) among others. Most interestingly, all data including the raw data are open access data, hence freely available.

In our presentation we show first results of Sentinel-2 data analysis. A first short time series is meanwhile available. We will show the integration of Sentinel products in a open source GIS software framework (especially GDAL, GRASS GIS). We will illustrate the data handling since the Sentinel-2 data exceed commonly known dataset sizes due to its high temporal resolution. Furthermore, we will show data analysis examples and practical use cases.

Links to project: http://grass.osgeo.org/

#322: Leaflet.annotate - Semantic markup for geographic web maps in HTML

Speaker: Malte Reißig (Leibniz Institut für Länderkunde)

Abstract

I investigated the public Schema.org vocabulary, the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set, the HTML living standard and SVG 1.1 to make it easy for map makers and publishers to advance the markup they publish. With an understanding of geographic web maps as documents of composite structure i want to share and discuss a LeafletJS implementation representing this investigation.

Building on the descriptive markup and this model of a geographic web map i also want to share the idea of developing a user dialog which could support readers of maps in analyzing WHO contributed WHERE, WHEN - and WHAT is the map about.

The Leaflet.annotate API can be seen as an interface proposal for other authoring tools or geographic content management systems and with that I hope to contribute to a discussion around accessible and responsible publishing of geographic maps on the WWW.

Links to project: http://github.com/mukil/Leaflet.annotate

#323: Getting it done at LocationTech

Speakers: Jody Garnett (Boundless), Gabriel Roldán (Boundless Spatial Inc.), James Hughes (CCRI), Tyler Battle (Boundless)

Abstract

LocationTech is a working group developing advanced location aware technologies - which tells you exactly nothing about what is like to join LocationTech and get things done.

That is what this talk is for - bringing together several project leads from the LocationTech stable to cover: How LocationTech is organized How project promotion, marketing and fundraising works Running a project in terms of committers, license selection and transparency Starting a new project, incubation and release

This talk provides a background of LocationTech and we can answer your questions. The real focus is on covering the project experience as a developer.

In the past we have focused on a lot of the great technology taking shape at LocationTech, this year we would like an opportunity talk about the people, our culture and the cheerful attitude that goes into getting-it-done.

#325: OGC's Land Administration Working Group – Building Bridges between communities

Speaker: Athina Trakas (Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC))

Abstract

Land administration is an ongoing concern in many countries of the world and less than 30% of the landcover is properly titled or surveyed. This lack leads to insecurity of tenure, economic barriers, land grabbing and is a major problem to resolving land conflicts. Land administration frameworks have to support a wide variety of regulatory and policy environments and interoperability is key in providing the necessary flexibility.

In order to avoid the creation of yet another set of data silos OGC members set out to form a Domain Working Group (DWG) on Land Administration as a forum to explore existing interoperability standards and best practices in this domain.

The presentation will focus on this newly established working group and introduce to some of the key points of interest. While there are some standards describing elements of an administrative system (for example ISO LADM), there is no consistent use of geospatial description of land records or adequate rules for defining and describing the quality of the records. The group will work to provide a common vocabulary for the locational aspects of land administration databases and will also be a forum for connecting suitable technology for data linkage and quality assessment.

Some of the key players in the Land Administration domain have created Open Source tools like FLOSS SOLA (FAO) and STDM (GLTN and UN Habitat) which are based on core OSGeo technology and already make extensive use OGC standards.

#326: deegree Enterprise - Open Source to get a grip on complex spatial data infrastructure demands

Speakers: Torsten Friebe (deegree OSGeo project ), Andreas Rose (deegree Consortium)

Abstract

deegree surely is one of the most mature OSGeo projects. Its OGC web services are comprehensive and some of them even are reference implementations. When it comes to building spatial data infrastructures like INSPIRE you need a little bit more than spatial data and services. You need a whole infrastructure capable to meet high performance goals and 24x7 availability, which has to comply to strict Service Level Agreements. In short: you need a comprehensive software stack containing tools for service and data management along with metadata and user management tools for publishing spatial data in a trusted and secure environment are needed along with appropriate monitoring tools to assure the infrastructures availability.

The deegree community project did not provide this functionality yet and that was why two German companies grit and lat/lon joined forces to build the “deegree Enterprise Edition”. deegree Enterprise Edition contains all the tools mentioned above. Further on it includes appropriate contracts offering software maintenance and professional support. These contracts offer the same support and performance as maintenance contracts for proprietary software do and fully meet the requirements of the maintenance contracts used in the German Public Sector.

Nevertheless deegree Enterprise Edition is still open source. But it is open source with guaranteed SLAs. Such it offers an opportunity to all organisations under INSPIRE obligations to professionally operate INSPIRE.

The presentation shows:

  • the motivation to build deegree Enterprise
  • how the deegree Enterprise Edition differs from the community edition
  • how the business model is working

Links to project: www.deegree.org

#327: The OGC's Standards Process and the Role of Reference Implementations

Speakers: Athina Trakas (Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)), Ingo Simonis (OGC)

Abstract

This presentation focuses on the role of reference implementations for the OGC standards process and gives an insight in the related OGC Compliance Program.

OGC Standards are developed in the OGC Standards Program and follow rules and guidlines that have been set by the OGC's members. Before an OGC standard is adopted by the OGC membership, a public review period is required where non-members can also contribute. Increasingly, some standards working groups also decide to work more openly in the public (like the GeoPackage work group did) to be more inclusive. OGC interface standards also come with reference implementations. The OGC rules state that these have to be "free and publicly available for testing". Some well known OSGeo projects like GeoServer, MapServer, deegree and others are reference implementations of OGC standards.

A Reference Implementation is a -> fully functional, licensed copy of a tested, branded software that has passed the test for an associated conformance class in a version of an Implementation Standard and that -> is free and publicly available for testing via a web service or download.

#329: Recording land tenure rights using GeoODK and Cadasta Platform

Speakers: Erick Omwandho Opiyo (Cadasta Foundation), Frank Pichel (Cadasta Foundation), Kate Chapman (Cadasta Foundation), Oliver Roick (Cadasta Foundation)

Abstract

Over 70 percent of land in Sub-Sahara Africa is not documented or included in the formal land administration systems, current requirements of land information systems has created a hindrance rather than facilitate security of land tenure. Cadasta Foundation is aiming to build “fit-for-purpose” land tools that focus on making it possible for communities, governments and non-governmental institutions to document land tenure rights, without the rigid requirement imposed by current land information systems, land tenure documenting procedures and physical boundary accuracy.

“Fit-for-purpose” terminology was coined at a world bank conference, where stakeholders realized the need to come up with different approach when developing land administration systems.

Cadasta platform is an open source project built on top of django. This fits well, on the requirements of a land information system that is flexibility, affordable and attainable for recording land rights. Cadasta platform extensive API and functionality allows it to be connected to GeoODK, which is essentially ODK with added functionality for mapping and spatial features. This makes GeoODK an ideal tool for participatory data collection, something that has been advocated for in “fit-for-purpose” approach to recording land rights information.

Links to project: https://github.com/Cadasta/cadasta-platform

#330: Using PostGIS in a real advanced way !

Speaker: Olivier Courtin (Oslandia)

Abstract

A lot of people use PostGIS as a basic GIS toolbox, but very few use it in a real advanced way.

To progress towards full PostGIS power, we can first make use of advanced native PostGIS functions. Using some extensions related to PostGIS, such as SFCGAL (for 3D data management), PostGIS Raster, PgPointCloud or even the latest pgsql-postal (for address normalization)...

Then we can mix PostGIS functions with advanced standardized SQL features provided by PostgreSQL 9.x itself (CTE, Window functions, FDW, join and aggregate pushdowns…).

Even better, use PostgreSQL bindings for data analysis languages such as R or Python to create your own dedicated function set, and integrate them into your SQL queries.

We conclude this session with perspectives on what the combination between GIS and data science could be.

Links to project: http://www.postgis.org

#332: Dealing with change - OSRM Version 5

Speaker: Johan Uhle (Mapbox)

Abstract

The Open Source Routing Machine (OSRM) is a routing engine, providing blazing fast route-finding on global data sets like OpenStreetMap. With Version 5 of OSRM we tackled two challenges: providing a world-class navigation experience for car drivers and making OSRM easier to work with for developers.

To deliver great navigation, we made route duration estimates more realistic, by allowing developers to provide custom speed and turn duration data. We also dramatically shortened pre-processing times and improved turn-by-turn guidance.

To deliver a great experience to developers we modernized the code base and improved the build and test systems. We also refactored the HTTP API to support the new features and removed historical short-comings.

In this talk we will introduce the subject of routing in general and then explain the new features of OSRM Version 5 in detail. We will highlight the trade-offs we faced and the reasoning behind our decisions.

Links to project: http://project-osrm.org/

#337: The Evolution of the GeoNode Community

Speakers: Jeffrey Johnson (Terranodo LLC), Simone Dalmasso (European Commission, JRC)

Abstract

The GeoNode project has grown from an idea and a handful of early partners 5 years ago to a large and thriving open source project and downstream ecosystem. This talk will discuss the cast of characters and organizations that currently contribute to GeoNode, how this community has grown and evolved over time and the growing pains encountered and lessons learned in the process. Particular focus will be paid to the technical and collaborative aspects of growing and managing a diverse community, looking at how new community members are brought into the fold and how the resources that organizations with different needs and requirements bring to the table are marshaled most effectively to achieve economies of scale when developing new features. The GeoNode community has begun a quantitative analysis of organizational return on investment from open source and initial results of this study will also be presented.

Links to project: http://github.com/geonode/geonode

#338: QGis as a platform: transforming the desktop QGis for tablet use in Flanders fields

Speaker: Roel Huybrechts (RealDolmen)

Abstract

In this talk we'll take the off-the-shelf QGis you've come to know and love on your desktop and search the limits of customization. We'll transform the standard desktop application to a version tailored for tablet use including a finger-friendly interface, camera integration and full offline editing support with data synchronisation.

Taking QGis where no QGis has gone before, we take the theory into Flanders fields. We demonstrate the possibilities of the technology with a use case where QGis is used in the field to assess soil erosion in the hills of Flanders.

Thanks to a strong foundation and simple yet powerful customization options, we learn that Qgis can really outperform your expectations, even outside of its (or your?) comfort zone. Bring your boots!

#340: Humanitarian Capacity Building and Preparedness with QGIS

Speaker: Ant Scott (MapAction)

Abstract

MapAction has been using QGIS for the past five years or so as its principal training tool when working with humanitarian agencies in a number of countries affected by humanitarian disaster and conflict. This talk will focus on the training and preparedness work that MapAction has carried out with QGIS, reflecting on the experience of using QGIS, describing the methods it has employed to work with both GIS professionals and staff new to GIS, and what has been learned in the process. This will include some discussion of what has been successful and less successful, and how the use of mapping and GIS in humanitarian response can be encouraged and supported in the long term. There will also be examples of QGIS products and implementation by other organisations, with a view to identifying best practice and the means of disseminating this in the humanitarian information management community.

#342: Real-time large format maps for passenger information on railway disruptions

Speaker: Mario Härtwig (geOps)

Abstract

Focusing on a clearer and more visible passenger information, Swiss Federal Railways SBB modernized the general displays in the biggest Swiss railway stations. The former mechanical palette displays were replaced by LED screens of up to 5 meters width. In case of severe traffic disruptions these monitors are used for providing the passenger with general information. Additionally, a huge (perhaps the biggest) map based on OpenLayers 3 is shown on the monitor enabling the passenger to get a fast overview of the situation.

The key component of the service-based architecture is the geographical content management system Cartaro. It is used by the employees in the SBB operation centers for composing and editing the information to display. Among issues like performance, reliability and availability a major challenge for the system was the development of tools for the fast and simple creation of a clear and appealing map. The software automatically generates a map based on real-time timetable information, identifies the affected stations and highlights the interrupted route using a routing-based approach. A set of integrated spatial editing tools enables the user to e.g. modify route geometries at different generalization levels and to align map labels.

Links to project: http://cartaro.org

#343: Collect & Manage Geospatial Data Edits with GeoSHAPE

Speaker: Syrus Mesdaghi (Prominent Edge LLC)

Abstract

This talk demonstrates creating and editing vector data backed by a distributed version control system through both web and mobile clients. The web and mobile clients will be used to collect geospatial data which are coupled with the authors information. By harnessing the power of GeoGig, the powerful open-source geospatial versioning technology, we will demonstrate how easy it is to quickly add, delete, and edit features, as well as rollback edits or commits through an intuitive web editing interface. We’ll demonstrate viewing the history of changes to particular features as well as the history of changes to a layer. The demo will also show how to perform comparisons between different versions to view changes to feature geometry and attributes. We’ll also show the conflict resolution capabilities of GeoSHAPE, a free and open-source geospatial platform.

Links to project: www.geoshape.org

#344: QGIS and database based system for managing urban drainage system data

Speaker: Dr. Jörg Höttges (FH Aachen, Civil Engineering, Department of hydrology an applied informatics)

Abstract

Based on QGIS and a database model for management of sewage system data, several tools are being developed for preparation and management of drainage system data and graphical presentation of the simulation results of urban drainage systems. Main focus lies on practical applicability by consultant engineers and the flexibility to connect to different simulation packages. By using one system for data preparation for different simulation packages, a higher efficiency leads to reduced time and costs. The data is stored in a database, either SpatiaLite or POSTGIS. The tools are developed using the database functions because of the high efficiency.

#356: Towards open, interoperable, and transdisciplinary point clouds for high performance computing

Speaker: Adam Steer (Australian National Computational Infrastructure)

Abstract

Large point clouds have emerged across a wide range of disciplines, however users and managers face a bewildering range of storage formats, large datasets and convoluted workflows for analysing point clouds alongside other data. Services like OpenTopography and the PDAL toolkit enable point cloud discovery and use, but integration with other earth systems data is not transparently supported.

The Australian National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) hosts 10+PB of research data, predominantly in the realm of Earth Systems. These include extensive point cloud data which need to be discoverable alongside, and interoperable with, substantial collections of geospatial observations and model data using common tools in a High Performance Computing (HPC) and High Performance Data (HPD) environment. NCI has created a National Environmental Research Data Interoperability Platform (NERDIP) to help manage and analyse the data, both locally and remotely using web services which makes use of advanced features in HDF/NetCDF.

We have demonstrated that deploying other geospatial data using a HDF5 model has the potential to directly improve large-scale usage and increase data interoperability between diverse geospatial collections. Models such as the Sensor Independent Point Cloud (SIPC) and SPDLib are based on HDF5. NCI are currently evaluating the use of these formats to aid discovery, extraction and processing using readily available tools, as well as interrogation via web services. The end goal for NCI is making point data discoverable and accessible to end-users in ways which allow seamless interoperability with other datasets and processing techniques.

#358: Open Source Photogrammetry with OpenDroneMap

Speaker: Dakota Benjamin (Cleveland Metroparks)

Abstract

OpenDroneMap (ODM) aims to be a full photogrammetric solution for small Unmanned Aircraft (drones), balloons, and kites. ODM acts as a tool for processing highly overlapping unreferenced imagery, turning the unstructured data (simple photos) + GPS into structured data including colorized point clouds, digital surface models, textured digital surface models, and orthophotography.

The project can be found at https://github.com/OpenDroneMap/OpenDroneMap . This session will act as an introduction to OpenDroneMap, give an overview of what the current status of the project is, detail what the anticipated next steps are in the project, and how you can participate as a user and/or developer.

For ODM, 2016 will see smoothed texturing, denser, more accurate point clouds, and other key components to the maturation of the project. Find out how you can participate.

Links to project: https://github.com/OpenDroneMap/OpenDroneMap

#360: Commercializing open data in Norway

Speaker: Alexander Salveson Nossum (Norkart )

Abstract

Until 2015 the Norwegian cadastre data was a closed data source, practically unavailable for commercialization. Authorative thematic data sets are widely produced by federal governments which, by law, are open and freely available. Norkart Webatlas strategically formed business cases and aimed at commercializing and generating a foundation for jobs based on open spatial data. Two years into this race we will share our experiences: pitfalls and successes which have paved the roads for a sound business providing solid jobs for tens of people. Changing the way clients think about "open", pushing clients to develop under open licenses and internally adopt a "open" mindset are some of the challenges we faced. In this talk we will share how we have done this and hopefully inspire others to generate solid jobs based on open data and open source software.

#362: PROBA-V mission exploitation platform

Speaker: Jeroen Dries (VITO Remote Sensing)

Abstract

In januari, the European Space Agency launched the first version of the PROBA-V mission exploitation platform. proba-v-mep.esa.int. This platform, which is fully operated by VITO Remote Sensing, has the goal to simplify the use of open remote sensing data which should eventually result in operational applications that benefit society. Exploitation platforms are the way of the future to handle the ever increasing volumes of remote sensing data, and at VITO we believe that the use of Open Source software is the only way to collaborate on this shared vision. In this talk, first I want to give a general overview on what users can do with the PROBA-V MEP. This involves using an Openstack VM loaded with FOSS software and direct access to the dataset, to access an Hadoop cluster where a user can distribute his processing using Spark. Secondly, I want to show how we are using Geotrellis to support interactive queries on the full timeseries of remote sensing data that is available in the platform. Also showing how this can be done from within an interactive Scala notebook in the browser.

#365: Urban SDG Measuring System using the Open Geospatial Data of the International Organizations

Speakers: Junyoug Choi (Spatial Information office, Korea Land and Housing corp., Republic of Korea), Hyunsoo Kim (CITUS. CO), Jaeseong Ahn (Kyungil University)

Abstract

As a post Millennium Development Goals(MDG), 17 Sustainable Development Goals(SDG) and 169 indicators were adopted at 2015 in the UN general assembly. Especially as the developing countries are predicted to face rapid urbanization until the 2030, Cities attract more and more attentions for achieving SDGs because most activities occur in the cities. But the activities are closely related to spatial phenomena. It is essential to consistently construct the spatial database for developing and developed countries and uniformly measure and monitor the indicators of urban SDGs which is operationally defined in this presentation as a SDG 9 and 11. In this regards, open geospatial data present both possibilities and limitations for urban SDG measurement. In this presentation, we analyze open database from UN agencies and Multilateral Development Banks(MDB) and measure and predict the urban SDG until the 2030 using that database. To that end, we analyze the related open data structure of those international organizations and develop a UN SDG monitoring system based on the FOSS4G solutions such as PostGIS and GeoServer.

#375: Using SQLite to take maps offline on mobile devices

Speaker: Dino Ravnic (GIS Cloud)

Abstract

Nowadays, the internet allows us to access maps on mobile and tablet devices in real-time when we need them. Very often we might be without an internet connection. How to get access to maps in such situations? The answer is to take maps offline.

What are technical challenges to get maps offline? Why is SQLite ideal database for offline map storage? How to store all vectors and rasters into a single SQLite database on a mobile device? How to render such maps using hardware with limited capabilities? What are storage and bandwidth requirements? How to solve offline map editing and synchronization? These are only some of the questions this talk will focus on.

#519: Is there life in Virtual Globes?

Speakers: Theofilos Papadopoulos, Konstantinos Evangelidis

Abstract

Virtual globes have been widely used during last decade mainly for simulating observations of the earth from the outer space and navigation experiences over its surface which may be portrayed with various types of views and textures. The present work aims to extend virtual globe capabilities by incorporating three dimensional events on them. Such events may include animation and motion effects on 3D models representing real world living or inanimate spatial objects, modeling of natural resources and phenomena representations and any type of geovisualized activities and demonstrations.

#525: Analysing the practical feasibility of FOSSGIS in military operations – A Cholera outbreak use case

Speakers: Susanna Jacoba Henrico, Serena Coetzee, Antony Kyle Cooper

Abstract

Remaining ahead of the enemy in all circumstances is crucial to any military power. Geographic information systems (GIS) can provide the military commander with geospatial information about the theatre of war to assist with the planning and execution of a mission. Unfortunately, technology usually comes at a price. GIS is no exception. The cost of acquiring and maintaining GIS software licenses, as well as training staff in the use of the software, needs to be considered. The question arises whether open source software, which can be used without any software license expenses, is a feasible alternative in military operations. The problem is that the perception exists that open source GIS software is neither user-friendly nor mature enough to be used in military operations. This study evaluates the functionality of an open source desktop GIS product in a military operations use case. A list of specific GIS functionalities was compiled based on the literature study and by developing a use case. The functionalities were executed in QGIS. Results were compared against results of the same functionalities in ArcGIS, which is widely used in military operations. Results show that all GIS functions tested by this study could be performed by both software products. These results are interesting because it means that FOSSGIS can be successfully deployed by units or directorates that has limited funds available to expand the existing GIS capabilities for military operations.

#530: A Framework for an Open Source Geospatial Certification Model

Speakers: F.-J. Behr, T. U. R. Khan, P. Davis

Abstract

Ongoing education and training play an important role in the professional life. Parallel, in the geospatial and IT arena as well in the political discussion and legislation Open Source solutions, open data proliferation, and the use of open standards have an increasing significance. Based on the Memorandum of Understanding between International Cartographic Association, OSGeo Foundation, and ISPRS this development led to the implementation of the ICA-OSGeo-Lab initiative. Its mission "Making geospatial education and opportunities accessible to all" initiated the idea for a framework for a worldwide applicable Open Source certification approach.

The development of the framework presented here is based on the analysis of diverse bodies of knowledge concepts, i.e., the Geospatial Technology Competency Model (GTCM) which provides a US American oriented list of the knowledge, skills, and abilities. In addition to this analysis the geospatial community was integrated by an online survey and interviews with experts in different countries about Open Source usage and certification.

In the developed certification framework each certificate is described by pre-conditions, scope and objectives, course content, recommended software packages, target group, expected benefits, and the methods of examination. Examinations can be flanked by proofs of professional career paths and achievements which need a peer qualification evaluation with recertification after a couple of years.

The concept seeks the accreditation by the OSGeo Foundation and international support by a group of geospatial scientific institutions to achieve wide and international acceptance.

#533: Building applications with FOSS4G bricks: two examples of the use of GRASS GIS modules as a high-level "language"' for the analyses of continuous space data in economic geography

Speaker: Moritz Lennert

Abstract

In a world where researchers are more and more confronted to large sets of micro-data, new algorithms are constantly developed that have to be translated into usable programs. Modular GIS toolkits such as GRASS GIS offer a middle way between low-level programming approaches and GUI-based desktop GIS. The modules can be seen as elements of a programming language which makes the implementation of algorithms for spatial analysis very easy for researchers. Using two examples of algorithms in economic geography, for estimating regional exports and for determining raster-object neighborhood matrices, this paper shows how just a few module calls can replace more complicated low-level programs, as long as the researcher can change perspective from a pixel-by-pixel view to a map view of the problem at hand. Combining GRASS GIS with Python as general glue between modules also offers options for easy multi-processing, as well as supporting the increasingly loud call for open research, including open source computing tools in research.

#537: Developing an Open Pedestrian Landmark Navigation Model

Speaker: Anita Graser

Abstract

Today's publicly available pedestrian navigation systems still use paradigms developed for car navigation. In this paper, we present a novel landmark-based pedestrian navigation model using open source tools and open data from OpenStreetMap, which is available globally and free of charge. This approach ensures that our landmark navigation model is widely applicable, rather than restricted to a certain area with exceptional data sources. Our contributions cover algorithms for extraction, weighing, and selection of landmarks based on their suitability, as well as the generation of landmark-based navigation instructions for a given pedestrian route. The system has been implemented using PostGIS as a data store and QGIS for algorithm development. First field tests with pedestrians show promising results by confirming that our weighted landmark selection outperforms a simple baseline approach by reducing the number of navigation errors and revealed future challenges for the generation of intuitive pedestrian navigation instructions.

#540: OSGeo conference videos as a resource for scientific research: The TIB|AV Portal

Speakers: Peter Löwe, Margret Plank, Kraft Angelina, Britta Dreyer

Abstract

This paper reports on new opportunities for research and education in Free and Open Source Geoinformatics as a translational part of Open Science, enabled the growing collection of OSGeo conference video recordings at the German National Library of Science and Technology (TIB). Since 2015, OSGeo conference recordings have been included to the collection sphere of TIB in information sciences. Currently, video content from selected national (FOSSGIS), regional (FOSS4G-NA) and global (FOSS4G) conferences is being actively collected. The annual growth exceeds 100 hours of new content relating to the OSGeo software projects and the OSGeo scientific-technical communities. This is seconded by retrospective acquisition of video material dating from past conferences, going back until 2002 to preserve this content, ensuring both long term availability and access. The audiovisual OSGeo-related content is provided through the TIB|AV Portal, a web-based platform for scientific audiovisual media providing state-of-the art multimedia analysis and retrieval. It implements the requirements by research libraries for reliable long term preservation. Metadata enhancement analysis provides extended search and retrieval options. Digital Object Identifiers (DOI) enable scientific citation of full videos, excerpts and still frames, use in education and also referral in social networks. This library-operated service infrastructure turns the audiovisual OSGeo-related content in a reliable source for science and education.

#552: From global observations to local information: The Earth Observation Monitor

Speaker: Jonas Eberle

Abstract

Earth Observation (EO) data are available around the globe and can be used for a range of applications. To support scientists and local stakeholders in the usage of information from space, barriers, especially in data processing, need to be reduced. To meet this need, the software framework "Earth Observation Monitor" provides access and analysis tools for global EO vegetation time-series data based on standard-compliant geoprocessing services. Data are automatically downloaded from several data providers, processed, and time-series analysis tools for vegetation analyses extract further information. A web portal and a mobile application have been developed to show the usage of interoperable geospatial web services and to simplify the access and analysis of global EO time-series data. All steps from data download to analysis are automated and provided as operational geoprocessing services. Open-source software has been used to develop the services and client applications.

#553: Mapping WiFi measurements on OpenStreetMap data for Wireless Street Coverage Analysis

Speakers: Andrea Valenzano, Dario Mana, Claudio Borean, Antonio Servetti

Abstract

The growing interest on smart cities and the deployment of an ever increasing number of smart objects in public locations, such as dumpsters, traffic lights, and manholes, requires ubiquitous connectivity for these devices to communicate data and to receive configurations. Opportunistic WiFi connectivity is a valid alternative both to ad hoc solutions, like LoRa, which require costly deployments, and to communicating through the mobile network, which is both pricey and battery power hungry. In this paper we present a tool to analyze the WiFi coverage of home Access Points (AP) on the city streets. It can be of interest to ISP or other providers which want to offer connectivity to Internet of Things smart objects deployed around the city. We describe a method for gathering WiFi measures around the city (by leveraging crowdsourcing) and an open source visualization and analysis web application to explore the accumulated data. More importantly, this framework can leverage the semantic information contained in OpenStreetMap data to extract further knowledge about the AP deployment in the city, for example we investigate the relationship between the AP density per square kilometer within the city and the WiFi street coverage ratio

#555: Paleomaps: SDI for paleoenvironment GIS data

Speakers: Christian Willmes, Daniel Becker, Jan Verheul, Yasa Yener, Mirijam Zickel, Andreas Bolten, Olaf Bubenzer, Georg Bareth

Abstract

Paleoenvironmental studies and according information (data) are abundantly pub-lished and available in the scientific record. However, GIS-based paleoenviron-mental information and datasets are comparably rare. Here, we present an OpenScience approach for collecting and creating GIS-based data and maps of paleoenvironments, and publishing them in a web based Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI),for access by the archaeology and paleoenvironment communities. The Open Science approach to the publication of data, allows to properly cite the publisheddatasets as bibliographic sources in research that builds upon these data sets.This paper has its focus on the implementation and setup of the Free and OpenSource Software for Geospatial (FOSS4G) based SDI, and on the workflow forcompiling and publishing the GIS data.

#556: GET-IT: an open source, free software for Long Term ecological research

Speakers: Simone Lanucara, Alessandro Oggioni, Paola Carrara

Abstract

The Italian Network for Long Term Ecological Research (LTER-Italy), part of the European Network for Long Term Ecological Research (LTER-Europe), is a network of terrestrial, fresh water, transitional waters and marine sites on which researchers carry out decadal-scale ecological research. The Italian network is composed by 83 research sites distributed throughout the national territory and managed by leading research institutions, universities and governmental agencies that deal with research and ecological monitoring in Italy.

Since 2012, several IT facilities have been developed, in different research projects, to enable LTER-Italy site managers to register, manage and share ecological data collected on field and so let users access information produced by the network.

This paper: (a) reviews the IT tools available to LTER Network and their issues, (b) analyzes and describes a free and open source software, GET-IT, (c) proposes a data management workflow by exploiting GET-IT, in order to share ecological data both inside the LTER Network and outside, towards others research networks.

#561: Identification of SAR Detected Targets on Sea in Near Real Time Applications for Maritime Surveillance

Speakers: Sergey Voinov, Egbert Schwarz, Detmar Krause, Matthias Berg

Abstract

Remote sensing technologies are widely used in maritime surveillance applications. Nowadays, spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) systems provide outstanding capabilities for target detection on sea for large areas independently from the weather conditions. Complementary information from the Automatic Identification System (AIS) makes it possible to generate a value-added target-detection product. Resulting layers on the maritime situation – once provided to decision makers - would be highly beneficial in order to understand what is going on at sea and how it would impact on Maritime Safety and Security. This paper describes the approach of SAR-AIS data fusion and its visualization means developed for Near Real Time (NRT) Applications for Maritime Situational Awareness.

#600: How to make a 3D web geoportal

Speaker: Gilbert Jeiziner (Swiss Federal Office of Topography swisstopo)

Abstract

Did you ever fly around a country in 3D? In your standard web browser? Without plugins? 3D for the web is an emerging technology. WebGL enables web browsers to exploit the GPU of a computer to create beautiful and fast 3D worlds. It is time for web geoportals to go 3D. swisstopo was able to create a 3D viewer for the geoportal of the swiss confederation map.geo.admin.ch. We'll show you how it was done - and how Open Source enabled it.

Links to project: https://github.com/geoadmin/mf-geoadmin3