FOSS for Geospatial
Unit Two
Kurt Menke, GISP
What’s Out There?
A whole lot!!!
Over 350 project entries on http://freegis.org
This will be a selection of some of the leading
packages
Paul Ramsey
Refractions Research Inc.
The State of Open Source GIS
Different Realms

Desktop

Geoprocessing/Analysis

Spatial Databases

Web Mapping Servers

Web Mapping Clients
Today we’ll just cover some of the leading Desktop packages
Can be divided into different language tribes
The programming language the source code is
written in

C/C++

Java

.Net
Some Foundations
GDAL/OGR : Frank Warmerdam (FWTools)
Tools for reading, writing, and processing

GDAL - Geospatial Data Abstraction Library


Raster
OGR - OpenGIS Simple Features Reference

Vector
Proj4
Tools for working with projections
OGR Vector Formats
OGR
Tools for manipulating
vector data
Over 40 vector data
formats supported
Commandline Utilities
ogrinfo - Lists information about
an OGR supported data source
ogr2ogr - Converts simple
features data between file
formats
ogrtindex - Creates a tileindex
Format Name
Code
Creation
Arc/Info .E00 (ASCII)
Coverage
AVCE00
No
AutoCAD DXF
DXF
Yes
Comma Separated Value
(.csv)
CSV
Yes
ESRI Personal
GeoDatabase
PGeo
No
ESRI ArcSDE
SDE
No
ESRI Shapefile
ESRI Shapefile
Yes
GeoRSS
GML
GPX
GRASS
KML
GeoRSS
Yes
GML
Yes
GPX
Yes
GRASS
No
KML
Yes
Mapinfo File
MapInfo File
Yes
Microstation DGN
DGN
Yes
MySQL
MySQL
No
Oracle Spatial
OCI
Yes
EPIInfo .REC
REC
No
SDTS
U.S. Census TIGER/Line
SDTS
No
TIGER
No
GDAL Raster Formats
GDAL
Long Format Name
Arc/Info ASCII Grid
Tools for manipulating
raster data
Over 100 raster data
formats supported
Here's a sample -->
Code
AAIGrid
Creation
Georeferencing
Yes
Yes
Microsoft Windows Device
Independent Bitmap
(.bmp)
BMP
Yes
Yes
ERMapper Compressed
Wavelets (.ecw)
ECW
Yes
Yes
Erdas Imagine Raw
EIR
No
Yes
ENVI .hdr Labelled Raster ENVI
Yes
Yes
Graphics Interchange
Format (.gif)
GRASS Rasters
GIF
GRASS
Yes
No
No
Yes
Erdas Imagine (.img)
JPEG JFIF (.jpg)
HFA
JPEG
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
JPEG2000 (.jp2, .j2k)
JPEG2000
Yes
Yes
JPEG2000 (.jp2, .j2k)
Portable Network
Graphics (.png)
ArcSDE Raster
JP2MrSID
Yes
Yes
PNG
SDE
Yes
No
No
Yes
USGS ASCII DEM (.dem)
GDAL Virtual (.vrt)
USGSDEM
VRT
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
WKTRaster No
Yes
OGC Web Coverage Server WCS
WKTRaster
GDAL
Command line utilities
gdalinfo - report information about a file.
gdal_translate - Copy a raster file, with control of output
format.
gdaladdo - Add overviews to a file…pyramids
gdalwarp - Warp an image into a new coordinate system.
gdal_contour - Contours from DEM.
gdaldem - Tools to analyze and visualize DEMs.
rgb2pct.py - Convert a 24bit RGB image to 8bit paletted.
pct2rgb.py - Convert an 8bit paletted image to 24bit RGB.
GDAL
Command line Utilities cont…
gdal_merge.py - Build a quick mosaic from a set of images.
gdal_rasterize - Rasterize vectors into raster file.
gdaltransform - Transform coordinates.
nearblack - Convert nearly black/white borders to exact
value.
gdal_grid - Create raster from the scattered data.
gdal_polygonize.py - Generate polygons from raster.
gdal_sieve.py - Raster Sieve filter.
gdal_fillnodata.py - Interpolate in nodata regions.
gdal-config - Get options required to build software using
GDAL.
PROJ4
Engine for re-projecting and transforming geospatial
datasets from one SRS to another


Integrated into many FOSS and proprietary packages

QGIS

GRASS GIS

MapServer

gvSIG

PostGIS

Google Earth
PROJ4
Uses Well-known text (WKT) – a text markup language for
representing spatial reference systems...among other
things


SRS's are often referenced by EPSG codes


A unique code for every SRS
http://www.epsg.org/
This is the same format ESRI uses in the *.prj file for a
shapefile spatial reference

Desktop Packages

GRASS GIS (C)

Quantum GIS (aka QGIS) (C)

MapWindow (.Net)

uDig (Java)

GvSig (Java)
GRASS GIS
Geographic Resources Analysis Support System
 Oldest active GIS package, has been under continuous
development since 1982!
 Development History



U.S. Army - Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (USACERL) originally directed its development
1995 -2001 – revived by Baylor University
2001 – current – ITC a research center in Italy
GRASS GIS
Geographic Resources Analysis Support System
Has a different vocabulary and workflow which takes
getting used to
 Originally raster based but now includes vector
 Extremely powerful
 Historically had no GUI and was Linux based.
 Recently true windows versions are available with a nice
GUI
Cartography
3D Visualization
Image Processing
Vector Analysis…GRASS isn’t just for rasters
anymore
Chart symbolization
Buffers
Networks
Quantum GIS
Part of the C tribe
Available for Windows, Linux & Mac
 Active Development community
 User Plugins
 Active listserv
 Lots of new functionality
 Easy intuitive interface
 Can be used as a front end to GRASS GIS

Integrating Tools
The QGIS Application Stack

QGIS – desktop GIS
Powerful

PROJ4 – projection engine
Package

GDAL/OGR – raster/vector manipulation

GRASS – raster analysis
MapWindow GIS
http://www.mapwindow.org/
•
•
•
•
•
Similar to QGIS in many ways but part of the
.net family
Only available for Windows
Developed by Daniel Armes at Univ Utah
Active Development community
Not too hard to guess how ArcGIS features are
implemented
2
3
MapWindow GIS
MapWindow GIS
•
Plugins similar to QGIS
•
Built-in access to Google geocoder
•
Watershed tools
•
Built-in GPS functions
Basic Raster tools
Basic Vector
tools
uDIG
User-Friendly Desktop Internet GIS
http://udig.refractions.net
Part of the Java tribe
 Mostly a viewer…but can be much more
 Available on Windows/Mac/Linux
 Internet oriented – designed to consume
geospatial services: OGC standards (WMS, WFS,
WCS) and GeoRSS & KML
 Can be used as a front end to JGRASS (Java
GRASS)
 Developed by Refractions Research

gvSIG
http://www.gvsig.org/web/
Part of the Java tribe


Available for Windows, Linux, Mac
Multi-lingual…very popular in Europe

Spanish, Valencian, English, Basque, Gallego, Czech, Chinese,
French, German, Greek, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, PortugueseBrazilian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Swahili and Turkish


Not all dialogs/tools are completely in English

Not a wide English speaking user base

Unique workflow
GvSIG Oxford Edition
http://oadigital.net/
The better version for english speakers

Multi-lingual: more than 20 languages already included, easy to add more

Flexible, multi-document workspace with side-by-side data views, map layouts etc.

Rich vector data functionality, including thematic maps, symbology and CAD-like
editing capabilities


Topological and network data analysis

Rich raster data tools, including remote sensing, georeferencing and transformations

Map layout and PDF/PS production facilities
Easy-to-use and flexible geoprocessing tools for typical raster and vector processing
tasks

More than 500 additional geoprocessing tools via the SEXTANTE extension and GRASS
GIS interface

GRASS 6.4 included in the installation package; all you need, on all supported operating
systems

Very
similar to
ArcView
3.x in
form but
with
dockable
windows
The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo)





Non-profit formed in 2006
Goal of supporting and building the best open source geospatial
tools possible including data
Provides financial, organizational and legal support to the broader
Free and Open Source geospatial community
Serves as an independent legal entity to which community
members can contribute code, funding and other resources, secure
in the knowledge that their contributions will be maintained for
public benefit.
Provides a common forum and shared infrastructure for improving
cross-project collaboration
http://www.osgeo.org/
Projects under the OSGeo umbrella
Desktop Applications
GRASS GIS
Quantum GIS
gvSIG
Geospatial Libraries
FDO
GDAL/OGR
GeoTools
GEOS
MetaCRS
OSSIM
PostGIS
Web Mapping
Server
MapServer
deegree
Geomajas
GeoServer
Client
Mapbender
MapFish
MapGuide Open
Source
OpenLayers
Metadata Catalog
GeoNetwork
opensource
FOSS4G
Free and Open Source Software GeoSpatial Annual
Conference
Hosted by OSGeo
2004
OSG Ottawa, Canada
200 att
2003
1st Mapserver Users Meeting, St
Paul, MN
125 att
2005
OSG – St. Paul, MN
350 att
FOSS4G
Free and Open Source Software GeoSpatial Annual
Conference
Hosted by OSGeo
2006
Lausanne, Switzerland
560
2007
Victoria, Canada
721
2008
Cape Town, S. Africa
550
2010
Barcelona, Spain
822
2009
Sydney, Australia
436
FOSS4G
2011 FOSS4G - Denver!
http://2011.foss4g.org/
1st MapServer Meeting: St. Paul, MN 2003
Conclusion(s)

You can most GIT needs with FOSS GIS

It is fun and a rising force

GIS ready to do real work
Weaknesses are probably cartography & having to learn
different software and workflows

Strengths: ability to read/write different formats, open
standards strictly followed, allows for interoperability

There is an economic gain by not having to pay huge license
fees

You can reduce your dependence on proprietary vendors &
become involved in a collaborative GIS community

QGIS Demo
Can Start on Lab 2 – Intro to QGIS