Case Studies

HydroAnalyzer: An Open Source GIS Toolkit for Mining Hydrological Data

Session Type: 
Tech Session
Presenter(s): 
Ms Yang Cao, Idaho State University
Mr Daniel Ames

This paper presents the applications of the integration of Geographic Information System (GIS) and Data Mining knowledge to hydrological information studies. GIS is utilized for location visualization and spatial analysis operations, while Data Mining technique is employed to figure out the relationships between different types of hydrologic related data. HydroAnalyzer is developed as a plug-in of HydroDesktop, which is a free desktop GIS software for accessing data from CUAHSI-HIS, time series analysis, and hydrologic modeling.

Speaker Bio: 

Yang Cao is currently a Ph.D. student in Engineering & Applied Science, College of Engineering at Idaho State University. She received her B.S. in Geographic Information System and her M.S. in Cartography and Geographic Information respectively in June 2006 and in January 2009, China. She is carrying out research in the field of geosciences related to water resource management, hydrological modeling, and open source GIS software development. 

Schedule info

Thresholds of Proprietary Software Tolerance... (Open Source on Windows?!)

Session Type: 
Tech Session
Presenter(s): 
Dr Daniel Ames, Idaho State University

At first blush, Codeplex.com appears to be a self-contained oxymoron of a web site because it is developed and maintained by Microsoft to support the open source software community - especially projects based on Microsoft's .NET platform. Indeed, such a web site should not exist, and definitely should not succeed (though it is...) After all, who would want to create an open source software project -- ostensibly founded on the notion that free idea exchange is of even greater value than a free beer -- and host the project on a web site owned and operated by the very company that bears the greatest wrath of the open source community? Surprisingly, there are a great many (including myself and my colleagues) who would do (and are doing) just that. Are we traitors to our own kind? Are we wannabe OSS'ers who can't cut the Microsoft apron strings? Are we truly proprietary wolves in open source sheep's clothing? This presentation will explore these questions in the context of thresholds of proprietary software tolerance.

Speaker Bio: 

Dr. Daniel P. Ames is a professor of geosciences and civil engineering at Idaho State University. He is the project manager for the widely used MapWindow and DotSpatial FOSS4g projects and manages a research laboratory dedicated to development and application of geospatial software solutions. And he is learning to play the guitar.

Schedule info

Common pitfalls for users of OpenLayers

Session Type: 
Tech Session
Presenter(s): 
Marc Jansen, terrestris GmbH & Co. KG

Is it hard to create a map using the JavaScript library OpenLayers? Many would say it is not, yet on mailing lists, IRC or popular question and answer sites (e.g. Stack Overflow) some problems seem to be posted in a regular interval: "My features are all near the equator, but they shouldn't", "Why do I always get pink tiles?", "Why does it say 'Access to restricted URI denied' in my browser?", "How do I build a version of OpenLayers that only includes the parts I need?" etc.

Prior to the talk I will analyze the questions (and corresponding answers) on some of the places users ask for help. Additionally I will add comments and questions I get to hear when I train different target groups working with OpenLayers. The goal of the presentation is to identify some of the common pitfalls non-experienced users of OpenLayers run into. I will briefly present the specific problem that arose, the help the user got and whether official documentation (API documentation, examples, official FAQ etc.) could be used to solve the problem.

Eventually another goal of the talk is to enhance the documentation and/or code of the OpenLayers project where necessary and possible.

The talk is not only addressed to people already using OpenLayers (which maybe are already experiencing problems like the ones mentioned) but also to people considering the use of OpenLayers as mapping library in their project. The broad range of touched aspects will give a good first overview of the capabilities of OpenLayers, regarding both the code itself, the usage of the code in projects and finally the community around it.

Speaker Bio: 

Since 2007 I am working at the German company terrestris as a developer of geospatial web applications where I use all components of the "classical" GIS software stack on a daily basis (emphasis on the frontend). I try to participate in the OpenSource-prject i use; just recently I received trunk commit rights on the JavaScript library OpenLayers. I am one of the two authors of the 2009 published German book about OpenLayers and the usual components of the OpenSource GIS stack.

Schedule info

Status of the GeoTools project

Session Type: 
Tech Session
Presenter(s): 
Mr Jody Garnett, OSGeo
Mr Andrea Aime, GeoSolutions

We are pleased to introduce GeoTools 8. This presentation covers the latest and greatest developments in this OSGeo project.

GeoTools serves as a foundation for many of the exciting projects you will see here at FOSS4G. From 52N, Geomajas through to the early adopters such as GeoServer and uDig. An understanding of this core OSGeo project is an important piece in being productive in the open source Java GIS community.

With the component is such wide spread use it is important to understand how GeoTools has shifted its directions and goals as a Java library. This background information allow you to make the most of the GeoTools library at a business level. GeoTools offers a range of options for involvement allowing you to take part (even in an less formal capacity), set the direction, and participate in the release process.

Central to this presentation is an update on the new capabilities available in today's GeoTools. Key improvements, extensive new documentation, rendering capabilities and a range of extensions will be covered.

The presentation will include a quick tour of the base classes used to make integration easy and pain free, as show as they are used in the library. We also offer a sneak peek at developments in our unsupported sandbox including side by side comparisons of the gt-swing and gt-swt extensions.

If you are new to GeoTools development this is a great way to see what is available, and if you already know the project attend to keep up to date with the substantial improvements and additional capabilities available in today's GeoTools.

Speaker Bio: 

Jody Garnett is an active open source Java developer on the steering committee for GeoTools; GeoServer and uDig. Taking the roll of geospatial consultant a bit too literally Jody has presented workshops and training courses in every continent (except Antarctica). Jody Garnett is an employee of LISAsoft.

Schedule info

QGIS in an Academic Library: A Case Study

Session Type: 
Tech Session
Presenter(s): 
Frank Donnelly, Baruch College CUNY

This presentation will demonstrate how FOSS4G has been integrated into courses and research on a college campus via the library, will discuss methods for teaching FOSS4G, and will hi-light the strengths and challenges of using QGIS over proprietary alternatives in higher education. The library began offering instruction and support for QGIS in the Fall of 2009. Because the college is a commuter campus without strong support for GIS in the curriculum, offering QGIS through the library’s GIS program has filled an important niche for students and faculty who are new to GIS, are on a limited budget, and can't be tied down to a campus lab. I’ll discuss a paper I wrote on evaluating open source software for thematic mapping that led to an undergraduate level geographic information course in the library’s Information Studies minor. I’ll also share the results of a series of introductory, day-long, hands-on workshops in QGIS for graduate students and faculty that were held in Spring 2011. Participants from a variety of disciplines attended these workshops, primarily to learn GIS so they could apply it to their research. Novice GIS users appreciated the analytical power and perspective that GIS software provides while advanced GIS users who had never used FOSS4G were impressed with the software’s capabilities.

Baruch College is part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system of public colleges. Located in midtown Manhattan, Baruch has 17,000 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in business, arts and sciences, and public affairs. While there is interest in GIS in several departments on campus, the college doesn’t have the traditional departments, like geography and earth sciences, that typically provide GIS courses and services. GIS services are offered by a dedicated geospatial data librarian through the college’s library.

Speaker Bio: 

Frank Donnelly is the Geospatial Data Librarian at Baruch College, CUNY. He supports the use of GIS, mapping, and demographic / census data on his campus. He has an MA in Geography (University of Toronto) and an MLIS (University of Washington).

Schedule info

Syndicate content