ESRI ArcGIS API for Microsoft Silverlight + MassGIS GeoServer WMS One or more MassGIS GeoServer WMS layers can be included with an ESRI Silverlight template client. This Silverlight client by MassGIS' Gabriela Laird can mix and match services from ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Server, or other WMS offerings. Simply edit the Page.xaml file to point to the MassGIS GeoServer WMS (http://giswebservices.massgis.state.ma.us/geoserver/wms) and one or more layers.
MassGIS WFS used in an example by Christian Spanring of Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) on how to reproject vectors in OpenLayers using Proj4js. Note: Using WFS 1.1.0 you can get vector data from MassGIS GeoServer is almost 4,000 differennt projections. WFS 1.0.0 will not reproject however, 1.1.0 needs to be used.
Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC)'s Christian Spanring has created an OpenLayers application http://maps.mapc.org/myrwa/ for the Mystic River Watershed Association that also showcases some of the great UI options of GeoExt, a JavaScript toolkit for rich mapping applications. Click the “Data Tables” to see tabular data that can be sorted and filtered. It connects to MassGIS Web Mapping Services for some of its layers.
Online mapping statistics for 2009 calculated.
Plans for the new year: We are wrapping up the effort to speed up drawing of SDE raster data in GeoServer. We should see 4-5 times faster raster drawing. In order to take advantage of the new code we'll need to upgrade (to GeoServer version 2.x). Since the configuration of the data is different in 2.x vs. 1.7.x we're working to make sure everything is preserved so that the upgrade will go smoothly. We'll give everyone ample warning before an upgrade takes place, and give everyone a chance to test their apps on our test server as well.
Online Mapping PowerPoint poster (showing organization of systems components) and Web Mapping Services PowerPoint poster (showing a selection of client screenshots) have been updated.
The Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game (DFG)'s GIS program has developed for their Office of Fishing and Boating Access (OFBA) updated boat ramp maps delivered online using OpenLayers, Google maps, and the MassGIS Web Mapping Services. Kevin Robicheau worked on this project. In his words: “OFBA publishes an atlas of boat ramp locations throughout the Commonwealth. Those boat ramp maps have long been available online as PDFs. In replacing the PDFs our effort focused on creating a set of maps that are easy to update, have an easy to use user interface(UI), and print from all types of web browsers. To see the maps view this web page: OFBA Boat Ramps and click the Facility Name link to see the associated map.”
The MassGIS web mapping services are listed in the new Commonwealth of Massachusetts Open Data Initiative Data Catalog wiki. See what other state data is available to mix and match with MassGIS data.
Select MassGIS / Coastal Zone Management (CZM) datalayers are being used in the Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal Ocean Observing Systems (NERACOOS) Map and Model Viewer. In the list of layers on the right side, scroll down to the “Mass. GIS / CZM” section. NERACOOS is an organization with a mission partly to lead the development, implementation, operation, and evaluation of a sustained, regional coastal ocean observing system for the northeast United States and Canadian Maritime provinces, as part of the United States Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS). MassGIS / CZM involvement in a broader regional data library shows the power of data integration with WMS.
A new script has been deployed which tests for disappearance of the squid caching process. This new script checks to see if this happens and starts squid. Squid process disappearance only causes the GeoServer to be disconnected from the cluster, but this script will help ensure that all 3 instances are up and listening.
I have successfully added a user-defined projection to GeoServer. We are currently serving almost 4,000 projections, but if there is another that you need just let me know. http://spatialreference.org/ is a useful reference.
A new script has been deployed which tests for “bad GeoServer restarts”. An existing script restarts GeoServer (actually) if necessary, but sometimes during a restart GeoServer would have a problem reaching the datastore (SDE). This new script checks to see if this happens and restarts yet again. We're going to see if we can get the root problem resolved, but for now the new script should mean more datalayer availability.
The Free and Open Source Software for GeoSpatial (FOSS4G2009) conference in Sydney, Australia October 20-23 had a presentation that mentioned the MassGIS Web Mapping Services (slide 30). It's called “GeoServer in Production” by Andrea Aaime
The Nov 16th New England Chapter of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association NEURISA conference had two presentations that mentioned the MassGIS Web Mapping Services:
The 2008 15cm orthos (GISDATA.IMG_COQ2008_15CM) have been successfully reloaded and draw normally in WMS again. The speckled areas have not reappeared during this loading.
Developer Notes:
NOTE: a crossdomain.xml is available: http://giswebservices.massgis.state.ma.us/crossdomain.xml
A poster of screenshots of some applications using the services.
- A Case Study about MassGIS' use of GeoServer is now on the OpenGeo web site.
- 2008 15cm orthos are being reloaded because of a problem with speckles appearing in many areas. We hope to have them available again soon.
- GISDATA.GEONAMES_LINE_HYPSO is a new layer. In addition, curved labels are now available (as default) for: GISDATA.GEONAMES_LINE_HYPSO, GISDATA.GEONAMES_LINE_HYDRO, GISDATA.NAVTEQRDS_ARC, GISDATA.NAVTEQRDS_ARC_OOS, GISDATA.EOTROADS_ARC.
If you currently use GISDATA.GEONAMES_PT_HYDRO we suggest switching to GISDATA.GEONAMES_LINE_HYDRO which also has lake names. GISDATA.GEONAMES_PT_PLACES, GISDATA.GEONAMES_LINE_HYDRO, GISDATA.GEONAMES_LINE_HYPSO and GISDATA.GEONAMES_PT_HYPSO have been updated. GISDATA.GEONAMES_PT_HYDRO has not been updated.
Gave Powerpoint presentation at Northeast Arc Info Users Conference (NEARC) in Nashua, NH about the MassGIS Web Mapping Services.
People who have Windows Vista or Windows 7 can use a new desktop gadget called the GOS (GeoSpatial One Stop) Dashboard to browse for geographic data and launch GIS applications. This product was developed by The Carbon Project (with partners the US Army Corp of Engineers and the NSDI community) under a The Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Cooperative Agreements Program (CAP) grant and uses http://www.geodata.gov. Since MassGIS WMS and WFS are connected to the GeoData.Gov site, all the 850 datalayer available through the MassGIS Web Mapping Services are available through the new GOS Dashboard. The product connects to GeoData.Gov via a GeoRSS feed. More info about the tool such as slideshow, demo movie, forum and download link are available here: http://thecarbonportal.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=Downloads&file=index&req=viewdownload&cid=6
One of the main new functionalities of the new GeoServer is to display raster images from SDE. Raster data includes aerial photos, topos, impervious surface, bathymetry, wind maps, etc. Unfortunately some of the new raster layers are not drawing consistently - sometimes blank images will be generated. We expect to have a fix in about a week. Meanwhile, check out some of the other new functionality available:
Ability to use Swivel more easily for charts
A new, GeoServer backed OLIVER is also available. OLIVER is a map viewing and downloading application. New features include:
1. Switch to more up-to-date street data for geocoding / address matching
2. Improved algorithm for geocoding / address matching
3. Ability to clip image data (e.g. orthos) as well as vector data (points/lines/polygons)
4. Ability to switch between various foldersets of data
5. Removed confusing login screen
6. Now backed by GeoServer instead of ArcIMS
7. Faster data downloads
We are now running GeoServer 1.7.6. Let me know if there are any problems. More info soon on new functionality.
Upgrade is still on for this morning at 9:30 AM. There <shouldn't> be any downtime. More info soon.
An updated version of MassGIS' online mapping system diagram (including applications using the services and request stats) is available.
This is a message to give everyone warning that we're hoping to upgrade our GeoServer the morning of August 18th. like to test it against the new version please give me a call or email and I can make sure the test version is up and running for you.
In particular if you use the WFS you should note that the response format is now slightly different - in addition to an overall bounding box at the top of the response each feature will have a bounding box. Your application's parsing of the response may or may not get tripped up by the new format. I know some of you have tested already.
The good part about going through the hassle of upgrading is that we'll get 100 new raster datalayers (such as topo maps and impervious surface) and other improvements. Once the upgrade is done I'll send out pointers to some documentation on new features.
Feel free to call or email with any questions. 617-626-1193 or Aleda.Freeman@state.ma.us
DOE's Schools Near Me application using Google maps and MassGIS web mapping services released. Written by John Kim. Update 12/23/2009: From now on contact Brian Philpot.
In support of CZM's Draft Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan, 2009, about 85 layers have been added to the web mapping services. See the layers list or view the data through the MORIS application.
Gave presentation (Powerpoint or PDF) on MassGIS web mapping services at MAPC Data Day at Northeastern.
USGS Color Orthos 2008 15cm (GISDATA.IMG_COQ2008_15CM) are now available through GeoServer. The imagery is not statewide. See the metadata.
Online mapping and webservices will be down for maintenance Tuesday morning, May 26th until approximately 11:30AM. We apologize for the inconvenience.
USGS Color Orthos 2008 30cm (GISDATA.IMG_COQ2008_30CM) and an index layer (GISDATA.COQ2008INDEX_POLY) are now available through GeoServer. The imagery is not statewide. See the metadata. The 15cm are coming soon….
The 3 parcel layers are back, but they now have 3 brothers - versions without the very complex road polygons. While the road polygons are part of the standard, GeoServer was having some trouble working with them in a timely manner, so creating copies without the complex road polygons reduced vertices in the layers by 20%. Please use these 3 layers if you can: GISDATA.ASSESSPAR_POLY_PUBLIC_NOROADS, GISDATA.ASSESSPARNC_POLY_PUB_NOROADS. This should be temporary as TOPP is looking into improving the performance of SDE polygon layers that have polygons with large numbers of vertices.
2 layers were removed temporarily, to try to speed up their drawing time. They are GISDATA.ASSESSPAR_POLY_PUBLIC, GISDATA.ASSESSPARNC_POLY_PUBLIC.
MassGIS has contracted with OpenGeo, the geospatial division of The Open Planning Project (TOPP), the group that started the GeoServer project in 2001, for improvements to our GeoServer web mapping services. The first task, already started, is to complete the coding begun by Saul Farber to allow GeoServer to read all rasters types from SDE. Upon completion of this work USGS topos, impervious surface and wind speed grids, ocean radar maps and other rasters will be available through the giswebservices system. MassGIS has an improved version of the OLIVER online mapping client which will be released once all rasters are available. In addition, TOPP will help MassGIS improve the system's speed and reliability. For announcements on progress, feel free to join the public MassGIS web mapping services Google Group at http://groups.google.com/group/massgis_webservices/ MassGIS will strive to upgrade the system while keeping downtime to a minimum. Feel free to send other questions or comments to Aleda.Freeman@state.ma.us.
Created online mapping poster showing applications going to GeoServer and/or ArcIMS, number of requests. Online Mapping Applications Powerpoint Poster
MassGIS is glad that more organizations are using the web mapping services. We wish to keep them up and running well for everyone's use, so to that end I'm issuing this friendly reminder on appropriate use:
The webservices are not meant for <any> kind of batch processing. They are meant to support applications that need on-the-fly data processing. In other words, someone enters a lat/long in a web form or clicks a web map and you need to figure out which town it's in, or you need to figure out the XY of an address. You simply don't know ahead of time. If you have a table of addresses on your hard drive that you want to geocode or a table of lat/long that you wish to determine the town for please use GIS desktop software. Your job will run faster and you'll keep the traffic off the webservices. The webservices just can't handle unlimited traffic so we have to prioritize.
You don't necessarily need to buy GIS desktop software, there are several free open source applications out there (uDig, MapWindow) that can probably get the job done. If you can't figure out how to do the processing that you need to do let me know and we'll work something out.
GeoServer was updated to version 6.5beta.
Consider using PNG8 instead of PNG as an output format for much smaller images (which will download faster). See a comparison.
GetMap SLD requests can now use images out on the Internet.
KML projection problem fixed!
Content on the WMS Raster Imagery page has been updated to reflect what's really going on. Hopefully contrast-stretching and more raster format support will be coming soon!
When we upgraded to GeoServer 1.6 on August 17th there were some lingering issues. These have now been fixed:
Please let us know if you find problems. Saul is working next on the “KML output being in the wrong projection” problem. However, we are thinking of deploying new versions on a set schedule, perhaps once a month so disruptions can be predicted.
Validate GetMap and GetFeature requests against schemas. GetFeature requests in this wiki have been changed to be valid examples (4/24/07), they can be used as models. GetMap requests in the wiki were already valid. In particular, if posting to /wfs version and service parameters are required.
MassGIS now invites anyone to use its web mapping services! (previously the policy was to restrict their use to government projects). If you have any questions about the MassGIS web mapping services, feel free to email Aleda.Freeman@state.ma.us or Saul.Farber@state.ma.us. In addition, if taking a class to learn more about web services fits your needs, there is an opportunity this spring. Saul will be teaching an evening class in learning about the WMS and WFS specifications in detail, and how to apply them to your web-mapping projects at UMass Boston. Contact him for further details. Class web page, which contains some good example code.
Certain MassGIS datalayers are now being streamed to the USGS National Map Viewer from the MassGIS web mapping services. Layers can be drawn and identified. (Legends should appear soon. Downloading apparently is not supported through The National Map in our case except by clicking to the metadata page.
MassGIS has deployed its vector data in GeoServer 1.5. Saul is working on getting GeoServer to work with SDE rasters. OLIVER will be ported to GeoServer soon.
Department of Conservation and Recreation's Well Drillers Program's new web based data entry application developed by MassGIS uses web mapping services. The well driller enters GPS coordinates and is shown the point on a map (with 2005 orthophotos, roads, and other layers as a backdrop). If the point is not in the correct location it can be moved. The Spring application uses MapBuilder for the map portion. The well driller can also print the map at the end of the data entry process.