Free and Open Source GIS

an introduction to open-source spatial software/GIS

What is Free &Open Source GIS?Why use Free Open Source GIS?Why teach Free open source GIS?Different types of Free open Source GISMisconceptions about Free Open Source GIS

What is Free &open source GIS? The freedom to use the software, for any

purpose. The freedom to study how the software works

and to change / adapt it to fit your needs.The freedom to redistribute copies. The freedom to distribute copies of your

modified software to others, allowing the community to benefit from your changes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Stallman

FOSS4G:Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial

OSGEO:The Open Source Geospatial Foundation

http://opensourcegis.org/

Why Use Open Source GIS?

Supported by huge development & support community Community is very passionate about helping each other and continually improving software

Low start-up costsIt is now possible to install a complete GIS stack without paying a cent - LEGALLY

SecurityArguably more secure than proprietary software Backed by large development communityComplex Bugs are found and fixed quickly

Why Use Open Source GIS? (cont’d)

Works on all major platforms (Mac, Linux, Windows) Nothing is missing,

Desktop GIS, Spatial Database Storage, Server...Tons of analysis tools (No licensing worries)Community developed add-ons

Works with existing GIS dataImport .shp files, most major formatsExport to most major formatsSupport all Major file formats

Vector formats and Raster Formats(Import and Export or directly works on the base format)

Why Teach Open Source GIS?

1. Basic exploration on GIS Software's and Projects

2. Becoming an increasingly necessary job skill, Companies with existing GIS(Packages) are

interested in using open source GIS software's 3.Makes GIS marketable to smaller firms and

non-profits4. Drives innovation, through sharing of

knowledge & source code 5. Code is open and human-readable for

developers.

The Stack of Free GISFree Alternatives For Your GIS Needs

Quantum GIS - Desktop GIShttp://www.qgis.org/

GRASS - (Geographic Resources Analysis Support System)http://grass.osgeo.org/

PostgreSQL/ PostGIS - Spatial Databasehttp://www.postgresql.org/ http://postgis.refractions.net/

GeoServer - Server for Online Publishing/ Data Sharinghttp://geoserver.org/display/GEOS/Welcome

OpenLayers - Web Application Programming Interface (API)http://openlayers.org/

MapServer http://mapserver.org/There are many more options, but these are good so far.

Open GIS Desktop Software's

Quantum GIS (QGIS)Desktop application – very user friendly

Can work directly with .shp file, and too many to list

Any Platform – Windows, Mac, Linux

FREE

Plugins available (Similar to Firefox add-ons)

Allow spatial analysis, 3-D analysis, statistical analysis...

User interface for GRASS tools. (Default)

PostGIS interface. (Default)

Map Server export(Default)

www.qgis.org

GRASS is developed by a worldwide network of developers who continue to release new GRASS versions regularly.GRASS is used for used for geospatial data management and analysis, image processing, graphics/map production, spatial modelling, and visualization.

http://grass.osgeo.org/community/index.phphttp://grass.osgeo.org/gdp/html_grass64/helptext.html

GRASSGeographic Resources Analysis Support System

GRASSGeographic Resources Analysis Support System

Geospatial data management

Analysis

Image processing

Graphics/maps production

Spatial modeling

Visualization

Tons of tools + functions = Very complex analysis

Now there's a simple user interface through QGISGRASS is an official project of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation.

http://grass.osgeo.org/

GDAL is a translator library for raster geospatial data formats...

It also comes with a variety of useful command line utilities for data translation and processing.

GDAL

Report information about a file.

Copy a raster file, with control of output format.

Warp an image into a new coordinate system.

Contours from DEM.

Tools to analyze and visualize DEMs.

Build a quick mosaic from a set of images.

Rasterize vectors into raster file.

Transform coordinates.

With GDAL tools you can:

Free Open GIS Databases

PostgreSQL + PostGIS

PostgreSQL is a powerful, open source object-relational database system

good spatial databaseConforms to Open Geospatial Consortium standards(ArcSDE can connect to it)Secure storage for both spatial and non spatial dataColumn level permissions granularity PostGIS "spatially enables" the PostgreSQL server, allowing it to

be used as a backend spatial database for (GIS), much like ESRI's SDE

http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards

Spatial Lite

• The SpatiaLite extension enables SQLite to support spatial data too [aka GEOMETRY], in a way conformant to Open GIS specifications.

• Supports all spatial data formats with open GIS specifications

• supports importing and exporting from / to shape files

Free open source Web GIS

http://opengeo.org/publications/opengeo-architecture/

The Procedure Web GIS(Open Source)

Map ServerMapServer is an Open Source geographic data rendering engine written in C. Beyond browsing GIS data, MapServer allows you create “geographic image maps”, that is, maps that can direct users to content.

MapServer was originally developed by the University of Minnesota (UMN) For Net project in cooperation with NASA,

A map file may have zero, one or more OUTPUTFORMAT object declarations, defining available output formats supported including formats like PNG, GIF, JPEG, GeoTIFF, SVG, PDF and KML.

http://mapserver.org/#

OpenLayersJavaScript Library, including API

Similar to Google Maps API

Makes building dynamic mapping webpages VERY easy

Provides the tools needed to easily add a map to a webpage

Allows overlaying your own data

Can display map tiles and markers loaded from any source

http://openlayers.org/

Common Misconceptions about Open Source GIS Software

• Not robust application.• No Commercial Support.• Opposite to proprietary

Packages/ Software's.• No regional/specific support.• Incompatible.• substandard compared to

proprietary software

Now What?Quantum GIS is a great place to start…If you've ever used a GIS, you'll feel right at home!http://qgis.org/

QGIS Tutorial http://qgis.spatialthoughts.com/

Windows users start with OSGeo4W http://trac.osgeo.org/osgeo4w/

Tutorials / User Guides

QGIS: http://qgis.org/en/documentation/manuals.html

OpenLayers, and more: http://www.bostongis.com/ PostGIS:

http://postgis.refractions.net/documentation/manual-1.3/ GeoServer: http://docs.geoserver.org/1.7.x/user/ GRASS: http://grass.osgeo.org/wiki/GRASS_Help MapServer:http://mapserver.org/introduction.html#introduction