Communicating Antarctic Science Using Open Source Software

Communicating Antarctic Science Using Open Source Software

Peter Pulsifer & D.R.F. TaylorGeomatics and Cartographic Research Centre

Carleton UniversityOpen Source GIS Conference

June 9, 2004

Presentation Overview

• The Cybercartographic Atlas of Antarctica Project

• Atlas Content• Partnerships• System Architecture• Conclusion

The Cybercartographic Atlas of Antarctica Project

Project History

• First proposed by Dr. Daniel Vergani of Argentina

• Formally adopted by SCAR in Sienna, 2001

• Three workshops held to date– Puerto Madryn, December 2001– Ottawa, May 2002– Ottawa, October 2003

Cybercartography

• Multisensory• Multimedia• Interactive• Information/analytical package• Produced by interdisciplinary teams• Forms new partnerships• Applied to a wide variety of subjects

Taylor, 2003

Goals of the Atlas• Atlas Goals:

– Create an innovative new product and methodology to compliment discovering, utilizing, presenting and distributing existing information and data about Antarctica to a wide variety of users, including scientists, decision makers and the general public

– Facilitate increased cooperation and information exchange between Antarctic stakeholders under the terms of the Antarctic treaty

– Through international cooperation, to develop and link National Atlases of Antarctica

Atlas Users• General public

– Learn from theme specific synthesis of data on Antarctica

• Policy makers– Integrate and analyse geographic information to

support policy decisions (Cordnonnery, 1999)• Scientists

– Integrate and analyse geographic information using scientific visualization to support information discovery and knowledge generation

Atlas Content

Atlas Volumes and Themes• Volume 1: Antarctica in a Global Context

– The Antarctic Ice Sheet: Implications of Global Climate Change

• Volume 2: The Continent of Antarctica– McMurdo Dry Valleys

• Volume 3: Antarctic Science– Geoscience: Subglacial Antarctic Lake Exploration

• Volume 4: Human Activity in Antarctica– Tourism in Antarctica

Maps

Digital Raster Graphics On-Line Services

Satellite Images

LandSat

IceSat

RadarSat

Aerial Photography

Hope Bay, Antarctic Peninsula. Compliments: U.S. Geological Survey

DEMs / Shaded Relief Maps

Source http://www.maps.ethz.ch

Mount Erebus, Ross Sea

Text

Images cont.

Process Animations

Folding of the Earth’s Crust Movement of the Earth’s Tectonic Plates Over Geologic Time Scale

Time Series Animation

Video

Partnerships

Providers

Users

RAMP IHOGlobalMapSAERADD CGA ADDS: AMD + NADCs

User / Providers

ADGRAVADMAP AGEANT ANTEC ANTOSTRATBEDMAPGIANT

AGONETGLOCHANTREADER SALE

EASIZEVOLANTARiSCCSealsBird BiologyEvolutionaryBiology

CybercartorgraphicAtlas of Antarctica:

•Geoscience•Physical Science•Life Science•Human Activity

National AtlasesArg.,PRC,U.S.A.

Data Standing Committee (JCADM)

COMNAP

CCAMLR

SCAR:Life Sciences

SCAR:PhysicalSciences

SCAR:Geosciences

PolicyGeneral Public

Scientists









COMNAPCOMNAP

CCAMLRCCAMLR

SCAR:Life Sciences

SCAR:Life Sciences



SCAR:GeosciencesSCAR:Geosciences

PolicyGeneral PublicGeneral Public

ScientistsScientists

Data Infrastructure

HubNode

Data, Metadata, Semantics

System Architecture

CAAP Conceptual Framework

Data Infrastructure

Mediator

Scientists General PublicInterface

Policy Makers

Application (atlas)

Portrayal (map renderer)

Processing (modeling software)

Data (feature service)

Service (example)

Registry (metadata catalog)

UserGeneral Service Architecture

Interface

Mediator

Infrastructure

KGIS

<data service>

Atlas of Ant. Research

<data service>

ADD

<data service>

Gateway Antarctica

<data service>

Multimedia

<data service>

Text

<data service>

Atlas Hub

<portrayal service> <processing service>

[<data service>]

Policy Support

<application service>

Theme specific synthesis


Scientific Visualization


<catalog service><registry service>

SCAR Partners SCAR/External Partners

The Atlas

Example of Partner OGC Data Services for The Atlas

Partner OGC Web Services

<service>

Antarctic Maps<wms>

Antarctic Map Layer Styles

<sld>

Res

pons

e{G

ML/

IM

L}Req

uest

{ht

tp}

Antarctic Features

<wfs>

Antarctic Feature Catalog

<ftc>

Antarctic Imagery/DEM

<wcs>

Comp. Gaz. Antarctica

<gazetter>

Request/Response

Request/Response

INTERFACE

Maps (SVG) | 3D/4D Rendering (GeoVRML) | Geo-Imagery (OCX) | Multi-Media (IE, Flash Player etc.) | [Multisensory] | Search Interface

Standards Encoded Requests/Data/Metadata (XML / GML / ISO19115 XML)

Representation of the Real World

Real World Observations

INFRASTRUCTURE

Metadata Service

Imagery

.IPQ

.SID

TextData Images Sounds Video

.html.xml

.jpg.png

.mp3.wav

.mpg

.mov

Olfactory Haptic

? ?

GeographicDatabase

- PostGIS- ArcSDE

Geo-files

.sdts.shp

Sensor

-sensorML

Catalog Service

Web Data Services

Request/Response

Standards Encoded Requests / Data/Metadata (XML / GML / ISO19115 XML)

MEDIATOR

Geographic Mediator – Modeling/Data ProcessingVariety of Software: ArcGIS, PCI, eCognition, Idrisi, Semantic Translator, Information Mapper

Internet MapServer

ImageServer

Web Server

Cartographic Mediator – Integration/Representation (Scripting and Transformation i.e. PHP, XSLT)

Media Server

Multisensory Media Server

Cartographic Mediator - Abstraction (Server Side Scripting and Transformation i.e. PHP, XSLT)

(Pulsifer, 2004)


INFRASTRUCTURE

Metadata Service

Imagery

.IPQ

.SID


.html.xml

.jpg.png

.mp3.wav

.mpg

.mov

Olfactory Haptic

? ?

GeographicDatabase

- PostGIS- ArcSDE

Geo-files

.sdts.shp

Sensor

-sensorML

Catalog Service

Web Data Services

Request/Response (Pulsifer, 2004)

Infrastructure

• Data and Registry Services: – Open source object relational database (PostGIS)

central to infrastructure – WMS, WFS, WCS (Mapserver)– Catalog service (deegree)– Sensor Collection Service using SensorML (GML)– Gazetteer (deegree)

– Standardized feature model under development– Semantics - future will see open standards formal

ontology used by mediator level

Request/Response


INFRASTRUCTURE

Metadata Service

Imagery

.IPQ

.SID


.html.xml

.jpg.png

.mp3.wav

.mpg

.mov

Olfactory Haptic

? ?

GeographicDatabase

- PostGIS- ArcSDE

Geo-files

.sdts.shp

Sensor

-sensorML

Catalog Service

Web Data Services

Request/Response


MEDIATOR

Geographic Mediator – Modeling/Data ProcessingVariety of Software: Modeling, Semantic Translation, Information Mapping

Internet MapServer

ImageServer

Web Server


Media Server



(Pulsifer, 2004)

Geographic Mediation

• Processing Services:– Coordinate transformation (Proj4)– ‘Geofusion’ (development project, OGC)– Semantic Translation (RDF, DAML+OIL)– Image classification (GRASS)– Advanced modelling (GRASS, PostGIS)

Cartographic Mediation

• Portrayal services:– Map (Mapserver) – Coverage (Mapserver)– Terrain (deegree)– Multi-media / multi-modal (Apache, others)

Request/Response

Request/Response

INTERFACE

Maps (SVG) | 3D/4D Rendering (GeoVRML) | Geo-Imagery (OCX) | Multi-Media (IE, Flash Player etc.) | [Multisensory] | Search Interface

Standards Encoded Requests/Data/Metadata (XML / GML / ISO19115 XML)

Representation of the Real World


INFRASTRUCTURE

Metadata Service

Imagery

.IPQ

.SID


.html.xml

.jpg.png

.mp3.wav

.mpg

.mov

Olfactory Haptic

? ?

GeographicDatabase

- PostGIS- ArcSDE

Geo-files

.sdts.shp

Sensor

-sensorML

Catalog Service

Web Data Services

Request/Response


MEDIATOR

Geographic Mediator – Modeling/Data ProcessingVariety of Software: ArcGIS, PCI, eCognition, Idrisi, Semantic Translator, Information Mapper

Internet MapServer

ImageServer

Web Server


Media Server



(Pulsifer, 2004)

Interface• Rendering Applications:

– HTML, JavaScript (Apache, Mapserver) – SVG (Mapserver experimental) – Flash (Mapserver + Flash experimental) – 3D/4D rendering (TBD i.e. NVIZ 3D)

Architecture Summary

• Developed to support multimedia cartography based on a Spatial Data Infrastructure model

• Modular design intended to provide flexibility, scalability

• Based on open standards (i.e. OGC)• Uses (but not limited to) open source

software

Conclusion

• Cybercartographic Atlas of Antartica aims to communicate Antarctic science using multi-media cartography

• System based on distributed knowledge and data

• Open source technologies have facilitated the development of a flexible system that can be shared among stakeholders

Acknowledgement

• The Author acknowledges the support of the Initiatives on the New Economy program of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

Documents

Communicating Antarctic Science Using Open Source Software