This is a presentation I found in my archive from a long time back. Boy, Open Source GIS has come a LONG way.

1. Open Source GIS and Spatial
Data Analysis Software
2005 Crime Mapping Research Conference
Jason Dalton
Vice President, Research and Development
Spatial Data Analytics Corporation
jdalton@spadac.com
www.spadac.com

2. Reasons to attend this workshop:
You need to streamline GIS
data management and
analysis functions
You need low cost solutions to
replace outdated commercial
products
You have a new analysis
technique you’d like to try, but
don’t know how to program
software.
You are a software developer
looking to learn about open
source development
You don’t like paying for
software

3. Workshop roadmap
Distinction between freeware and open
source
Data access and manipulation
GIS Viewers
Data Analysis
Web Mapping
Spatial Databases
GPS

4. Our Schedule
0800: Introductions,
background
0815: Data Access and
manipulation
FWTools
GDAL
OGR
GeoTrans
R – shapefile package
GeoCon
0900: Viewers
ArcExplorer
uDig
dlgv32
0930 Break: 15 min
0945: Analysis
R
GeoR
Geostats
Spatstat
Spatial
1030: Web Mapping
SVG
UMN Mapserver
MapServer Workbench
1045: Spatial Databases
PostGIS
MySQL Spatial
1100: GPS Tools
GPSDrive
GPSBabel
EasyGPS

5. Scope of this workshop
There are thousands of Open Source software
projects created each year. Which ones are
included in this workshop?
Windows capable
Robust
Vector operations
Easy install
Active user base
Active developer base
Free licensing for use

6. What is Open Source, and why do I care?
First off, open source software is not a basement
project by some college kids (OK, sometimes it is).
Software that is developed according to the Open
Source model is made available to anyone.
Whether or not you agree with the Open Source
model of software development, there are software
projects that are stable, powerful, and can save you
time and money at your job. Why not investigate?
That’s all we’ll say about Open Source today, the
rest of the workshop is all about the tools.

7. Data Access - Translators
FWTools
Collection of open source tools for translation,
visualization, and reprojection
OGR for vector data translation
Translate SHP-> MAPINFO -> SDTS -> SHP

8. Data Access - Translators
GeoTrans
NGA sponsored software library for providing
translation and reprojection to custom software. A
graphical user interface wrapper program is
included in the download package

9. Some of our tools use XML:
XML = eXtensible Markup Language
GML = Geography Markup Language
SVG = Scalable Vector Graphics
XSLT = eXtensible Style Language-Transformation
VRML = Virtual Reality Markup Language
RDF = Resource Description Framework

10. Benefits of XML structures for
Geography Applications
Useful for translating geo objects between platforms
Compatible across operating systems
Royalty free to use and distribute
Text based files are searchable at the attribute level
XML schemas exist for GIS functions
Data encoding
Visualization
Spatial queries
Since all XML docs are text, they can easily be created and
edited by any scripting language

11. GML
Geography Markup
Language
Separates content from
the representation
Structured geo objects in
XML schema
Published by the Open
GIS Consortium
Currently at version 2.1.1
April 2002

12. Benefits of GML data
Multiple uses
Browser
Metadata
Map production
Custom map styling through style sheets
Build custom stylesheets within your application
Give users a choice of several styles with which to display data
Editable maps
Client, server, application level editing
Sophisticated linking through XPath, XLink
Link a layer of Parcels to an XML database or tax assessment
Easier querying function for Web GIS (XQuery)
Control over content regardless of file type or layer
Allow users to download only the features necessary, filter out the rest
Gives you the ability to send geographic data to any XML enabled
device. 1 format suits all uses
Clients, servers, PDAs, phones

13. SVG
Scalable Vector Graphics
An XML Schema definition for 2D graphics
Free browser plug-in for viewer
Viewer has built in zoom and pan functions
Standard supported by major graphics software
companies
Embedded JavaScript to enable GIS functions
within the file format

14. Cartographic features of SVG
Traditional GIS shapes such as polygons,
lines, points, text (rotated text) are all supported
Color gradients for fills
Stroke options (dash) for lines and polygon's boundaries
Advanced graphics layering using opacity options
Raster image backgrounds
Filter effects (Shadows, etc.)
High quality output and printing (Scalable)
XML - linking and embedding
Text on the map is searchable
Coordinate transformations
Objects react to user inputs
Animation (vehicle tracking, stream flows, fault line movement)

15. Data Access - Translators
GeoCon
Converts Shape and MapInfo Tab files into GML
and SVG graphics.
What’s unique is that the SVG converter provides
the user with a custom rendering interface before
the SVG is created.

16. Data Access - Translators
R – MapTools package
Reads and writes shape files.
Performs some GIS functions.

17. Data Viewers
ESRI’s ArcExplorer

18. Data Viewers
uDIG Viewer
Open source viewer with very nice features.
Opens major GIS file types, and connects to
online geodatabases and web mapping services

19. Break Time!

20. Spatial Data Analysis
R
Image
Contour
Filled Contour

21. Spatial Data Analysis
GeoR
R package for performing spatial autocovariance
analysis. Created by Paulo Ribeiro and Peter
Diggle

22. Web Mapping
SVG Graphics

23. Web Mapping
UMN Mapserver (MS4W)

24. Spatial Databases
PostgreSQL / PostGIS
Spatial query engine built on a SQL compliant
open source database
Similar in function to ArcSDE, Oracle #g, etc.

25. GPS related tools
EasyGPS
GPSBabel
CrimeStat
GeoDa
Other tools
Honorable mention, but not covered
here. They are covered elsewhere at
the conference.

26. GPSDrive

27. Links to more resources
www.remotesensing.org
www.maptools.org
www.ai-geostats.org
cran.r-project.org
www.spadac.com/research/
www.opensource.org

28. Open Source GIS and Spatial
Data Analysis Software
Jason Dalton
Vice President, Research and Development
Spatial Data Analytics Corporation
jdalton@spadac.com
www.spadac.com