GIS Management System For Counties

GIS Management System For Counties

Managing of Spatial and Non-spatial datasets on assets of an organisation in general is challenging, in addition to maintaining records, the option to query, visualize and map can be done only using a full fledged GIS management system. WebGIS take it a step further by creating a framework to interact seamlessly with the asset management system remotely and display related information.

Client

Client is a leading GIS solution provider based out of British Columbia and works with multiple counties in Canada to provide GIS services.

Project

Client wanted to develop a WebGIS product with a generic framework which can be deployed to any county in Canada. The product should contain basic mapping tools and features to visualize various spatial data sets, Query spatial data and non-spatial datasets. The WebGIS should also interface with an external Asset management system to display information related to infrastructure assets managed by counties. Product should be developed using responsive frameworks so that the application can be viewed in mobile platforms seamlessly.

Solution Brief

Technology

Openlayers 3, GeoServer, GeoWebCache, PostgreSQL/PostGIS, Python, Django and GeoDjango Framework, Bootstrap Framework, JQuery, HTML5, CSS3, Apache  Web Server and Tomcat Application Server.

Solution

We provided the solution using complete open source stack. Python language was primarily used to develop the server side components using Django and GeoDjango web Framework. PostgreSQL/PostGIS database was used to store both spatial and non-spatial data. GeoServer was used as mapping server to serve the spatial datasets stored in database. Client side mapping interface was developed using Openlayers 3 and Jquery, HTML5, CSS3, Bootstrap framework was used to make the application responsive and work seamlessly in any platform.

The application has spatial datasets grouped under three themes Parcel, Planning and Infrastructure. The Parcel theme consists spatial datasets pertaining to land base. Planning theme consists of zoning and planning datasets. Infrastructure theme consists Storm, Water and Sanitary datasets.

The main challenge of the application was to develop a common view connecting the asset management system and the spatial layers to fetch the asset information for infrastructure layers.

The WebGIS product has the following features

1. Map Navigation Tools
2. Layer Management Tools
3. Search by Address and Streets
4. Search by free text
5. Select features by point and by area
6. Display feature information
7. Print map

The application was also integrated with Google Street View.

Business Benefit

By leveraging the features available in WebGIS system County authorities are now able to manage their day to day tasks more efficiently and provide services to their customer’s more effectively.