FOSS GIS

This paper describes the digitization test of Fonte Giuturna (Giuturna spring) in the Roman Forum area, from survey to data management through the in-use monitoring system, the WebApp SyPEAH of the Parco Archeologico del Colosseo. The location of Giuturna Spring, characterized by the presence of heterogeneous archaeological remains from different ages, was surveyed in May 2022 as part of a research project that aimed to superintend the entire Cultural Heritage digitization pipeline to provide the Archaeological Park Administration the digitization guidelines as a tool to standardize future surveys and data deliveries. Inspired by the desire to build a system of protection and conservation at the service of sustainable exploitation, SyPEAH is a web platform based on open-source modules designed to manage archaeological records with a WebGIS approach. It supports the use of several 3D data formats, including point clouds. The paper focuses on the web platform, describing the web app's main features, especially in terms of point cloud data management. Moreover, possible future development of the platform intended to implement usability for single archaeological objects is described.

Powered by WebGL, some renderers have recently become available for the visualization of point cloud data over the web, for example Plasio or Potree. We have extended Potree to be able to visualize massive point clouds and we have successfully used it with the second national Lidar survey of the Netherlands, AHN2, with 640 billion points. In addition to the visualization, the publicly available service at http://ahn2.pointclouds.nl/ also features a multi-resolution download tool, a geographic name search bar, a measurement toolkit, a 2D orientation map with field of view depiction, a demo mode and the tuning of the visualization parameters. Potree relies on reorganizing the point cloud data into an multi-resolution octree data structure. However, this reorganization is very time consuming for massive data sets. Hence, we have used a divide and conquer approach to decrease the octree creation time. To achieve such performance improvement we divided the entire space into smaller cells, generated an octree for each of them in a distributed manner and then we merged them into a single massive octree. The merging is possible because the extent of all the nodes of the octrees is known and fixed. All the developed tools are free and open-source (FOSS) and they can be used to visualize over the web other massive point clouds.

This paper describes the development of a web application to facilitate the management and processing of geoid models in the ISG collection as well as of additional information available in the ISG website (mainly projects, services and publications). The ISG service pays significant attention to metadata and data interoperability from published geoid models. As a result, the possibility of creating a database with all necessary information for describing geoid models has been considered. PostgreSQL was chosen as the database for the implementation to take advantage of PostGIS geographic processing functions for developing a Database Management System for the resources available inside the ISG service catalogue (including geoid products, software, publications, etc.). The project's web development environment is Django, a web framework which is supported by the PostgreSQL database back-end and which makes it easier to integrate new applications or processing services into the website. A model solution for raster data integration using a PostGIS database back-end named Django-raster has also been investigated as part of the implementation, provided also that it is possible to take advantage of the vast Django community. The Django-raster model allows for the storage of datasets as tiles in the database, their exposure as a Tiled Map Services (TMS), and allows as well raster map algebra operations. TMS services will be utilized to share the geoid models and metadata included in the open access archive using a WebGIS, created with OpenLayers.

Statistics prove that the number of disasters, especially weather-related, increased during the last decades. This leads to high demands on participants in disaster management processes. To meet these requirements the provision of geodata, as a part of the information base, plays a key role. A preliminary theoretical consideration points out the evaluation of the benefits of geodata in disaster scenarios as well as the requirements for the provision of geoinformation products and systems in this field of application. There already exist several approaches that differ in the used data, the functionalities or the concept in general. As an alternative, this work introduces a new architectural concept of immediate geodata provision for disaster management based on the usage of free data and free software components. A system consisting of several free software components forms the basis of this approach. With vector data from OpenStreetMap and remote sensing data from the United States Geological Survey a batch script driven geoinformation system creates map tiles or images for end-users in disaster management within minutes.

Today, there is an increasing use of airborne sensors in archaeology, especially to investigate the surface of more or less vast territories quickly and accurately. In particular, airborne laser scanning technologies from small remotely piloted aircraft are rapidly developing towards increasingly high-performance solutions for the investigation of archaeological evidence hidden by vegetation or more or less substantial soil deposits. The proposed contribution intends to insert itself within this field of archaeological research by presenting "UAVIMALS" (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Integrated with Micro Airborne Laser Scanner), an aerial remote sensing system of "soil marks", designed for surface archaeological investigations and the result of an Early Career Grant from the National Geographic Society. The system, consisting of a customised drone based on an open architecture and software for vehicle control and data processing, integrates a solid-state laser sensor, commonly engineered for obstacle avoidance, but here exploited to process accurate DTM (Digital Terrain Model) of small land surfaces with a significant reduction in cost and acquisition time. The system, whose engineering was contributed by the BioRobotics Institute of the S. Anna University of Pisa, was tested within the archaeological context of Leopoli-Cencelle (Tarquinia, Italy). A mediaeval city that has been researched for about 25 years by the Chair of Christian and Medieval Archaeology at the 'Sapienza' University of Rome. Experimentation missions carried out on the site, which is still only partially investigated, have been successful in bringing to light some urban areas that had not yet been investigated.

RESUMO A popularização dos dispositivos móveis suscitou a divulgação de diversos aplicativos voltados ao geoprocessamento. Esse cenário vem a impulsionar um caminho colaborativo em torno dos projetos de softwares livres. O presente estudo teve por objetivo mostrar uma metodologia autônoma para o levantamento de dados em campo de pesquisa em geociências a partir das geotecnologias livres QGIS para Android e EpiCollect. O uso dessas ferramentas computacionais provou ser eficiente para a coleta de dados e navegação em tempo real em campo. A combinação delas também mostrou a versatilidade de aplicá-la em atividades acadêmicas e profissionais sem custos extras.

Heritage graphic representation combining building spatial location and urban/land planning supports the decision-making of government agencies and simplifies the development of protection and conservation projects. The evolution of web-based open-source representation systems, able to store 3D graphics information and to make it accessible by web platforms, allows to develop novel heritage catalogues which simplify the exchange of information between administrations and citizens. This work is devoted to the creation of the Digital 3D Inventory of the Aragonese Mudéjar Architectural Heritage, a list of 225 buildings with unique architectural elements which are part of the UNESCO World Heritage. We propose a generalized methodology for collecting, store and disseminate friendly 2D geospatial and 3D geometric documentation of the historical buildings, ensuring that valuable information is stored and providing greater graphic and documentary resources than traditional inventories of architectural heritage. The main novelty is creation of a web platform which allows the exploitation of the architectural information through a cartographic webGIS viewer and a 3D environment based on webGL for rendering large point clouds. The proposed web platform enables to delivery 3D content through generic web browsers natively supported by all devices and without installing third-party applications neither downloading massive data files.

3D survey and advanced modeling in the study of the Forts of Rome: the Forte Monte AntenneIn the studies the authors are conducting on the entrenched camp of Rome, 3D surveys and digital models are used as means to understand constructions with the aim of developing restoration and re-utilization projects. For Forte Monte Antenne (1882-1891), the authors have carried out systematic studies of the formal and structural aspects. The data acquired from a direct survey and with laser scanner, drone and photogrammetry, integrated with data obtained from iconographic and bibliographic sources, were integrated in the creation of a digital model, which made the classification of the various elements in a structured database possible, including the verification of the relationship among the parts at varying levels, and the system of aeration ducts. Convective motions and the thermo-hygrometric and visual comfort within some of the environments, as well as thermographic surveys of the walls w...

OSM2LULC is a software package developed to automatically convert OpenStreetMap (OSM) data into Land Use Land Cover (LULC) maps using Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial (FOSS4G) tools. It needs to be highly efficient given the increasing detail of OSM data and the need to apply it to large extent regions. In this article, a comparison between the implementation of OSM2LULC in different available GIS platforms is made using both vector and raster data structures, which resulted in different versions. A description of the differences of each version is made and, to assess their performance, they were applied to four different study areas with different characteristics, in terms of available OSM data and area size. The performance of each version was evaluated taking into account: the overall processing time required to obtain LULC maps; and differences in the results obtained when different data structures (vector and raster) were used. Results showed that the adoption of a ...

Linux is a free UNIX clone that was developed by volunteers around the world. Although Linux is almost a decade old, it went largely unnoticed by the general public until a couple of years ago. Since then it has become very popular with individual users, universities and large corporations. For example, IBM has made it a major part of their business strategy for server hardware. Many software companies already offer Linux versions of their software, including products such as Oracle, Labview and MSC Nastran. Other companies have developed embedded applications using Linux. Currently Linux can be found in devices as small as a wristwatch [1] and as large as a Beowulf class supercomputer . The popularity of Linux is based on three factors: -costs are lower because the software is free and it runs well on less expensive hardware. -it has more software, capabilities, and features than other operating systems. -the source code is open, so users can customize the operating system to meet their needs. This workshop will present the Linux operating system in general, and its current status in computing. This will be followed by a discussion of the basic features and operation of a Linux system. User applications will also be discussed, and demonstrated. Finally the future of the operating system will be discussed. An outline of the presentation is given below.

with facilities in the states of Illinois and Idaho, is owned by the United States Government, and operated by the University of Chicago under the provisions of a contract with the Department of Energy. This technical memo is a product of Argonne's Energy Systems (ES) Division. For information on the Division's scientific and engineering activities, contact:

This paper describes the phases of the development of an experimental structure of numerical cartography, at medium and large scale, to be used in GIS and to be proposed as a national standard. Today needs for using cartography in GIS applications require the allocation of 3D data; besides, data must be fully topologically structured. So in order to define a new model of numerical cartography, it's necessary to apply new cartography models also implemented into a format as GML that should grant interoperability. At present, GIS software have no advanced functions to easily handle 3D objects and respective spatial processing, like geoprocessing, using 3D spatial relationships; moreover 3D information is exchanged by formats not proper for GIS use, like CAD or DXF formats, or using the GML 3. According to the main goal, research has been organized into four steps: • the first, deals with importing, managing and extracting DXF data in a CAD environment as preliminary operation to ...

The aim of the research is the creation of
three-dimensional models to be inserted into
informative databases to establish networks
and virtual connections on Native American
craftworks. In this paper we compare data
acquisition and post-production methodologies
for the development of information models
on complex elements.

In the field of Cultural Heritage (CH) there exists a growing interest in multimedia applications based on 3D information systems. Several proposals have been made to implement 3D data models describing archaeological and monumental  heritage in their own 3D environment. In this context, 3D GIS models, using the integration of 3D models with geographic
and multimedia information, might be an interesting research field: they might bridge the gap between the geographic scale
and the architectural scale, allowing users not only to visualise models, but also to make queries getting data from them. Currently, the real prototypes of 3D GIS are just a few and mainly regarding the urban environment. Archaeological and historical sites, instead, have been represented and analysed by other systems (e.g. 3D semantic models). This paper illustrates a framework developed by GISLab to obtain a 3D information system shareable on the network and able to access to geographic and multimedia information on CH. The application produced is composed of: a 2D GIS project (by QGIS), a 3D model (by Blender), a “Cultural Heritage oriented” database
(by PostgreSQL+PostGIS) and a PDF format as a graphic  interface. The 3D model is embedded in the 3D PDF and associated with semantic information stored in an RDBMS
(Relational DataBase Management System). The application’s workflow includes the following steps: the data acquisition; the analysis of the building system, its decomposition in parts and elements and its classification based on hierarchical and relational criteria; the database project; the implementation of a 2D GIS (regional-scale analysis) on the whole geographical context surrounding the building; the implementation of the 3D model of the monument (architectural-scale analysis); the implementation of the GUI (Graphic User Interface) based on the PDF format; the 3D model’s export from the modeling software to the 3D PDF format; the connection between the database and the 3D model via ODBC (Open DataBase Connectivity); the web publishing of the 3D information system
(WebGIS for the regional-scale, linked through a hyperlink to the 3D PDF for the architectural scale). Within the 3D PDF application the 3D visualisation of an architectural or archaeological object is associated with a graphical interaction with the model: JavaScript functions allow users to get data of the architectural object from the DB associated with the 3D model. The 3D model embedded in the PDF is measurable and navigable. It can be rotated, enlarged, and displayed in axonometric and perspective views as well as in solid, wireframe, transparent and textured modes. It also allows users to change the scene lighting, to get sections of the 3D model, and to visualise just a few parts of it (e.g. just some
chronological phases or constructive elements that are loaded each on a different layer). The system described has been  implemented almost entirely using GFOSS software. It has
been tested on the Arab-Norman “sollazzi” (extra-urban palaces of the Norman kings built in the 12th century in natural  contexts) in Palermo (spatial scale). A particular focus has been made on the Castle of Maredolce (architectural scale).

Purchasing of licensed GIS software would always be costly, while failure to
acquire a valid license poses a hindrance in an organization, especially in the
public sector. This scenario has led to alternative transition to open source software
(OSS). However, to implement OSS technology, it requires a specific appraisal
process to evaluate the criteria of needs of an agency. This is important to ensure
the assessment process is more valid and convincing. A research associated with
this requirement has been conducted to evaluate the users’ needs when they opt for
OS GIS. This study aims at determining the weights of each assessment criteria of
OS GIS in handling geospatial data at the district and land office. As the
assessment process involves several criteria, an Analytical Hierarchy Process
(AHP) is used to get the accepted response for each assessment.