The Purpose of Geospatial Software Standard to Software Developer

As a software developer, understanding and utilizing open geospatial software standards is important in order to create software and applications that can work seamlessly with other geospatial software and data. Here are some ways that software developers can use open geospatial software standards in their work:

  • Adopting open standards: As a developer, it is important to familiarize yourself with the open geospatial software standards that are relevant to your project. By adopting these standards, you can ensure that your software will be compatible with other geospatial software and data, making it easier for others to use and share your work.

  • Implementing standards in your software: Once you have adopted open geospatial software standards, you can begin to implement them in your software. This can include things like using standard data formats, implementing standard protocols for communication and data transfer, and using standard styling and rendering techniques for maps and other visualizations.

  • Creating plugins or extensions for existing software: Another way to use open geospatial software standards is to create plugins or extensions for existing software. This allows you to add new functionality and capabilities to existing software, without having to create a new solution from scratch.

  • Collaborating with other developers: Open geospatial software standards also promote collaboration and cooperation among different organizations and individuals, as they allow different software and data to be used together in a seamless and consistent way. As a software developer, you can collaborate with other developers to create software and data that is compatible with open geospatial software standards and can be used by others.

  • Keeping updated: The field of geospatial technology is constantly evolving, and new standards are being developed and adopted all the time. As a software developer, it is important to stay informed and up-to-date with the latest developments in open geospatial software standards, in order to ensure that your software remains relevant and useful.

As a software developer, understanding and utilizing open geospatial software standards is important for creating software and applications that can work seamlessly with other geospatial software and data. They can be adopted, implemented and extended in existing software, developers can collaborate with others to create software and data that is compatible with open geospatial software standards and keep updated with the latest developments in the field.

Here are some examples of open geospatial software standards that are commonly used in the industry:

  • Simple Feature Access (SFA) – This standard defines how vector data should be represented and stored. It includes specifications for data types, feature representations, and spatial reference systems.

  • Well-Known Text (WKT) – This standard defines a text representation of geometric objects, including points, lines, and polygons. It is commonly used for storing and exchanging spatial data in a simple text format.

  • Well-Known Binary (WKB) – This is similar to WKT but it is a binary representation of geometric objects, it is more efficient in terms of storage and transmission.

  • Geographic Markup Language (GML) – This standard defines an XML-based format for encoding geographic information, including both vector and raster data.

  • Keyhole Markup Language (KML) – This standard defines an XML-based format for encoding geographic information for use with Google Earth and other virtual globe applications.

  • Web Map Tile Service (WMTS) – This standard defines how map tiles should be requested and delivered over the internet. It allows users to access and display maps from a wide range of sources, including satellite imagery and digital elevation models

  • Sensor Observation Service (SOS) – This standard defines how sensor data should be requested and delivered over the internet. It allows users to access and analyze sensor data from a wide range of sources, including environmental sensors, weather stations, and other types of sensor networks.

  • Web Processing Service (WPS) – This standard defines how processing services should be requested and delivered over the internet. It allows users to access and analyze data from a wide range of sources, including vector data, raster data, and sensor data.

  • Geography Markup Language (GML) Application Schema: This standard defines a set of rules for creating application-specific schemas using GML. It allows developers to create custom data models that are based on GML, making it easy to exchange data between different systems.

  • Web Coverage Service (WCS) – This standard defines how coverage data (such as satellite imagery) should be requested and delivered over the internet, it allows users to access and analyze coverage data from a wide range of sources.

  • Web Processing Service (WPS) – This standard defines how processing services should be requested and delivered over the internet. It allows users to access and analyze data from a wide range of sources, including vector data, raster data, and sensor data.

  • Web Map Service (WMS) – This standard defines how maps should be requested and delivered over the internet. It allows users to access and display maps from a wide range of sources, including satellite imagery and digital elevation models.

  • Web Feature Service (WFS) – This standard defines how geospatial data should be requested and delivered over the internet. It allows users to access and analyze data from a wide range of sources, including vector data and geospatial databases.

  • Styled Layer Descriptor (SLD) – This standard defines how maps should be styled and displayed. It allows users to customize the appearance of maps to fit their specific needs.

  • GeoPackage – This standard defines a file format for storing geospatial data in a single SQLite file, it includes data types, feature representations, and spatial reference systems.

Overall, these are just a few examples of open geospatial software standards that are widely used in the industry, and there are many others that have been developed and adopted to support interoperability and integration of different geospatial software and data. As a software developer, it is important to be familiar with the open geospatial software standards that are relevant to your project, and to ensure that your software adheres to these standards. This will help to ensure that your software can work seamlessly with other geospatial software and data, making it easier for others to use and share your work. Additionally, by using open geospatial software standards, developers can take advantage of existing solutions, and focus on creating innovative features that add value to the users.

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