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 The
Marine Information Distribution
Centre (MID-C) is a marine-based data and information system operated
by Compusult Limited. With the assistance of GeoConnections, MID-C
has been greatly enhanced, providing improved connectivity to valuable
marine resources. The following sections provide greater detail of this
project.
Purpose/Objectives
The purpose
of this project is to implement a Web mapping portal for MID-C
that enhances existing operations, connectivity to data and data products
and extends access to external users.
This project was built upon existing CGDI and CEONet infrastructure,
and incorporates active participation from federal government departments
and private industry and leverages new commercial product development
derived from incorporation of specifications from the OpenGIS Catalog
Interface Implementation and the Open
GIS Consortium (OGC) WWW Mapping Testbed (WMT) project.
The OpenGIS
Catalog Interface Implementation provides for interoperable and portable
interfaces for catalog services. These interfaces are used in populating,
querying and maintaining geospatial catalogs. The OGC
Web-based mapping technology specifications define interoperable services
for Web mapping servers and data content.
Compusult
is a recognized contributor to the OpenGIS
Catalog Interface Implementation and an active participant in the Web
Mapping Technology Testbed projects.
The MID-C
Portal has also been configured to provide free access to Internet-based
content such as weather forecasts, current conditions, and weather imagery.
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Project
Description
The Marine
Information Distribution Centre (MID-C) is a marine-based data and
information system operated by Compusult
Limited.
MID-C
provides a central repository and data distribution system for offshore-related
environmental data and data products produced by agencies, offshore
operators and private organizations delivering services such as weather
forecasting.
The MID-C
portal has been deployed using the following Web
Enterprise Suite components:
- Percipio
- Percipio is a commercial data warehouse product especially suited
to the needs of organizations for receiving, archiving, cataloging,
maintaining and disseminating data holdings over intranets and wide
area networks such as the Internet.
- PHTML
- PHTML (Parsed HTML) is a development and applications environment
that provides Web content managers and developers with the ability
to create, integrate and dynamically update Web-pages with content
from Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMSs), customer back-end
systems and external applications such as e-commerce.
- Relational
Gateway - A middle-tier product that provides Web applications
with the ability to connect to relational databases that are maintained
inside firewalls.
- Meta
Manager - The Meta Manager software provides the necessary linkages
that enable data suppliers and custodians to connect their RDBMS catalogs
to clearinghouses for searching and data product discovery. Clearinghouses
are distributed throughout the world and in North America are operated
by organizations such as the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC)
and the Canadian Earth Observation Network (CEONet).
- Map
Manager - Map Manager is a powerful OpenGIS Consortium (OGC)-compliant
Internet mapping solution that provides organizations and agencieswith
the ability to present, link, distribute and publish geomatics-based
data, products and services. Map Manager provides the infrastructure
for users to access spatial information from various disparate data
sources and to display the information in powerful, easy-to-use WWW
browser client applications.
Map Manager uses a multi-tier architecture with options for deploying
clients, servers, administrative and third-party interfaces and extensively
uses XML technologies for client and server communications. Map Manager
supports standard browsers in basic HTML and Java versions.
- Service
Manager - A catalog toolkit that is OGC-compliant and provides
discovery, access, harvesting and maintenance of web-based services
metadata. The Service Manager architecture has been specifically designed
to be deployed in a multi-tier arrangement of clients and servers.
Discovery of services is provided through Service Manager Client Java
classes and stateless catalogs that enable a client to locate service
metadata quickly and effectively.
The application also has a metadata harvest process that will automatically
ingest service metadata from OGC-compliant map servers.
The MID-C
Portal will have a local OGC
Services catalog containing service metadata entries for marine-based
Web mapping services. The user is able to search the service registry
to locate Web Mapping Services such as current marine weather conditions,
review the Web Mapping Service metadata and request product overlay
and/or product delivery. Data and data products maybe purchased using
direct connection to on-line e-commerce applications such as CyberCash
or a subscription basis.
The MID-C
Portal provides the following data presentation features:
- Tiling
and overlay of multiple files to create a complete map of an area
comprising many thematic layers of point, line and polygon data.
- Manipulation
of visible data on a map using standard mapping functions such as
zoom and pan. Visible data can also be queried by selecting features
on the map.
- Representation
of data layers in a legend, via which users can selectively turn layers
on and off. Additional layers may be added and deleted through user-defined
queries.
- Feature
labeling using data associated with individual features.
The MID-C
portal is available in HTML and Java versions as follows:
-
Standard
HTML - This version requires no special software on the client side.
The user is not required to install plug-ins, applets, etc. The
pages are downloaded quickly with all processing occurring on the
server side of the application. The HTML interface is powerful and
simple-to-use and was developed using PHTML.
- Java
Version - The Java client provides a powerful dynamic interactive
mapping tool for querying, displaying and analyzing spatial information.
The Java client is installed as a persistent applet on the client
desktop eliminating the need to download the applet after the first
use. The applet is trusted and provides users with additional security
that includes connecting to the Web host.
MID-C
now provides access to the following commercial environmental and mapping
data providers:
- Nautical
Data International (NDI) - Canada’s supplier of official Digital
Hydrographic Data Products on behalf of the Canadian Hydrographic
Service.
- Canadian
Ice Service (CIS) - The Canadian Ice Service promotes safe and efficient
maritime operations and protects Canada’s environment by providing
reliable and timely information about ice conditions in Canadian waters.
MID-C
also provides free access to Internet-based content such as weather
forecasts, current conditions, and weather imagery.
The connection
of these geospatial data and infrastructures will be sustained since
the data content is derived from real world viable commercial applications
with an established customer base.
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Benefits
This
project has produced the following Benefits:
1. MID-C
Map Manager
server now directly supports Canadian Electronic Navigation Charts
in BSB format. The BSB format was originally developed by NOAA and
is widely used internationally.
2. Enhancements
were made to the symbology components of the Map
Manager server to support symbology components of S-57 Vector
Data.
3. The
subscription/license service of Web
Enterprise Suite has been enhanced to enable licensing of OGC-compatible
server access.
4. NDI
can now offer S-57 charts as shape files for compatibility with many
commercial GIS packages.
5. Web
Enterprise Suite harvesting components were enhanced to support
a variety of new data file formats.
6. MID-C
now has additional new on-line services to offer its clients and subscriber
base.
7. MID-C
has now been enabled to sell the following on-line datasets:
- Canadian
Electronic Navigation Charts (raster format)
- Canadian
Electronic S-57 Navigation Charts
- Newfoundland
and Labrador Topographic Chart Series
8. User
subscription services are also available to subscribe to commercial
and free data sets on-line.
9. NDI
has a new source of revenue through the direct sales of nautical charts
within an interactive Web-based environment. All previous sales were
accomplished through CD-ROM distribution.
10.
NDI has
a new data format for distribution of its S-57 chart series.
11.
The province of Newfoundland
and Labrador can also sell its topographic
data products through MID-C.
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Partners
In addition
to Compusult Limited,
the major participating organizations in the project are as follows:
1. Nautical
Data International (NDI). NDI
will be responsible for the following high-level project activities:
- Configuration
and maintenance of value-added datasets.
- Data
configuration and population for the project.
- Development
of a Web-based pricing model.
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