OWGIS – Open Source GIS Web Application

Caitlin Dempsey

Updated:

Standing for Open WebGIS, the developers of OWGIS describe it as an “OpenSource Java Servlets web application that creates WebGIS sites by automatically writing HTML and JavaScript code.” OWGIS uses XML files to configure which GIS data is displayed via the web GIS application.

An article published in  Environmental Modeling and Software provides an extensive description of OWGIS.  In describing the architecture of this open source GIS web application, the authors write:

Like other Java web applications, OWGIS can be contained in a web archive (WAR) file that can be deployed in any servlet container, such as Apache Tomcat. Similar to a common web application, OWGIS creates web content, JavaScript, and HTML; however with OWGIS, the final websites are self-contained Web GIS sites. The JavaScript code generated by OWGIS uses OpenLayers (http://openlayers.org/), an open source library for creating dy- namic maps. OWGIS also creates custom JavaScript code for requesting data from servers that comply with the WMS and WFS standards.

Web sites that use OWGIS can offer the following features: multiple languages, animations, vertical profiles and vertical transects, color palettes, color ranges, and the ability to download data (as KML).  Those accessing data from ncWMS servers can used 4D data by providing time series from the time range selected through calendars.

Visit the OWGIS web site to download this GIS web application, see examples of the software in use, and access tutorials.



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OWGIS was used to display important data for immigrants that cross Mexico searching for better opportunities. This project was built at the Americas Datafest Hackathon.
OWGIS was used to display important data for immigrants that cross Mexico searching for better opportunities. This project was built at the Americas Datafest Hackathon.

Reference
An open source Java web application to build self-contained web GIS sites. 2014  Olmo Zavala-Romero, Arsalan Ahmed, Eric P. Chassignet, Jorge Zavala-Hidalgo, Agustin Fernández Eguiarte, Anke Meyer-Baese.  Environmental Modelling & SoftwareVolume 62December 2014Pages 210-220

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About the author
Caitlin Dempsey
Caitlin Dempsey is the editor of Geography Realm and holds a master's degree in Geography from UCLA as well as a Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) from SJSU.