In this issue of OGC User we look at a bold Spanish open source development project, a commercial weather data provider application, and a volunteer-driven weather data network. These stories illustrate two levels of "weaving things together with standards." Each of these organizations utilizes software, services and encodings that implement OpenGIS Specifications. Why? Because doing so helps them integrate Information resources within their respective organizations. At the same time, these organizations also rely on using OpenGIS Interfaces to access and Integrate with other organizations’ OpenGIS Specification conformant resources or to give other organizations access to their resources.

Looking for an Open Source/Open Standard Solution

At the end of 2002, the "Conselleria de Infraestructuras y Transporte" (Council of Infrastructure and Transportation) of the "Generalitat Valenciana" (Regional Government of the Comunidad Valenciana in Spain) began a global migration towards open systems under Linux. Due to its heavy use in the Conselleria, this process required a focused examination of GIS and CAD software migration. Further, GIS and CAD are relative newcomers to the Free and Open Source (FOSS) software world, meaning few widely used options are available.

CustomWeather (San Francisco, USA) provides syndicated weather content over the internet, taking advantage of XML and OGC Web Services. CustomWeather takes in over 8 GB/day of National Weather Service raw model data, satellite feeds, radar feeds and lightning feeds. From these constantly changing inputs the company generates forecasts and weather maps for over 58,000 unique locations worldwide, delivering real-time and forecasted mapping layers through interfaces that implement the OpenGIS® Web Map Service (WMS) and Web Feature Service (WFS) standards. Portrayal of the data is tailored to customer needs.

Gerry Creager
Texas Mesonet
Academy for Advanced Telecommunications and Learning Technology (AATLT)
Texas A&M University
gerry.creager@tamu.edu
Office: 979.458.4020