December 2021

Geo-harmonizer project

Prepared by: CTU and mundialis

Executive summary

OGC compliant and high performance Open Web Services (OWS) WMS (Web Map Service) and WFS (Web Feature Service) are provided by Geo-harmonizer map server running at https://data.opendatascience.eu/geoserver.

Raster datasets produced throughout the Geo-harmonizer project are accessible in two main data formats: cloud-optimized file-based GeoTIFF format and OGC WMS. Vector datasets are primarily accessible via OGC WFS. 

Metadata records provided by Geo-harmonizer catalogue have been updated in order to contain appropriate information about the format in the Technical information section. Download and links section has been extended by WMS/WFS links.

Eumap library has been extended by a new function that allows filtering URL links by specified format. See related Gitlab issue and updated tutorials for Python.

Geo-harmonizer project

Prepared by: mundialis and Terrasigna

Executive summary

The Geo-harmonizer project was designed within the lines of 3 main directions: (1) to use open data and open source (2) to create new added-value map products for the Geo-harmonizer region and (3) – defined in the spirit of openness, in data licensing and software development – to create a two-fold framework that will allow firstly for the Geo-harmonizer consortium members to closely collaborate, exchange ideas and co-develop and secondly, for the Geo-harmonizer team to engage with the wider community, presenting Geo-harmonizer results and collecting feedback. 

To achieve it, different types of events have been defined and planned for the whole duration of the project: (1) workshops – with 2 types of sections: presentations and co-dev trainings and (2) consortium co-dev session meetings. 

Although the Geo-harmonizer project development period has overlapped with the COVID-19 pandemic spread, the team has managed to successfully adapt the initial plan of the co-dev trainings and consortium co-dev session meetings to meet the project’s requirements. Thus, with all precaution measures taken, in September 2021 within the international workshop Open Data Science Europe, the Geo-harmonizer team prepared and led several co-dev trainings with all materials – written tutorials and video recordings –  made available, under an open license. 

As the co-dev trainings were built upon the added-value datasets created within the Geo-harmonizer activities, the main environmental topics were related to climate, the protection of the environment and a sustainable use of environmental resources. 

Following the success of the 2021 Geo-harmonizer hybrid event, the team is preparing a new hybrid Open Data Science Europe international workshop in Prague, in June 2022 with co-dev training sessions planned for the first 2 days of the event. 

With regard to the consortium co-dev session meetings, the team is preparing a hybrid meeting at the beginning of April, in Bucharest, Romania.

Geo-harmonizer project

Prepared by: CTU and Terrasigna

Executive summary

Nowadays virtual (VR) and augmented (AR) reality are very popular and frequently used technologies across many fields. There are only a few programs that use these technologies with GIS data. Connection between GIS and VR/AR could produce new experiences of visualization for this data type.

Main goal of this part of the Geo-harmonizer project is to demonstrate how virtual and augmented reality can be used for visualization of land cover data sets. Both technologies have their pros and cons.

Virtual reality allows users maximum immersion/absorption into the virtual world. On the other hand users need special equipment – VR glasses and hardware that are recommended for VR. The VR land cover viewer is situated in a virtual building.

Users can find 5 basic stations there – main menu, overview, visualization, comparison and animation (demo). Visualization and comparison stations are controlled by two sliders, one for land cover change and second for basic OSM map opacity. Users can individually choose the percentage of transparency of the OSM layer as needed.

AR application prototype was created with the Swift programming language programming language and Xcode. For most user interfaces the SwiftUI Framework was used. Other elements were created by UIKit. For AR technology the RealityKit and ARKit frameworks were used. Application is designed for iPads with a 12.9 inch display, for smaller displays it is not optimal. Application supports iOS 12.1 and higher.

Complete source code, sample applications and tutorials are available in public Git repository.