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GIS Software for Civil Engineering Verticals: An Overview
Satya Priya, Puneet Sharma and Premal Mehta
RMSI, A-7, Sector –16, Noida, UP 201 301, INDIA
Tel: 91-120-451-2101, 1102, Fax: 91-120-451-0963
E-mail: SatyaP@riskinc.com
Abstract
Geographic Information Systems have become a prevalent method of analysis in civil engineering. Flexible GIS models that manipulate compile and process spatial data above or below the earth’s surface have provided a powerful tool in civil engineering applications. To realize this RMSI provides a wide range of Geographic Information Systems services and solutions such as geological applications, Bore hole study, ground engineering, geotechnical engineering, environmental engineering, rural, urban and regional planning. For projects where spatial representation and analysis are not separable from the science and substance, RMSI provide the experience, intellect and self-guidance needed to produce top-quality GIS applications.
RMSI works at all project levels, from project management, to production, to technical services. Depending on a client's needs, we perform routine task, or take charge of an entire project, from team building to creation of maps and models. RMSI GIS technical services cover the full range, from map production, to spatial analysis, to remote sensing, to application development, to on-site GIS project executions.
For MapAsia 2002, we would like to present few top class software applications developed for our Japanese Client - Oyo Corporation to demonstrate RMSI GIS engineering capabilities to meet complexity of the problem maintaining world-class quality. Applications to be presented at MapAsia 2002 will be:
Case I – About OYOGIS
OYOGIS is an integrated multi-lingual desktop GIS application designed to perform geological data analysis and extract geological information from spatial and non-spatial data. OYOGIS is intended for geo-technical professionals and consultants involved in water resource management and infrastructure related projects.
Geo-technical engineers using this application can relate alignments and cross-sections find the geological composition of a specific point along the alignment, associate documents related to a specific location on the map, and create thematic maps based on attributes of a map. Engineers can also zoom to specific parts of an alignment and see the associated cross-section area, perform spatial and non-spatial queries, and print required reports and maps.
There are administrative and client components to the system. This gives managers the control needed when dealing with large projects and data sets. The administrator can create, delete, and update users and user rights, create projects, and also audit any data changes made by users.
The system is open enough to support different types of data and can be customized to fit specific user needs. The software configuration used for OYOGS includes Visual Basic 6.0, Crystal reports for report creation and generation, VC++ for custom DLL’s, and ESRI MapObjects for the display and analysis of maps.
Case II – About NETGIS
NetGIS is a bilingual web based application developed by RMSI for the corporate intranet of the OYO Corporation Japan. It gives its users the power to visualize geographic information, search and navigate through spatial and aspatial data, perform analysis on data and print reports for future use. The application is intended to help in feasibility studies for construction activities, aid in construction planning and assist in facility management.
The application is designed to perform geological data analysis and extract geological information from spatial and non spatial data. NetGIS has a perfect blend of all common desktop GIS application features like zoom-in, zoom-out, pan , feature identify, search, print and thematic maps. Geo-technical engineers using this application can relate alignments, find the geological composition of a specific point along the alignment, associate digital documents related to a specific location on the map, and create thematic maps based on attributes of a map. Engineers can also perform spatial and non-spatial queries and print maps at scale.
There is an administrative component to the system. This gives managers the control needed when dealing with large projects and data sets. The administrator can create, delete, and update users and user rights, create projects, and also audit any data changes made by users.
The Borehole Manager Project is specifically customized for the Punjab State Tube well Corporation. This Project allows the users to Load the borehole data (captured through GPS / Digitizer), and also Link & View / Print the Borehole images. Aim is to create a user-friendly environment for loading Borehole data, associating Borehole Images with the selected borehole, which can then be viewed in ArcView and then Printed on the Plotter.
Some of the major processes/functions are as follows:
Acknowledgements:
Authors takes this opportunity to thank RMSI team and Oyo Corporation, Japan in particular for sponsoring the project, which has been derived from the actual need from their business perspective. From Oyo, authors would also like to thank Mr. Yamada Toshihiro and his team for providing technical support throughout the project for its successful accomplishments.
Project Case Study I - OYOGIS
Brief
To develop a desktop GIS application for managing geological/geotechnical information and integration with non-GIS based engineering applications.
Business Case
The requirement was to design and develop a GIS application to perform geological data analysis and extraction, enable visualization of geographic information, search and navigate through spatial data, and print customized reports including maps, graphics and tabular data. Specialized engineering modules such as the Bore-Hole viewer were developed and linked to the GIS application.
Scope of work·
Engineering and GIS – OYOGIS
Project Case Study II - NETGIS
Brief
To develop a bilingual scalable web based GIS solution.
Business Case
A need was felt to develop a fast and a scalable solution that would allow access to centralized spatial data store enabling data sharing across the enterprise and also with key clients via an Extranet or the Internet, and perform GIS analysis using the Web technologies.
Scope of work
Engineering and GIS – NetGIS
Project Case Study III – Bore Hole Manager
Brief
Complete business solution, integrating the functionalities of Global Positioning System (GPS) & GIS. The objective was to create an application to manage boreholes captured through GPS and the log images captured using Viewlog and digitization, all within a common user interface of ArcView.
Business Case
This was a Japanese Government aided project for Punjab State Tube Well Corporation, India, to enable state water table mapping and maintain spatial data of the various boreholes. The application was required to be developed as ArcView extension and be able to integrate various external interfaces of GPS and Viewlog.
Scope of work
Geographic Information Systems have become a prevalent method of analysis in civil engineering. Flexible GIS models that manipulate compile and process spatial data above or below the earth’s surface have provided a powerful tool in civil engineering applications. To realize this RMSI provides a wide range of Geographic Information Systems services and solutions such as geological applications, Bore hole study, ground engineering, geotechnical engineering, environmental engineering, rural, urban and regional planning. For projects where spatial representation and analysis are not separable from the science and substance, RMSI provide the experience, intellect and self-guidance needed to produce top-quality GIS applications.
RMSI works at all project levels, from project management, to production, to technical services. Depending on a client's needs, we perform routine task, or take charge of an entire project, from team building to creation of maps and models. RMSI GIS technical services cover the full range, from map production, to spatial analysis, to remote sensing, to application development, to on-site GIS project executions.
For MapAsia 2002, we would like to present few top class software applications developed for our Japanese Client - Oyo Corporation to demonstrate RMSI GIS engineering capabilities to meet complexity of the problem maintaining world-class quality. Applications to be presented at MapAsia 2002 will be:
- OYOGIS Software: A geotechnical GIS application.
- NETGIS: A fast and scalable enterprise solution for Intranet, and Internet using web technologies.
- BH Manager: Aim is to create a user-friendly environment for loading Borehole data, associating Borehole Images with the selected borehole in ArcView and then Printed on the Plotter.
Case I – About OYOGIS
OYOGIS is an integrated multi-lingual desktop GIS application designed to perform geological data analysis and extract geological information from spatial and non-spatial data. OYOGIS is intended for geo-technical professionals and consultants involved in water resource management and infrastructure related projects.
Geo-technical engineers using this application can relate alignments and cross-sections find the geological composition of a specific point along the alignment, associate documents related to a specific location on the map, and create thematic maps based on attributes of a map. Engineers can also zoom to specific parts of an alignment and see the associated cross-section area, perform spatial and non-spatial queries, and print required reports and maps.
There are administrative and client components to the system. This gives managers the control needed when dealing with large projects and data sets. The administrator can create, delete, and update users and user rights, create projects, and also audit any data changes made by users.
The system is open enough to support different types of data and can be customized to fit specific user needs. The software configuration used for OYOGS includes Visual Basic 6.0, Crystal reports for report creation and generation, VC++ for custom DLL’s, and ESRI MapObjects for the display and analysis of maps.
Case II – About NETGIS
NetGIS is a bilingual web based application developed by RMSI for the corporate intranet of the OYO Corporation Japan. It gives its users the power to visualize geographic information, search and navigate through spatial and aspatial data, perform analysis on data and print reports for future use. The application is intended to help in feasibility studies for construction activities, aid in construction planning and assist in facility management.
The application is designed to perform geological data analysis and extract geological information from spatial and non spatial data. NetGIS has a perfect blend of all common desktop GIS application features like zoom-in, zoom-out, pan , feature identify, search, print and thematic maps. Geo-technical engineers using this application can relate alignments, find the geological composition of a specific point along the alignment, associate digital documents related to a specific location on the map, and create thematic maps based on attributes of a map. Engineers can also perform spatial and non-spatial queries and print maps at scale.
There is an administrative component to the system. This gives managers the control needed when dealing with large projects and data sets. The administrator can create, delete, and update users and user rights, create projects, and also audit any data changes made by users.
- The application is currently meant for intranet deployment and uses MapXtreme-Java in its middle tier for map-data processing
- At the back-end is Oracle database (that can be easily replaced with any other RDBMS like MS-SQL server)
- The map rendering and image creation is done at server using MapXtreme servlets and then the response is sent to browser.
- The system has been tested extensively for load tests using Rational suite of tools and is found to give stable performance while delivering high scalability
- It can support up to 100 concurrent users with simultaneous requests being received at the server from clients – the testing platform being: MapXtreme Server: PIV 2GHz Dual Processor 1 GB RAM; Database Server: PIII 450 MHz 512 MB RAM
The Borehole Manager Project is specifically customized for the Punjab State Tube well Corporation. This Project allows the users to Load the borehole data (captured through GPS / Digitizer), and also Link & View / Print the Borehole images. Aim is to create a user-friendly environment for loading Borehole data, associating Borehole Images with the selected borehole, which can then be viewed in ArcView and then Printed on the Plotter.
Some of the major processes/functions are as follows:
- Data Transfer from GPS device to GPS Pathfinder and then Export GPS data to ArcView Shape Files through GPS Pathfinder
- Exporting the Borehole Log to Borehole BMP Images through Viewlog Load Borehole location data using ArcView Merge Borehole Shape files / Themes Link/Associate Borehole Image (Images Exported through Viewlog) using ArcView
- View/Print/Plot Borehole Image using ArcView Printer/Plotter
Acknowledgements:
Authors takes this opportunity to thank RMSI team and Oyo Corporation, Japan in particular for sponsoring the project, which has been derived from the actual need from their business perspective. From Oyo, authors would also like to thank Mr. Yamada Toshihiro and his team for providing technical support throughout the project for its successful accomplishments.
Project Case Study I - OYOGIS
Brief
To develop a desktop GIS application for managing geological/geotechnical information and integration with non-GIS based engineering applications.
Business Case
The requirement was to design and develop a GIS application to perform geological data analysis and extraction, enable visualization of geographic information, search and navigate through spatial data, and print customized reports including maps, graphics and tabular data. Specialized engineering modules such as the Bore-Hole viewer were developed and linked to the GIS application.
Scope of work·
- System Requirement Study (SRS).
- Design and development of the system.
- Testing.
- Prepare documentation to assist use and maintenance of site quality assurance and documentation.
- OOD and OOP
- VisualBasic
- COM
- RDBMS
- MapObjects
- Bilingual.
- Component based architecture.
- Fully parameterized and user customizable.
- Windows 9x and Windows 2000 compatible.
- Enabling and disabling of functionalities allows various system configurations.
- Component architecture enables easy add-ins of new and enhanced functionalities.
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Project Case Study II - NETGIS
Brief
To develop a bilingual scalable web based GIS solution.
Business Case
A need was felt to develop a fast and a scalable solution that would allow access to centralized spatial data store enabling data sharing across the enterprise and also with key clients via an Extranet or the Internet, and perform GIS analysis using the Web technologies.
Scope of work
- System Requirement Study (SRS).
- System architecture and design.
- Development and testing of the website.
- Quality a Assurance and documentation. <,/li>
- Operating Environment
- Server – Windows 2000 Server
- Clients – Java enabled Web Browser (IE)
- Programming
- Server Side - JDK1.3, Servlets, JSP, JDBC, XML, MapXtreme Servlet
- Client side – Java Plugin, Applets, Swing, MapXtreme Beans, JavaScript
- Application Server/ Servlet Container
- BEA Weblogic / Tomcat4.0 (currently)·
- Database
- Oracle 8i(Spatial) / Oracle8i (currently)
- Bilingual.
- Highly parameterized and user configurable.
- Secure.
- IE compatible.
- Feature rich – for both casual and experienced GIS users - basic GIS functionalities such as pan, zoom, identify, fast navigate and advanced functionalities such as export maps, combined spatial and data queries, templates based to scale printing, document management system and creating and saving Acetate Layers have been incorporated.
- Robust and fast – tested for 100 concurrent with an average response time of 3-5 sec for various functionalities.
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Project Case Study III – Bore Hole Manager
Brief
Complete business solution, integrating the functionalities of Global Positioning System (GPS) & GIS. The objective was to create an application to manage boreholes captured through GPS and the log images captured using Viewlog and digitization, all within a common user interface of ArcView.
Business Case
This was a Japanese Government aided project for Punjab State Tube Well Corporation, India, to enable state water table mapping and maintain spatial data of the various boreholes. The application was required to be developed as ArcView extension and be able to integrate various external interfaces of GPS and Viewlog.
Scope of work
- System Requirement Study.
- System architecture and design.
- Development and testing of the component.
- Quality assurance and documentation.
- User acceptance test.
- Training for the system.
- ArcView-GIS Application Software
- Trimble GPS Geo Explorer 3 and PathFinder
- ViewLog/PRO
- Dynamic loading & unloading of multiraster data.
- On the fly projection settings.
- Compatible with ArcView 3.2 and lower versions.
- Feature rich and intuitive for all levels of GIS users. Basic GIS functionalities such as pan, zoom, identify, fast navigate and advanced functionalities such as combined spatial and data queries, template based to the scale printing, document management system have been incorporated.
- Digitizing the features in ArcView and plotting the images.
- Dynamic Linking/Viewing of the Borehole Log Images.
- Training the users in GIS, GPS, ArcView /ul>
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