|
|
| GeoCommunity Mailing List |
| |
| Mailing List Archives |
| Subject: | RE: GISList: Cartography and Data Viewer |
| Date: |
08/26/2003 05:55:01 PM |
| From: |
Dimitri Rotow |
|
|
>
> Seriously, in this day and age, many applications - and users of those
> applications - require access to the most recent information sources
> available. If I were an emergency management specialist, I sure would not
> want to rely on "stale" hoarded repositories of map data to perform real
> time logistics for first responders! Road closures, construction,
> pollution
> warnings, lightning strikes, location of new fast food joints and
> on and on
> are all examples of near real time spatial data that users need and want.
> Now, if your static hoard of spatial data is for geology and landforms and
> streams, well fine - they change pretty slowly. But wait, we just had a
> flash flood and the stream cut a whole new course and totally altered the
> landform. Hmm.
>
Let's get back to reality here. Surely you are not suggesting that some
centralized bureaucracy is going to get such information out in the form of
web services in real time? I mean, please, be serious... a flash flood
happens and ... what? FEMA is going to update a vector layer with a new
stream course that same day and instantly plug it into a wise and wonderful
web service? Is this a joke, that is, are you being sarcastic given what we
all know is the cycle time for federal response to such things?
> More and more, decision makers at all levels of government and industry
> demand the best, most recent up to date information upon which to base
> decisions. This requirement is even more critical in emergency situations
> when life and property are threatened.
>
Exactly. When the chips are down you sure don't want to lose time with
intermediaries. Let's look at the fastest possible way to get an emergency
look at the lay of the land: you hire a private remote sensing company to
fly a mission (say, by targetting one of the new 1m - 2m satellite imaging
companies) and you get an image. Load that image into your GIS and it's
done... Satellite to GIS commando in a few hours. Can't get any faster than
that. If you wait for someone to convert this to a web service you'll be
waiting a long time.
Location of new fast-food joints? That will be in a table held by the fast
food company. Read the table into your GIS and make a drawing (simple
copy/paste or just a linked drawing in any modern GIS, takes seconds).
Likewise, done in seconds.
Look, I have no problems with utopian schemes for vast access to all sorts
of data via the web. I've dreamed up a few myself. However, if you want to
do practical GIS today and for the foreseable future you can take either the
path of fast, efficient, low-cost and open GIS, or you can join OGC and go
for closed, slow, inefficient and stratospherically expensive GIS.
Cheers,
Dimitri
To unsubscribe, write to gislist-unsubscribe@geocomm.com
________________________________________________________________________
GeoCommunity GeoBids - less than $1 per day!
Get Access to the latest GIS & Geospatial Industry RFPs and bids
http://www.geobids.com
Online Archive of GISList (and numerous others) available at:
http://spatialnews.geocomm.com/community/lists/
Setup a GeoCommunity Account and have access to
the GISDataDepot DRG & DOQQ Catalog
http://www.geocomm.com/login.php
|
|
Sponsored by:
For information
regarding
advertising rates
Click Here!
|
