Implementation of a Geoserver Applicatoin For GIS Data Distribution and Manipulation

Abstract: Accessibility and Interactivity are keywords of information today and that is equally important in science as anywhere else. When scientists share information it benefits if it is intuitive, informative and simple and does not demand expert skills in complicated formats. This master thesis has the aim to investigate open source software tools to design a web map application that can be used by any institute or NGO to distribute their data over internet. The Java platform to be implemented is the open source OpenLayers which allow users to view and potentially manipulate GIS map data through a web map application. Whatever GIS data made available on the Geoserver (the host site for the application) can be shared to users worldwide. The user can then: add from a list of available data layers, choose background (e.g. Google Earth, Open Street Map, etc.), zoom in and out, pan, change symbols and colors, add their own data on top and start animation (if applicable). The data distributed from the Geoserver can also be viewed and accessed from smartphones whichopens the possibility to make the public part of the larger data gathering task of specific scientific inventories like observations of migrating birds, or whatever indicator a specific scientist is interested in. Data is uploaded to the Geoserver and can then be analyzed and the result is distributed to the public.