Unified map service (leverage WFS 3.0 / NextGen services) - serving imagery, coverage, vector or 3D data in a tiled or non-tiled manner, server-side rendered or raw data for client to style or perform analytics

[jerstlouis]

Based on recommendations from Testbed 13 Vector Tiles ER ( http://docs.opengeospatial.org/per/17-041.pdf ):

The concept of a unified map service, whereas a single end-point can serve vector, imagery or coverage (http://ogc.standardstracker.org/show_request.cgi?id=524)

Investigate leveraging WFS 3.0 / NextGen Services efforts to achieve these goals: Serving imagery, coverage or vector data in a uniform manner from a single service end-point/RESTful interface with regards to:

• Tiled or an entire feature collection
• Rendered server-side or client-side
• Generalized data (zoom levels)

[jerstlouis]

See presentation in Orléans: https://portal.opengeospatial.org/files/?artifact_id=78302&version=2 And intro: http://ecere.ca/gnosis/UMSIntro.pdf

And actual prototype:

As an example of how our current UMS implementation works, here are 3 example tiles of the same area (in the Himalayas):

(imagery) http://maps.ecere.com/ums?SERVICE=UMS&REQUEST=GetTile&layer=BMNG%202004&time=january&tilingScheme=GoogleMapsCompatible&tileKey={4,6,11}&format=png (coverage) http://maps.ecere.com/ums?SERVICE=UMS&REQUEST=GetTile&layer=SRTM_ViewFinderPanorama&tilingScheme=GoogleMapsCompatible&tileKey={4,6,11}&format=png (vector) http://maps.ecere.com/ums?SERVICE=UMS&REQUEST=GetTile&layer=NaturalEarth/physical/ne_10m_geography_regions_polys&tilingScheme=GoogleMapsCompatible&tileKey={4,6,11}&format=geo+json

UMS also supports non-tiled requests e.g:

(imagery) http://maps.ecere.com/ums?SERVICE=UMS&REQUEST=GetFeatures&layer=BMNG%202004&zoomLevel=3&format=png&time=january&extent={{0,-100},{40,-75}} (vector) http://maps.ecere.com/ums?SERVICE=UMS&REQUEST=GetFeatures&layer=NaturalEarth/cultural/ne_10m_admin_0_countries&zoomLevel=3&format=geo+json&extent={{0,-100},{40,-75}} (coverage) http://maps.ecere.com/ums?SERVICE=UMS&REQUEST=GetFeatures&layer=SRTM_ViewFinderPanorama&zoomLevel=3&format=png&extent={{0,-100},{40,-75}}

You can notice the folder hierarchy which makes it possible to easily regroup and filter a very large library. You can easily list layers within a folder: http://maps.ecere.com/ums?SERVICE=UMS&REQUEST=GetLayersList&collection=OpenMapLocal

You can query meta data in different formats: http://maps.ecere.com/ums?SERVICE=UMS&REQUEST=GetMetaData&layer=BMNG%202004&on=json http://maps.ecere.com/ums?SERVICE=UMS&REQUEST=GetMetaData&layer=BMNG%202004&on=xml

[pebau]

Integration of metadata and raster data / datacubes has been accomplished by EarthServer (http://www.earthserver.eu). Access, filtering, and processing (including fusion) is possible via xWCPS, an extension of WCPS which looks like an interesting candidate for standardization.

Also, let me note related ISO activities: SQL/MDA ("Multi-DImensional Arrays") extends SQL with datacube ops, conceptually similar to WCPS, yielding tight data/metadata integration. As SQL supports Simple Features, even vectors are part of the story. We should look at this for avoiding reinvention of wheels when it comes to raster data.