Proposed Architecture and Implementation

To solve the limitations of the current architecture and implementation, we propose to move the geospatial rendering to the client-side with a more intuitive user interface that will be more responsive to user interaction and we will create an open and flexible server-side architecture that will allow for the addition of multiple data sources.

Architecture

In contrast to the current system, the service oriented architecture (SOA) allows for many services such as Google Maps, Web Feature Services (WFS), and ArcIMS to provide clients with data that is then rendered on the client-side using a Javascript-based tool called OpenLayers(see Figure 2).

OpenLayers is an open source Javascript library for delivering dynamic map content to any web page. It can display map tiles and markers loaded from any source and is supported by the open source community. By abstracting out the server side and setting up a common interface between the client and the server side, any map service or custom coded library can provided content and functionality to the client removing the limitation of waiting for the commercial vender to provide new features and bug fixes. User interaction will also be improved since the clients have more control over rendering and visualization; however, some of the advanced rendering capabilities provided by ArcIMS would have to be custom coded and there will be more computational load on the client. This increased computational load is partially mitigated by the increasing computational power available to common users.

Figure 2. Proposed Architecture