Concepts
Main concepts related to the geoportal, its functions, the data it works with, etc., to provide a basic context.
Geoportal
A geoportal is a website designed to provide users with access to a series of resources and services based on geographic information. It allows for the discovery, access, and visualization of geospatial data using a web browser, facilitating integration, interoperability, and information exchange among institutions, professional collectives, businesses, or the general public in a fast and agile manner.
For better context, geoportals are usually part of a Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI), which generally has a geoportal as its access point and most visible manifestation. An SDI consists of an integrated information system composed of various resources (catalogs, servers, programs, data, applications, etc.) that manage geospatial information (maps, orthophotos, satellite images, etc.) available on the internet. These resources comply with a set of interoperability conditions (standards, specifications, protocols, etc.) that allow users, through a simple web browser, to use and combine them according to their needs.
Therefore, the technology used to implement geoportals is the same technology used to implement SDIs, which is based on service-oriented architectures, distributed GIS, web GIS, and geospatial standards. The different repositories and middleware components that publish and maintain the open services used by geoportals can be located on different computers and locations, combined vertically or horizontally.
Information
Services created from Mapia SERVER are primarily used in a Geoportal.
Administrator
The administrator is the person who manages all the resources of the web geoportal through the administration application. Important maintenance tasks for the administrator include updating existing records with new information, configuring the access level of a resource, reviewing and approving records, and keeping the registration information updated for resources registered in the network.
User
A user is any person or entity that accesses the geoportal. Unlike the administrator, who can view and manage all the geoportal records, the user will only be able to view and manage certain resources, i.e., access will be restricted by the administrator.
Group
Groups can be created in the geoportal administration. Groups are a set of users or administrators who are united under the same name to manage the actions or records they can carry out. It is another way to manage users or administrators quickly and collectively rather than individually.
Basemap
Basemaps serve as a reference map on which other layer data can be overlaid and allow for the visualization of geographic information. An individual basemap may consist of several layers of entities, raster, or web data and forms the basis of any map that provides a geographic context and reference details for working on it. They can be general purpose, such as topographic, imagery, or street basemaps, or they can focus on a specific theme (thematic), such as hydrographic basemaps, geological maps, etc.
Layer
A geospatial information layer, or layer, is a file or part of a file that contains spatial information about a spatial or thematic variable. It is used in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to encode and store spatial information that is structured in GIS projects. Files can be of vector and raster types, and the geometry used includes points, lines, polygons, irregular triangular networks (TINs), raster, etc. Additionally, layers overlap through their georeferencing, so that each location in one layer is precisely aligned with the others. In summary, layers are a method of organizing spatial information, as they can be grouped based on their characteristics, enabling better integration and management of spatial databases.
Catalog
The catalog offered by a geoportal is a list of all the products and services it provides, organized by categories.
Category
Categories are classes resulting from a classification of items in any field according to a criterion or hierarchy. Each category of elements may have subcategories within it. In the geoportal, all layers are organized using categories and presented to the user in the Catalog or Directory component.
Metadata
Metadata consists of information that characterizes data, i.e., data that describe other data. They are highly structured data that describe the content, quality, conditions, history, availability, and other characteristics of other data. Given the increasingly abundant and exponentially growing amount of information, metadata have become very important for data management, as they offer significant advantages such as easy search and analysis, facilitate standardization, aid integration, provide more security, and in general, make data handling more efficient.
Dataset: External Layers
A Dataset is a collection of data, usually tabulated. In the case of the Geoportal, a Dataset is an external layer of the Geoportal, i.e., an external WMS or TMS from another organization: ICGC, DGC, etc.
Tools or Functionalities
Tools are all the functions that a geoportal can perform. Actions such as searching within a catalog, searching for addresses, editing data, printing and sharing maps, etc., are considered functions or tools.
QGIS Project
A QGIS project is a file with the extension .QGS that contains a project of the QGIS application. The geoportal allows publishing this type of file directly.
Vector Data
Within Geographic Information Systems, there are two types of cartographic files: vector data and raster data. Vector files have a vector nature, i.e., geographic elements are presented based on three basic geometric structures: points, lines, and polygons.
Raster Data
On the other hand, raster files are characterized by a grid of cells or pixels, in which each pixel presents a special quality or property (color, altitude, etc.). While in the vector model, lines and points are the main elements of the system, in the raster model, the cell is the main element. The main difference with a vector file is that a raster file stores pixels, whereas vector files store coordinates of the vertices of each geometric element. Each type of cartographic file has particular characteristics that offer certain advantages depending on the work to be done.
Point Clouds
A point cloud refers to a set of vertices in a three-dimensional coordinate system. These vertices are commonly identified by X, Y, and Z coordinates and represent the external surface of an object. They are usually created with a 3D laser scanner. This instrument automatically measures a large number of points on the surface of an object and generates a data file with a point cloud, which represents the set of points measured by the device. Among their many uses in GIS, point clouds are a major data source for building digital elevation models.
Panoramas
A panorama is an extensive view of the terrain from a specific location, usually from an elevated position. In the case of geoportal functionalities, they often provide street-level panoramas through Mobile Mapping captures.
