CAEE/ACEA MAPACHE TASKS

Updated:   22 July 2006

New Tasks

MapServer

  1. Upgrade MapServer and all libraries it depends on (GDAL, Curl, etc) to the latest version; I haven't upgraded the software since the first installation in late 2003! We are using 4.0. When upgrading, try to compile with support for WFS server & client, PostgresSQL/PostGIS, and PDF output.
  2. Install Linux updates, or move Mapache to another Linux server.
  3. Have one large Mapserver map file (mapache.map) to hold all layer definitions for all Mapache applications, where each app only uses a subset of the layers? Or break up into app-specific map files? Probably better to have one map file (by language). Note that I can also use the scheme described by Matt Perry ("MapServer Include"), having layer descriptions in individual files and using the C preprocessor to create the final map file. http://www.perrygeo.net/wordpress/?p=54
  4. Fix bug with Mozilla/Firefox browser, where the browser remains in an active, waiting mode (hourglass cursor)
  5. Fix bug with Mozilla browsers, where the metadata help window, once opened, does not come up front when user clicks on  metadata link for a new folder
  6. Create help page to describe the use of each feature or tool in Mapache
  7. Map Tools
    1. Add an "identify" tool
    2. Add a "print" tool to create a page putting together the map, scale bar, reference map, legend, CAEE acknowledgments/disclaimers, data acknowledgments, a title, and time stamp, for printing or saving.
    3. Change the look of the tool icons, to be more consistent with the overall look
    4. Change Lat & Lon display to a degree-min-sec format
    5. Add a measure and area tool (see my bookmark)
  8. Unify the javascript code listing layers in the <head> portion of the main HTML file. Unify them into a separate, external .js file, where both languages for each application (eg, Ecosystems) are in the same listing, with some choices for the text that's actually unique to each language (folder and layer names). This will make code maintenance WAY easier!!
  9. Layer Selection & Legend
    1. For the Ecosystems map, display ecosystems layers by default?? Alternatively, have the Ecosystems layer folders open by default?
    2. In the Layer Selection section, add buttons to open and close all layer folders
    3. Add ability to turn on/off all layers in a group (a check box next to each folder icon)
    4. Turn a layer name gray when the map scale is larger than the layer's maximum scale threshold (ie, when the layer is unavailable). This will require parsing the layer scale thresholds, b/c they currently have commas; this is hard! Otherwise, it'll require entering the scale thresholds as integers without commas -- and those are less readable. For converting text to integer, use parseInt() or Number().
    5. Handling layer labels ("names"). Instead of using separate layers for labels like we're doing now, integrate labels as a checkbox in the parent layer, and adopting the label layer naming convention <parent layer>_lbl. Then I'll have to addto the main Mapache layer array a label boolean Yes/No and an element to specify the scale-threshold for the labels; then modify tree.js to handle all this. It's all doable!
    6. Rework legend, to have the ability to show legend groups and classes (in MapServer lingo: currently Mapache displays layers only, not classes; need to display layers or layer groups, then classes). That'll make the legend easier to read, and will make it easier to show datasets like CCAD Ecosystems which have multiple map units.
  10. Add capability to act as OGC WMS server, to serve layers for remote use
  11. Find way to handle WMS server errors smoothly (when a WMS server we're using goes down, avoid breaking Mapache)
  12. Add a feature to the Reference, Legend, and Layer Selection sections so that they can be collapsed on/off, showing only the section header when collapsed
  13. Internationalization for shape file, dbf, MapServer. Currently I was able to display accents for some layers but not others. I don't understand why.
  14. Reference map
    1. Use a png instead of a jpg so that text and zoom box can be sharper.
    2. Enable dynamic lat-lon reporting over the reference map. See the Belize BERDS Map Explorer for an example
  15. Add a CAEE watermark to the maps. See this MapServer how-to. But note that there's apparently a bug, so that the watermark can't be placed at the bottom (or bottom-right) of the map if the map size is changed dynamically outside the map file.
  16. Set up a cron job in the server to flush tmp files regularly
  17. Javascript code can be optimized (compression, etc) for faster download. See these articles: Time to tweak your javascript bloat and Optimizing JavaScript for Download Speed.
  18. Mapache doesn't work with KHTML-based browsers (Safari, Konqueror, etc); "The image shows up in the top left corner of the browser instead of in the image box." From Wikipedia, about KHTML vs. Gecko: "In an attempt to render as many pages as possible, some extra abilities and quirks from Internet Explorer are supported, even though they are notpart of the HTML standard definition.K HTML is fast, but currently less error tolerant than the Gecko layout engine, its main open source rival and core of the Mozilla and Mozilla-Firefox browsers, among others."

Accessory web pages

  1. Mapache page (http://geo.garrobo.org/mapache/index.html): add a section on "What's new", to keep the content changing, show what we're working on.
  2. Use a favicon (the little icon image next to the URL on the browser).
  3. Continue adding relevant GIS links using www.connotea.org
  4. Google for sites linking to us via the old URL on boto.ocean. Write to those sites requesting that they update the URL's. Also, maybe ask Bruce/UW to create a re-direct page in the old server?

GIS Datasets

  1. Major water bodies
  2. Major roads
  3. Topography and shaded relief
  4. Ecosystems
  5. NDVI maps (ideally, both multi-year averages, and live data from current month, from MODIS)
  6. Blue Marble Next Generation (MODIS), all 12 months, different resolutions. Use MapServer CGI variable substitution, to allow user to select the month!
  7. Other remote-sensing derived "live" data
    1. Fire hotspots: last 48 hrs, last 7 days, and historical data (2005, 2004, 2003, ...). Note that it can be mapped as either the original squares, or as points at coarsers scales, based on the lat-lon values already included! See the UMD Web Fire Mapper GIS Data and other products of theirs.
    2. GOES products: fire hotspots, cloudiness, reflectivity, etc. See the "Real-time Satellite Rainfall and Fire Products for Central America"  with views and products for Central America. Write to them requesting cleaner images and/or the set up of WMS services!
    3. Other fire alert info: Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC). Has links to lots of systems.
  8. OGC Web Service providers:
    1. The National Map, USGS. A possibly excellent source of data served through WMS. While the focus is on the US, it has international datasets too: volcanoes, earthquakes, MODIS VI's, etc.
    2. Refractions Research monthly OGC web service Google search and database. I've downloaded their database, which can be loaded into PostgreSQL (or MySQL?), for easy querying
    3. See the short list of resources and the sample MapServer map file with cascading WMS services in Matt Perry's blog entry. While there, notice the nice use of transparency, the arrangement (group) of layers in the map file, and the nice javascript framework that wraps Steve Lime's Landview framework; very nice!!
    4. I'm currently working with biodiversity data in the experimental Mapache version. I have a connection to the Canadian CBIF WMS Server at the moment (which wraps a WMS service around GBIF data; see also this brief GBIF article about their service). Another potentially good biodiversity WMS provider is lifemapper.org (the web site itself doesn't say anything about it); provides layers for both specimens and habitat maps. See Matt Perry's blog entry.
  9. Create legend key images for MODIS and Landsat WMS; this is currently a "bug", because there's a problem with Mapserver. This bug may be fixed in current versions of MapServer.
  10. MODIS real-time: talk to the Rapid-Fire U. Maryland developers, request that they separate the imagery product into two "layers": one that is just the imagery, with no vector overlays (national boundaries or fire hot spots), and another that's just a hotspots shape file (note that they may be doing the latter already, but JPL is simply not re-broadcasting the hotspots with WMS). Update: I sent them an email around 3/20/2006.

Tasks for Version 1 (Completed on 9 March 2006)

MapServer

  1. Add pop-up titles to the tools: Scale, Map Size, Zoom to Region, etc. DONE, 5/26/2005
  2. Change the look of the panning icons around the map. They're ugly! DONE, 9/22/2005
  3. Improve the color/font/layout scheme in the navigation topbar, so it's more pleasing and consistent. DONE, 9/22/2005
  4. Change name of section from "Tools" to "Map", or something like that? DONE, 9/22/2005
  5. Cursor type over the map should change to correspond to zoom tools, or panning; use onmouseover instead of a hover CSS attribute, b/c IE has bugs with the latter. DONE, 5/26/2005 (only one cursor type, though)
  6. Cursor type over panning triangle icons should be more appropriate (5/26/2005, NO; appropriate cursors are not available)
  7. Switch around the Legend and Layer Selection sections? DONE, 6/4/2005
  8. Change the section headings, so they don't lead to a help page and instead have informative pop-ups. DONE, 6/5/2005
  9. In header area, add text saying that help can be found by hovering over section titles and individual tools
  10. Enable the language (Espanol) link; use a fixed URL. DONE, 9/22/2005
  11. Change look & "mouseover" (hover) behavior of layer groups, for consistency; they should react visually when the cursor is over them
  12. Re-do reference map image using the current shaded relief layer
  13. Acknowledgments: clean up, add a brief disclaimer, put River Systems Group before Software, and mention that it's an all-volunteer effort
  14. Change name of main html page from ecosist_ind.html to ecosystems.html, for clarity (need to change other links and javascript reference, too). DONE, 10/1/2005
  15. Change language subfolder names from "eng" and "esp" to the more standard two-character "en" and "es"; the latter are even ISO standards, I think. DONE, 10/1/2005
  16. Acknowledgments: Write disclaimer/aviso on the main page. Simplify (reduce) the rest of the text. DONE, 12/3/2005
  17. To flush tmp files, for now, clean up all files in tmp/ once a week. DONE, 3/9/2006
  18. List browser compatibility. DONE, 3/9/2006
  19. Make the Application title a link to apps.html. DONE, 3/9/2006

Accessory web pages

  1. Overhaul garrobo.org page, using template from geo.garrobo.org. DONE, 2/19/2006
  2. Update garrobo.org "Project Members" page. DONE, 3/9/2006
  3. geo.garrobo.org main page. DONE, 11/25/2005
  4. geo.garrobo.org/mapache main page. DONE, 11/25/2005
  5. Add reference to Connotea GIS CAEE links. DONE, 3/9/2006

GIS Datasets

  1. Political: countries and departments, and indeally municipios. DONE
  2. Populated areas
    1. National capitals, department capitals, municipal seats. DONE
    2. Small cities and towns (populated areas) from GNS; see this page and this one. DONE, 10/6/2005
  3. Topography and shaded relief
    1. Export GTOPO30 to a geotiff using gdal, then display in Mapache, showing the three major elevation ranges we used in our old CAEE maps. DONE, 6/2005 (gdal_translate -of GTiff -co "TILED=YES" elevzones1b\w001001.adf caelevzones.tif)
    2. Elevation ranges. DONE, 6/2005
    3. Coarse-resolution shaded relief. DONE.
  4. Ecosystems
    1. CCAD Ecosystems, aggregated classes. Add polygon boundaries for all individual polygons, to give a glimpse of land cover variability within each aggregated class. DONE, 10/30/2005
    2. Raster U. Maryland/AVHRR 1-km, aggregate classes. DONE, 10/6/2005
    3. Blue Marble Next Generation (MODIS), April and November. DONE, 11/18/2005
    4. Landsat mosaic imagery, WMS
      1. Move layer to an Ecosystems folder. DONE, 9/24/2005
  5. WDPA Protected Areas. DONE
  6. Real-time MODIS imagery, WMS. DONE
  7. Metadata page listing minimal information for each dataset, with URL's to source sites. DONE, 3/9/2006
  8. Change the name of the "Populated Areas" layers to Populated Sites, to avoid confusion with the layer group (folder) of the same name. Remember to then change the Metadata entries. DONE, 12/18/2005

Symbology, labeling

  1. Rename Satellite Imagery layer folder to Real-time data. DONE, 9/24/2005
  2. Labels to add:
    1. Countries, departments. DONE
    2. Populated areas
    3. Protected areas. DONE, 10/6/2005
    4. Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. Labelled them only in the reference map. DONE, 10/6/2005

Site in Spanish

  1. Translate garrobo.org page. DONE, 12/18/2005
  2. Translate geo.garrobo.org and geo.garrobo.org/mapache pages. DONE, 12/3/2005
  3. Data and labelling. DONE, 12/18/2005
  4. Metadata page. DONE, 3/9/2006
  5. Mapserver map file. DONE, 10/2/2005
  6. javascript (translate user-visible text that is stored in tree3.js and mapache_lib.js). DONE, 10/2/2005