FORCIP+: Forest Roads for Civil Protection · 2017-07-11 · forcip+ echo/sub/2015/718661/prep20 11 -12/02/2016 5 contents executive summary .....6 1. introduction .....7

D4.5 Public Information System

FORCIP+: Forest Roads for Civil Protection

FORCIP+ ECHO/SUB/2015/718661/PREP20 11 -12/02/2016

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Project title Forest Roads for Civil Protection (FORCIP+)

Call identifier Call for proposals 2015 for prevention and preparedness projects in the field of civil protection and marine pollution

Project acronym FORCIP+

Starting date January 15th, 2016

End date July 14th, 2017

Funding scheme Directorate General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations – DG ECHO

Contract no. ECHO/SUB/2015/718661/PREP20

Deliverable no. D4.5

Document name FORCIP+D4.5.pdf

Deliverable name Public Information System

Work Package Task D

Date 15-05-2017


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FORCIP+ Consortium

CO

The Aristotle University (AUTH)

Greece

BE4

Centro de Servicios y Promoción Forestal y de su Industria de Castilla y León (CESEFOR)

Spain

BE3

Slovenian Forestry Institute (SFI)

Slovenia

BE1

Office National des Forêts (ONF)

France

BE2

Università degli Studi di Firenze - Dipartimento di Gestione delle risorse Agrarie, Alimentari e Forestali (UNIFI)

Italy


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ABBREVIATIONS

Term Explanation

DOT Department of Transportation

CSS Cascading Style Sheets

ETRS89 European Terrestrial Reference System 1989

HTML Hypertext Markup Language

JS JavaScript

OSM Open Street Map

RGB Red Green Blue

URL Uniform Resource Locator

US United States of America

WMS Web Map Service


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CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE Summary ................................................................................................. 6

1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 7

2. PUBLIC INFORMATION SYSTEM IN FORCIP+ ...................................................... 9

3. WEB APPLICATION: MAP VIEWER ...................................................................... 11

3.1 Objectives ......................................................................................................... 11

3.2 Software and architecture ................................................................................. 12

3.3 Description of the web application .................................................................... 13

3.3.1 Main Interface ........................................................................................... 13

3.2.2 Functionalities and tool descriptions .......................................................... 16

REFERENCES ........................................................................................................... 23

4. TABLE OF FIGURES ............................................................................................. 24

5. List of Tables .......................................................................................................... 26


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EXECUTIVE Summary

The scope of this deliverable is to report about the Public Information System implemented in the FORCIP+ project. The Public Information System provides information about the project, its results and links to other information related with Civil Protection, roads, fire risk, spatial data and more.


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1. INTRODUCTION

At first the term Public Information Systems must be defined. There are many definitions, among them Orman defines it as systems designed for use by the general public, rather than specialist in a particular field or organization (Orman, 1989). Besides, a Public Information System is designed to present the information to the public or large audience at the same time.

It can be analysed form three perspectives (Sundgren, 2012):

• a pragmatic perspective: why, and for what purposes, are public information systems

required?

• a semantic perspective: what are the contents of public information systems?

• a syntactic perspective: how are public information systems constructed?

The three perspectives correspond to three levels of solutions, as illustrated by Figure 1(obtained from an original version created by Stefan Nilsson-Gistvik).

Figure 1 solution levels in public information systems

The purpose of a public information system is to provide some kind of service or support to a public process, or process involving the general public, that refers to the services level. However, the system content is a discussion addressed in the information level and the technical problems are


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addressed with technical solutions. These systems need to be easy to update and maintain in order to ensure that the public is viewing the most recent information.

Examples:

• Typically: in airports, train stations presenting arrival and departure information. • For public roads: department of Transportation of U.S. (D.O.T.) –

https://www.transportation.gov/home. Its main objective is to provide travellers with a single location to access all public information across the country. It is a web site with links to virtually every traveller website about public road conditions.

Most common information collected and disseminated to the general public related with transportation includes, but is not limited to (Thompson, 1999):

• Traffic conditions • Roadway conditions • Incident information • Work-zone information • Emergency management information • Real-time transit information • Weather conditions • Transit schedules and routes • Real-time traffic information • Local area information • Alternative route information

Yellow pages information (private transportation services, other public and private services, points of interest, etc.).

Nowadays internet is the example of a network structure with control, based on agreements concerning interface and data exchange protocols, that makes it the best way for communication and dissemination.

This information can be received by different means, among others:

• TV/Radio • Dynamic message signs • Handheld devices (smartphones, tablets, …) • In-Vehicles devices • Computer, laptop

https://www.transportation.gov/home

https://www.transportation.gov/home


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Figure 2 Internet network

2. PUBLIC INFORMATION SYSTEM IN FORCIP+

In the FORCIP+ project the information dissemination and public information is centralized in the project website (http://www.forcip.eu/).

The information system addresses several objectives:

• Dissemination of activities • Knowledge sharing • Displaying geographic information collected in the field related with roads and

infrastructure associated

Website

The information showed in the website includes all the project topics from collected data in the pilot areas to each released deliverable.

http://www.forcip.eu/


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Figure 3 FORCIP+ website

Sections:

Newsletter: the information published in different newsletters about the project is accessible in this section.

Figure 4 Newsletter section in FORCIP+ website

Deliverables: the different deliverables of the project are available in the section reserved for each task.


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Figure 5 Task B deliverable section in FORCIP+ website

Project Info: A summary of the main objectives and the purpose of the project are presented in this section.

Map viewer: the Public Information System contains a map viewer with the information collected in the field in each pilot area and stored in a PostGIS database, including Tb_Restrictions (see FORCIP+ D.2.3) as alerts. In this web application some predefined Web Map Services and links to external information are included in order to complete the information and enable the possibility to use it in combination with the project information.

It is accessible through different ways:

• The main menu, Map Viewer section in the upper bar • The following path: http://www.forcip.eu/action/ict-applications • Web application preview in the front page

Figure 6 FORCIP+ Mapviewer logo

3. WEB APPLICATION: MAP VIEWER

3.1 Objectives

Display the data collected in the field related with rural and forest roads and their infrastructure focused on their capacity to let emergency vehicles circulate along them. The information associated to the road conditions is also displayed.

Share this information to the general public and make it available for further use. Provide a tool to get geographic information from other sources.

http://www.forcip.eu/action/ict-applications


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3.2 Software and architecture

According to the principle of sustainability that governs the entire project, the Map Viewer has been built using open source libraries.

Data storage PostgreSQL/PostGIS https://www.postgresql.org/

Geospatial data server Geoserver http://geoserver.org/

Main library (maps) Leaflet http://leafletjs.com/

Framework Bootstrap http://getbootstrap.com/

Technology

Markup language HTML https://www.w3.org/standards/webdesign/htmlcss

Style sheet language CSS

Language JavaScript (JS) https://www.javascript.com/

Table 1 Map viewer infrastructure summary

Figure 7 Web-GIS structure

https://www.postgresql.org/

http://geoserver.org/

http://leafletjs.com/

http://getbootstrap.com/

https://www.w3.org/standards/webdesign/htmlcss

https://www.w3.org/standards/webdesign/htmlcss

https://www.javascript.com/


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3.3 Description of the web application

3.3.1 Main Interface

3.3.3.1 Overview

It comprises of a header with the project logo, a series of tools and the about section, a central part with the map and a series of lateral buttons.

Figure 8 FORCIP+ Mapviewer. Initial view.

Header: Measure, zoom area, full screen and download tools are included. The about section is also available here.

Map: The initial zoom includes the pilot areas from Greece, Slovenia, Italy and Spain.

Parameters of initial zoom:

Zoom level 11

Center coordinates Latitude 42.049251

Longitude 9.272532

Extent

X max. 24.060406

Y max. 47.23057

X min. -7.59883

Y min. 35.03902

Table 2 Initial zoom parameters


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The graphic scale (lower left), the geographical coordinates in ETRS89 (upper right), navigation tools and layer manager (upper left) are displayed. The graphic scale shows a graphical representation of the scale being displayed on the map. The coordinates of the location of the mouse pointer on the map are shown in the upper right corner of the map. These coordinates are shown in geographical (latitude/longitude) format. The Datum of the map is also indicated. The base map by default is Open Street Map (OSM).

3.3.1.2 Style

Corporate color: RGB color model: 99, 154, 51

Marker (icons):

U turn place

Bottle neck: barrier

Passing place

Bottle neck: bridge

Water point

Bottle neck: tunnel

Hydrant

Bottle neck: other

Traffic restriction

Table 3 Icons of thematic layers

Clustering:

Some point information layers are symbolized using clustering, that allows grouping in a single icon different features when they are in proximity to one another. When zooming in to the group of entities, icons will spread to each location. Performed with the leaflet marker cluster plugin.


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Figure 9 Clustering example in the FORCIP+ Mapviewer

Lines (Inventory road):

<Name>FTC 1</Name> <CssParameter name="stroke">#FF0000</CssParameter> <CssParameter name="stroke-width">2</CssParameter> <Name>FTC 2</Name> <CssParameter name="stroke">#0070FF</CssParameter> <CssParameter name="stroke-width">2</CssParameter> <Name>FTC 3</Name> <CssParameter name="stroke">#A87000</CssParameter> <CssParameter name="stroke-width">2</CssParameter>

Text:

Fonts used in texts: • RobotoDraft – 300. Style: normal. Weight: 300. Size: 14px. Line Height: 20px. Color:

#9d9d9d • RobotoDraft – bold. Style: normal. Weight: bold. Size: 14px. Line Height: 17px. Color:

#639a33 • RobotoDraft – 300. Style: normal. Weight: 300. Size: 14px. Line Height: 30px. Color:

#000000. Transparency: 23%.


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3.2.2 Functionalities and tool descriptions

3.3.2.1 Map Interface

About: displays viewer information, contact detail and a help manual.

Figure 10 About section

Download: a new window is displayed where thematic layers and formats available will appear when selecting this section located on the right side of the header.

Full Screen: this tool allows displaying the application in full screen.

Zoom Area: This tool will zoom the map to a specific area, creating a frame by pressing and moving the cursor.

Measure: This tool allows to perform measurements in the map.


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A dialog box will appear after clicking on it that allows closing the tool or creating a new measurement.

To create a new measurement, one clicks on the map creating points and finishes by using the finalize option shown in the dialog box.

Figure 11 Measurement tool

When adding points and when the measurement is finished, distance and area data will be shown.


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Figure 12 Measurement result

When clicking on any measurement, there is the ability to delete it or zoom in to it.

Initial view: by clicking this button the initial zoom is restored.

Navigation buttons (zoom +/-): These two buttons (+ and -) allow to modify the current zoom of the map by zooming in or zooming out.

Layer manager: Clicking the icon will show/hide the sidebar, which will give access to the management of all the cartographic information.

All the features in this sidebar are detailed in the section below.


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Figure 13 Pilot areas in Forcip+ project

3.3.2.2 Map information manager

By clicking on the Layer Manager icon, a sidebar will be displayed from which all cartographic information and search results can be managed:

Thematic layers: shows a list of the different groups of thematic layers available in the Map Viewer. It allows displaying each group and adding or removing themed layers in the view.

Figure 14 Thematic layers in FORCIP+ project


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Active layers: by means of this button the visualization, and presentation of the different layers that are part of the map in each moment, are displayed. These are the active layers.

Figure 15 Active layers

This list presents the following functions:

It allows to show/hide certain options to interact with the layer (detailed below)

It allows to show/hide each layer in the map

Change the display order of each layer. To do it press and drag to the desired new position

Change the opacity/transparency of each layer

Access to the window with the summary metadata of the layer and the metadata tab

There is an image with the symbology corresponding to each layer: the legend

Finally a button is offered to delete each layer of the map

Table 4 Active layers functions

Base maps: A list of base maps is available. Corresponds to Open Street Map (basic and grey), Google maps (Hybrid, Satellite, Terrain and Street). There is the possibility to select a map with white background.


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Figure 16 Base maps available in the Mapviewer

The selected map will appear with a thicker, highlighted in green border.

External map service (WMS): This tool allows adding external layers to the map, using the WMS protocol.

Figure 17 External map service


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External layers can be selected from a predefined list.

Figure 18 Predefined WMS

Or by entering the URL of the WMS service.

Figure 19 External map service

In this section the application offers links to different websites of the involved project partner countries.

Figure 20 Links to external WMS


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Hide sidebar: This button hides the sidebar of the application and expands the display space of the map.

REFERENCES

• Orman, L. V. (1989). Public information systems. The Information Society, 6(1-2), 69-76.

• Sundgren, B. (2012). What is a public information system?. International Journal of Public

Information Systems, 1(1).

• Thompson, R. D. (1999). NATIONALLY INTEGRATED TRAVELER INFORMATION SYSTEM.

Public roads, 63(1).


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4. TABLE OF FIGURES

Figure 1 solution levels in public information systems 7

Figure 2 Internet network 9

Figure 3 FORCIP+ website 10

Figure 4 Newsletter section in FORCIP+ website 10

Figure 5 Task B deliverable section in FORCIP+ website 11

Figure 6 FORCIP+ Mapviewer logo 11

Figure 7 Web-GIS structure 12

Figure 8 FORCIP+ Mapviewer. Initial view. 13

Figure 9 Clustering example in the FORCIP+ Mapviewer 15

Figure 10 About section 16

Figure 11 Measurement tool 17

Figure 12 Measurement result 18

Figure 13 Pilot areas in Forcip+ project 19

Figure 14 Thematic layers in FORCIP+ project 19

Figure 15 Active layers 20

Figure 16 Base maps available in the Mapviewer 21

Figure 17 External map service 21

Figure 18 Predefined WMS 22


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Figure 19 External map service 22

Figure 20 Links to external WMS 22


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5. List of Tables

Table 1 Map viewer infrastructure summary .................................................................... 12

Table 2 Initial zoom parameters ...................................................................................... 13

Table 3 Icons of thematic layers ...................................................................................... 14

Table 4 Active layers functions ........................................................................................ 20

Documents

FORCIP+: Forest Roads for Civil Protection · 2017-07-11 · forcip+ echo/sub/2015/718661/prep20 11 -12/02/2016 5 contents executive summary .....6 1. introduction .....7