Web GIS

WHAT IS WEB GIS

Traditionally, a Geographical Information System (GIS) consisted of hardware, software and data on one computer. Users would analyse and create static maps of the data. There was no ability to share the work with co-workers or the public, except through physical copies.

Today our daily lives are shaped by the web. GIS has also been shaped by this technology, which has led to the advent of Web GIS. Using state of the art web technologies and plugging into web APIs (Application Programming Interface), now means we can display and analyse spatial data on multiple devices – laptop, mobile and desktop through a web browser. It also means we can take advantage of APIs on mobile devices such as the Geolocation API, which lets you discover the user location. Both the desktop and mobile Web GIS applications developed for West Limerick Group Water Scheme makes best use of these APIs.

HOW TO DOWNLOAD A MOBILE APP?

The following video gives a demo on how to download the mobile web GIS application and add it as an app to your home screen.

Open the link below in a browser on your phone (Safari on iPhone for example): www.erdgroupwaterscheme.ie/GIS/

Press the action button (square with arrow).

Scroll across to find the “Add to Home Screen” button.

Click Add and the app should be stored on your device.

HOW TO USE WEB GIS ON YOUR PHONE?

Please watch the full video, which gives a live demo of how to use the app on your mobile phone.

Use the Geolocation button to locate yourself (Ensure geolocation settings are switched on, on your device).

Use the Home button to take you back to the original set location.

Click the forward/backward arrows to see the legend for the different layers on the device. Click “X” to close the window and go back to the map.

Turn on the various different layers of interest with the layers button located at the top right of the map. Switch between the various base-map layers.

In the legend tab, search by consumer id, to find an id of interest. This will zoom and highlight the id of interest. Turn on the “consumer layer” to see the points on screen.

HOW TO USE WEB GIS ON YOUR DESKTOP?

Please watch the full video, which gives a live demo of how to use the app on your desktop. Open the following link: www.erdgroupwaterscheme.ie/GIS/

Click the forward/backward arrows to see the legend for the different layers on the device. Click “X” to close the window and go back to the fullscreen map.

Turn on the various different layers of interest with the layers button located at the top right of the map. Switch between the various basemap layers.

Hover mouse over the various layers to get information from that layer – Zone of Contribution for example.

In the legend tab, search by consumer id, to find an id of interest. This will zoom and highlight the id of interest. Turn on the “consumer layer” to see the points on screen.

Click on the measure tool to measure line distances. Click on it again to remove drawings from the map.