International Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology Research (IJSETR), Volume 4, Issue 1, January 2015
154
ISSN: 2278 – 7798 All Rights Reserved © 2015 IJSETR
Abstract—The goal of this work is to create a web GIS
prototype for geospatial information of Bhopal city and
providing some functionality which is present in interactive web
GIS application like pan, zoom, and basic query evaluation.
Further the basic functionality also extended with the help of
POSTGIS database and OpenLayers libraries. Geoserver was
customized to set up and enhance the website functions. In this
work a mechanism for restricting access to the website was
implemented and examined, various advanced queries using
PostgreSQL were developed and tested. Furthermore, a
methodology, using combined vector analysis, was developed to
deal efficiently with multi-layer overlay analysis. The facility to
generate detailed information report about the queried features
using the interactive interface has also been implemented.
Index Terms— WebGIS, Land Information System, PostGIS,
Geoserver.
I. INTRODUCTION
GIS (Geographical Information System) is a computer
system that is used to capture, store, manipulate, manage all
format of geospatial data [9]. GIS has the capability to
integrate spatial as well as non-spatial data and also has the
ability to use different formats of data [1]. GIS has
capabilities to integrate database, statistics, remote sensing,
maps with advance graphics for visualization and analysis
Spatial database such as land use, soil, rainfall, geology,
transportation, topography, demography and socioeconomic
may be implemented for better decisions in resource or
facilities planning and management [4].
Land record is originated from Mughal period, later during
British period scientific cadastral surveys were conducted to
determine boundaries and extent of each individual
landholding and to the fertility of different soils. Now –a-
days the land information in india is maintained at Tulak
offices. Map data is stored in Field measurement book
(FMB), Jamabandi, Khasra Girdawari, Padigree Sheets etc.
and land ownership detail is maintained using various
registers [5]. Updating and searching for any land information
in this type of system is very tedious work.
Government of India has started project National Land
Records Modernization Programme (NLRMP) to update their
Land information using GIS. This program is started in
Manuscript received Oct 15, 2011.
Amit Kumar, Haryana Space Application Centre, CCS HAU Campus,
Hisar, Haryan, India., (e-mail: [email protected]).
Pankaj Singh Diwakar, GIS Dept.,MANIT Bhopal, M.P., India ,
(e-mail: [email protected]).
August 2008 by government of India aimed to modernize
management of land records, minimize land disputes, and
enhance transparency in land record management system [6].
In recent years, internet has become the dominated
infrastructure for delivering information to users. Using the
internet infrastructure, the Web GIS technology quickly gain
its popularity thank to the capability to deliver both spatial
and attribute data. Web GIS is used in most of the land
information delivery services.
Web GIS became a economical and effort less way of
disseminating geospatial data and processing tools [2].
Web mapping improves communication with the help of users
who understand maps and it the easiest way to improve the
internal and external communication [3]. Web GIS provides
user an online platform to publish their geospatial data so that
it can be accessed by other GIS users worldwide and also
provides a platform to manage geospatial data in rapid and
effective manner. Popularity of Web based GIS is increasing
day by day, this can be seen by recognition of Google maps,
Bing maps and other Web based map providers. Different
web based application programming interface (AJAX, java,
Flesh etc.) provides libraries and functions to generate maps
in GIF, PNG, JPEG, SVG (Scalable Vector Graphic) and
other formats. Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) also
provides various standard interfaces for sharing and
interoperability among web-based GIS systems, GML resolve
the problem of interaction between various GIS
formats.WMS (Web Map Service) interface provides a
simple HTTP interface for requesting geo-registered map
images from one or more distributed geospatial databases
[1],[7],[8].
The commercial web GIS software packages like ESRI
ArcIMS and Geomedia Web Maps are also available in
market, but some other open source Web GIS server and
software are also available like Geoserver and Mapserver that
can also be used to publish the geospatial data on internet. In
this research work Geoserver is used that is very flexible and
have very interactive user interface. This paper introduces an
alternative approach to publish land information using open
source softwares and libraries like QGIS, OpenLayers, wamp
server, Geoserver, postgresql. Post GIS is spatial extension of
Postgesql used to store geospatial information (shape files) in
tabular form.
Web GIS based Land information System for
Bhopal City using open Source Software and
Libraries
Amit Kumar and Pankaj Singh Diwakar
International Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology Research (IJSETR), Volume 4, Issue 1, January 2015
155
ISSN: 2278 – 7798 All Rights Reserved © 2015 IJSETR
II. MATERIAL AND METHODOLOGY
A. Study Area
Bhopal is the capital of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
All administrative headquarters of Bhopal district and Bhopal
division are present at Bhopal City. Bhopal is one of the
greenest cities in India, it is also known as City of Lakes.
Study area lies between Longitude 77.20878 E to 77.59275 E.,
Latitude 23.07362 N to 23.37713 N. Graphical representation
of study area is given in figure 1.
Fig.1 Study area
B. Data Used
LISS IV image with 5 meter resolution and fused with
CartoSat pan with 2.5 meter image with Longitude
77.20878 E to 77.59275 E., Latitude 23.07362 N to
23.37713 N.
Existing Maps of Bhopal City.
Google Hybrid layer by OpenLayers plug- Ins QGIS.
C. Methodology
The methodology followed in the present study for the
development of Web GIS based Land information System for
Bhopal City is given in figure 2.
Whole system was designed using three tier architecture
which contains 3 layers
1. Client Layer
2. Application Layer
3. Database Layer
Client Layer contains web pages which are designed using
HTML, AJAX and Java Script and OpenLayers. Application
Layer has 2 servers, Wamp server which handles HTTP
requests and second is Geoserver which handles map requests
by client layer. Third layer is Database Layer which contains
all shape files which are converted in tabular form using
PostGIS extension of PostgreSQL.
Fig.2 Flow chart for Methodology
D. Digitization of Existing Maps
The existing maps and LISS-IV satellite image
geo-referenced with Dual frequency Differential-GPS
Ground Control Points (GCPs). Existing maps are digitized
using QGIS. All information related to shape file are stored in
attribute table of the shape file as shown in figure 3 and 4.
These are 5 shape files which were created for this research
work (road, railway, land, and natural_land and points). Land
shape file containing the details of colony houses and their
attribute information like land_id, owner_Name, area,
address etc.
E. Importing Shape Files to Spatial Database
Shape file imported into PostgreSQL in tabular form using
„Shape File to PostGIS Importer‟ as in figure 5. After
importing all the shape files using PostGIS importer data was
saved into PostgreSQL in tabular form and a spatial database
was created. Now PHP (Server side programming language)
can directly interact with PostgreSQL tables and data can be
fetched, inserted and updated using database queries.
GIS Server
Web Server
Database
Layer
Application
Layer
Client
Layer
All shape files are imported
in PostGIS by POSTGIS
shape file and dbf loader
Other login,
role and role
permission
tables
Web browser and other client applications
Spatial database contain
shape file in tabular
form.
GIS Layers (Land record,
Natural places, Roads,
Railway Lines etc.)
International Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology Research (IJSETR), Volume 4, Issue 1, January 2015
156
ISSN: 2278 – 7798 All Rights Reserved © 2015 IJSETR
Fig. 3 Digitization of Existing map using satellite image
Fig. 4 Overlapped on Google satellite image.
Fig.5 Shape File to POSTGIS importer.
International Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology Research (IJSETR), Volume 4, Issue 1, January 2015
157
ISSN: 2278 – 7798 All Rights Reserved © 2015 IJSETR
F. WEB MAP SERVICES (WMS)
WMS provides a simple HTTP interface for requesting
geo-registered map images from one or more distributed
geospatial databases. A WMS request defines the geographic
layer(s) and area of interest to be processed. The response to
the request is one or more geo-registered map images
(returned as JPEG, PNG, etc) that can be displayed in a
browser application. A special OpenLayers function
OpenLayers.Layer.WMS( ) is used to publish geospatial data
on the web. Some other database tables are used for special
purposes like login information, user management, role
management, role permission management. These tables are
integrated with map so that security can be maintained in
terms of web GIS portal.
G. Software and libraries Used
QGIS is an open source GIS software that is used to
digitize map and it can also import and export data
directly from POSTGIS and GeoServer.
PostgreSQL and POSTGIS is used for data storage
like user login details, user permission detail, and all
the vector files are also stored using POSTGIS
extension of PostgreSQL software, it is open source
software that handles almost all kind of vector data
and raster data format.
Wamp server is also open source software that is used
to handle HTTP request made by client and after
manipulation of data by server side scripting
language and it gives response back to the client in
the form of HTTP response.
GeoServer handles geospatial request of clients. Java
provides run time environment for the GeoServer.
This server takes WMS request from webserver and
responds with WMS response.
PHP is used for server side scripting language, PHP
code handles all the requests made for the server and
manipulates data according to user‟s requirement. It
can handle dynamic request of data from database
and it can easily interact with PostgreSQL.
OpenLayers library makes it easy to put a dynamic
map in any web page. It can display map tiles and
markers loaded from any source. OpenLayers has
been developed to further the use of geographic
information of all kinds. OpenLayers is completely
free and Open Source Java Script library .Web pages
are designed in HTML language and Java Script
event.
III. RESULTS
A. Online Visualization of Shape Files
There are some main functionalities of this geospatial web
portal which are given below
Search can be performed on the map layer wise and
result is shown in geographical form.
Pan and zoom tool gives facility to handle zoom level
and handling map.
Layer Selection Panel gives facility to select and
deselect the layer.
Main web page shows different shape files on the map
in different layers.
Login panel gives access to authorized user to modify
map data.
Webpage showing the shape files of Bhopal city area is
shown in figure 6.
B. Searching in Map
When we put some text in the search box and select layer
then this text is compared with the database of shape file that
is stored in PostgreSQL database in tabular form and a spatial
attribute in table store geometry information, then this column
of the table is used by the OpenLayers java script library to
display data in the map. The result of search is highlighted by
red color boundry or by marker. This helps up to find
particular land parcel or location on the map as shown in
figure 7.
C. Measuring Distance and Area on Map
We can measure distance as well as area on the map, the
line drawn on the map as shown in figure 8 and circle inset
shows the area of the polygon in square meter. Distance can
also be calculated on the map using „Measure the distance‟
option. The option named as „Right time measurement result
on mouse over‟ calculates distance or area as we move over
mouse to draw polygon or drawing a line.
D. Getting Detail of Feature on Map
Users can get the information of particular land parcel of
land or other feature e.g. details of the road. By single click on
the feature user can get all the information related to feature in
a pop up window. Openlayers provides GetFeatureInfo()
function in WMS so that we can get information related to
particular feature. As we can see in the figure 9 given below
that when we click on the land parcel we get information
related to parcel like land_id, area, owner_name etc.
(attributes data stored in the database in tabular form).
International Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology Research (IJSETR), Volume 4, Issue 1, January 2015
158
ISSN: 2278 – 7798 All Rights Reserved © 2015 IJSETR
Fig.6 Main Web page for Land information system portal of Bhopal City
Fig.7 Search result by using searching tool
Fig.8 Distance measurement on the map
International Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology Research (IJSETR), Volume 4, Issue 1, January 2015
159
ISSN: 2278 – 7798 All Rights Reserved © 2015 IJSETR
Fig.9 Detail of the feature
E. Login Window for Authorized Access
For customization and modification of the data, for creating new user, a separate webpage is designed as shown in figure 10.
Whereas for secure access a login panel is provided, when user fills the details like username and password and press „Sign In‟
then, login detail is compared with detail presents in database, if user is not authorized then it shows a warning message.
Fig.10 Detail of the feature
F. Customization Option
There are some facilities which are provided for the administrator to make new user, prepare report and update data.
Administrator can give permission to new user. User Management, Statistical Report and Update map data section for the
customization options which is shown in figure 11.
The main points of User Management option are given as follows:
Adding new Users
Adding User group
Update user group
International Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology Research (IJSETR), Volume 4, Issue 1, January 2015
160
ISSN: 2278 – 7798 All Rights Reserved © 2015 IJSETR
Fig.11Customization option for administrator section
G. Updating Existing Information in Geo-database and
Report Generation
If user wants to update owner name of a land parcel then
this web GIS portal gives a facility to update owner name.
Only those users can update existing details that have
authority to update information. Furthermore, user can also
print the status report generated about land data.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We are very thankful to Mr. Nhã Hoàng Đức and Dr. S. K.
Katiyar for their technical support. I am also thankful to
MANIT Bhopal for providing us literature and Lab facilities.
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