Web mapping or an online mapping is the process of using
maps, usually created through
geographic information systems (GIS), on the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a ''internetworking, network of networks'' that consists ...
, more specifically in the
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet.
Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web se ...
(WWW). A web map or an online map is both served and consumed, thus web mapping is more than just web
cartography
Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an ...
, it is a service by which consumers may choose what the map will show. Web GIS emphasizes
geodata processing aspects more involved with design aspects such as data acquisition and server software architecture such as data storage and algorithms, than it does the end-user reports themselves.
The terms ''web GIS'' and ''web mapping ''remain somewhat synonymous. Web GIS uses web maps, and end users who are ''web mapping'' are gaining analytical capabilities. The term ''
location-based services'' refers to ''web mapping'' consumer goods and services. Web mapping usually involves a
web browser
A web browser is application software for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used on ...
or other user agent capable of client-server interactions.
Questions of quality, usability, social benefits, and legal constraints are driving its evolution.
The advent of web mapping can be regarded as a major new trend in cartography. Until recently cartography was restricted to a few
companies
A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared ...
, institutes and
mapping agencies, requiring relatively expensive and complex hardware and software as well as skilled cartographers and
geomatics
Geomatics is defined in the ISO/TC 211 series of standards as the "discipline concerned with the collection, distribution, storage, analysis, processing, presentation of geographic data or geographic information". Under another definition, it ...
engineers.
Web mapping has brought many geographical datasets, including free ones generated by
OpenStreetMap
OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a free, open geographic database updated and maintained by a community of volunteers via open collaboration. Contributors collect data from surveys, trace from aerial imagery and also import from other freely licensed ...
and proprietary datasets owned by
HERE,
Huawei
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ( ; ) is a Chinese multinational technology corporation headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. It designs, develops, produces and sells telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics and various smart ...
,
Google
Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
,
Tencent,
TomTom, and others. A range of
free software to generate maps has also been conceived and implemented alongside proprietary tools like
ArcGIS. As a result, the
barrier to entry for serving maps on the web has been lowered.
Types
A first classification of web maps has been made by
Kraak in 2001.
[ Kraak, Menno Jan (2001): ''Settings and needs for web cartography'', in: Kraak and Allan Brown (eds), Web Cartography, Francis and Taylor, New York, p. 3–4. see also webpag]
Accessed 2007-01-04. He distinguished ''static'' and ''dynamic'' web maps and further distinguished ''interactive'' and ''view only'' web maps. Today there an increased number of dynamic web maps types, and static web map sources.
Analytical web maps
Analytical web maps offer GIS analysis. The geodata can be a static provision, or need updates. The borderline between analytical web maps and web GIS is fuzzy. Parts of the analysis can be carried out by the GIS geodata server. As web clients gain capabilities processing is distributed.
Animated and realtime
Realtime maps show the situation of a phenomenon in close to
Real-time computing, realtime (only a few seconds or minutes delay). They are usually animated. Data is collected by sensors and the maps are generated or updated at regular intervals or on demand.
Animated maps show changes in the map over time by animating one of the graphical or temporal variables. Technologies enabling client-side display of animated web maps include
scalable vector graphics (SVG), Adobe Flash, Java, QuickTime, and others. Web maps with real-time animation include weather maps,
traffic congestion maps and vehicle monitoring systems.
CartoDB launched an open source library, Torque, which enables the creation of dynamic animated maps with millions of records. Twitter uses this technology to create maps to reflect how users reacted to news and events worldwide.
Collaborative web maps
Collaborative maps are a developing potential. In proprietary or open source collaborative software, users collaborate to create and improve the web mapping experience. Some collaborative web mapping projects are:
*
Google Map Maker
*
Here Map Creator
*
OpenStreetMap
OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a free, open geographic database updated and maintained by a community of volunteers via open collaboration. Contributors collect data from surveys, trace from aerial imagery and also import from other freely licensed ...
*
WikiMapia
Wikimapia is a geographic online encyclopedia project. The project implements an interactive "clickable" web map that utilizes Google Maps with a geographically-referenced wiki system, with the aim to mark and describe all geographical objects ...
*
meta:Maps - a survey of
Wikimedia movement web mapping proposals
Online atlases
The traditional
atlas
An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth.
Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geograp ...
goes through a remarkably large transition when hosted on the web. Atlases can cease their printed editions or offer printing on demand. Some atlases also offer raw data downloads of the underlying geospatial data sources.
Static web maps
Static
web pages are ''
view only'' without
animation or
interactivity
Across the many fields concerned with interactivity, including information science, computer science, human-computer interaction, communication, and industrial design, there is little agreement over the meaning of the term "interactivity", but ...
. These files are created once, often manually, and infrequently updated. Typical
graphics formats for static web maps are
PNG,
JPEG
JPEG ( ) is a commonly used method of lossy compression for digital images, particularly for those images produced by digital photography. The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and im ...
,
GIF, or
TIFF (e.g.,
drg) for
raster files,
SVG,
PDF or
SWF
SWF ( ) is an Adobe Flash file format used for multimedia, vector graphics and ActionScript.[Open Screen Pr ...](_blank)
for
vector files. These include
scanned paper maps not designed as screen maps. Paper maps have a much higher
resolution and information density than typical
computer displays of the same physical size, and might be unreadable when displayed on screens at the wrong
resolution.
Web GIS in the cloud
Various companies now offer web mapping as a cloud based
software as a service. These service providers allow users to create and share maps by uploading data to their servers (cloud storage). The maps are created either by using an in browser editor or writing scripts that leverage the service providers API's.
Evolving paper cartography
Compared to traditional techniques, mapping software has many advantages. The disadvantages are also stated.
* Web maps can easily ''deliver up to date information''. If maps are generated automatically from
database
In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases spa ...
s, they can display information in almost
Real-time computing, realtime. They don't need to be
printed
Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...
, mastered and distributed. Examples:
** A map displaying
election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
results, as soon as the election results become available.
** A
traffic congestion map using traffic data collected by sensor networks.
** A map showing the current locations of
mass transit vehicles such as
bus
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
es or
trains, allowing patrons to minimize their waiting time at stops or stations, or be aware of delays in service.
**
Weather maps, such as
NEXRAD.
* ''
Software
Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work.
...
and
hardware infrastructure for web maps is cheap.''
Web server hardware is cheaply available and many
open source
Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
tools exist for producing web maps.
Geodata, on the other hand, is not; satellites and fleets of automobiles use expensive equipment to collect the information on an ongoing basis. Perhaps owing to this, many people are still reluctant to publish geodata, especially in places where geodata are expensive. They fear
copyright infringement
Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, ...
s by other people using their data without proper requests for permission.
* ''Product updates can easily be distributed''. Because web maps distribute both logic and data with each request or loading,
product update
Product may refer to:
Business
* Product (business), an item that serves as a solution to a specific consumer problem.
* Product (project management), a deliverable or set of deliverables that contribute to a business solution
Mathematics
* Produ ...
s can happen every time the web user reloads the application. In traditional
cartography
Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an ...
, when dealing with printed maps or interactive maps distributed on
offline media (
CD,
DVD, etc.), a map update takes serious efforts, triggering a reprint or remastering as well as a redistribution of the media. With web maps, data and product updates are easier, cheaper, and faster, and occur more often. Perhaps owing to this, many web maps are of poor quality, both in symbolization, content and data accuracy.
* ''Web maps can combine distributed data sources''. Using open standards and documented
APIs one can integrate (''
mash up'') different data sources, if the
projection system, map scale and data quality match. The use of centralized data sources removes the burden for individual organizations to maintain copies of the same data sets. The downside is that one has to rely on and trust the external data sources. In addition, with detailed information available and the combination of distributed data sources, it is possible to find out and combine a lot of private and personal information of individual persons. Properties and estates of individuals are now accessible through high resolution aerial and satellite images throughout the world to anyone.
* ''Web maps allow for personalization''. By using
user profiles
A user profile is a collection of settings and information associated with a user. It contains critical information that is used to identify an individual, such as their name, age, portrait photograph and individual characteristics such as ...
, personal filters and personal styling and
symbolization, users can configure and design their own maps, if the web mapping systems supports personalization.
Accessibility issues can be treated in the same way. If users can store their favourite colors and patterns they can avoid color combinations they can't easily distinguish (e.g. due to
color blindness). Despite this, as with paper, web maps have the problem of limited screen space, but more so. This is in particular a problem for mobile web maps; the equipment carried usually has a very small screen, making it less likely that there is room for personalisation.
* ''Web maps enable collaborative mapping'' similar to web mapping technologies such as
DHTML/
Ajax,
SVG,
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...
,
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a multimedia software platform used for production of animations, rich web applications, desktop applications, mobile apps, mobile games, and embedded web browser video players. Fla ...
, etc. enable distributed data acquisition and collaborative efforts. Examples for such projects are the
OpenStreetMap
OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a free, open geographic database updated and maintained by a community of volunteers via open collaboration. Contributors collect data from surveys, trace from aerial imagery and also import from other freely licensed ...
project or the
Google Earth community. As with other open projects, quality assurance is very important, however, and the reliability of the internet and web server infrastructure is not yet good enough. Especially if a web map relies on external, distributed data sources, the original author often cannot guarantee the availability of the information.
* ''Web maps support
hyperlink
In computing, a hyperlink, or simply a link, is a digital reference to data that the user can follow or be guided by clicking or tapping. A hyperlink points to a whole document or to a specific element within a document. Hypertext is text ...
ing to other information on the web''. Just like any other
web page or a
wiki
A wiki ( ) is an online hypertext publication collaboratively edited and managed by its own audience, using a web browser. A typical wiki contains multiple pages for the subjects or scope of the project, and could be either open to the pu ...
, web maps can act like an index to other information on the web. Any
sensitive area in a map, a label text, etc. can provide hyperlinks to additional information. As an example a map showing public transport options can directly link to the corresponding section in the online train time table. However, development of web maps is complicated enough as it is: Despite the increasing availability of free and commercial tools to create web mapping and web GIS applications, it is still a more complex task to create interactive web maps than to typeset and print images. Many technologies, modules, services and data sources have to be mastered and integrated The development and debugging environments of a conglomerate of different web technologies is still awkward and uncomfortable.
History
This section contains some of the milestones of web mapping, online mapping services and atlases.
[For technological context, see History of the World Wide Web and related topics under ]History of computer hardware
The history of computing hardware covers the developments from early simple devices to aid calculation to modern day computers. Before the 20th century, most calculations were done by humans.
The first aids to computation were purely mechanic ...
.
* 1989: ''Birth of the WWW'',
WWW invented at
CERN for the exchange of research documents.
[More details are in: History of the World Wide Web#1980–1991: Invention and implementation.]
* 1993: ''
Xerox PARC Map Viewer'', The first mapserver based on
CGI/
Perl
Perl is a family of two High-level programming language, high-level, General-purpose programming language, general-purpose, Interpreter (computing), interpreted, dynamic programming languages. "Perl" refers to Perl 5, but from 2000 to 2019 it ...
, allowed reprojection styling and definition of map extent.
* 1994: ''The National Atlas of Canada'', The first version of the National Atlas of Canada was released. Can be regarded as the first
online atlas.
* 1995: ''The Gazetteer for Scotland'', The prototype version of the Gazetteer for Scotland was released. The first geographical database with interactive mapping.
* 1995: ''Tiger Mapping Service'', from the U.S. Census Bureau, the first national street-level web map, and the first major web map from the U.S. government.
* 1995: ''
MapGuide
MapGuide Open Source is a web-based map-making platform that enables users to quickly develop and deploy web mapping applications and geospatial web services. The application was introduced as open-source by Autodesk in November 2005, and the code ...
'', First introduced as Argus MapGuide.
* 1996: Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies Interactive Mapper, Based on
CGI/
C shell/
GRASS
Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in law ...
would allow the user to select a geographic extent, a raster base layer, and number of vector layers to create personalized map.
* 1996: ''
Mapquest'', The first popular online Address Matching and Routing Service with mapping output.
* 1996: ''
MultiMap'', The
UK-based MultiMap website launched offering online mapping, routing and location based services. Grew into one of the most popular UK web sites.
* 1996: ''
MapGuide
MapGuide Open Source is a web-based map-making platform that enables users to quickly develop and deploy web mapping applications and geospatial web services. The application was introduced as open-source by Autodesk in November 2005, and the code ...
'', Autodesk acquired Argus Technologies.and introduced Autodesk MapGuide 2.0.
* 1997: ''US Online National Atlas Initiative'', The
USGS
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...
received the mandate to coordinate and create the online
National Atlas of the United States.
* 1997: UMN
MapServer 1.0, Developed at the
University of Minnesota (UMN) as Part of the
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...
ForNet Project. Grew out of the need to deliver
remote sensing
Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object, in contrast to in situ or on-site observation. The term is applied especially to acquiring information about Ear ...
data across the web for
foresters.
* 1998: ''
Terraserver USA'', A
Web Map Service serving
aerial images (mainly b+w) and USGS
DRGs was released. One of the first popular WMS. This service is a joint effort of USGS,
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation, multinational technology company, technology corporation producing Software, computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at th ...
and
HP.
* 2003: ''
NASA World Wind
NASA WorldWind is an open-source (released under the NOSA license and the Apache 2.0 license) virtual globe. According to the website (https://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/), "WorldWind is an open source virtual globe API. WorldWind allow ...
'', NASA World Wind Released. An open
virtual globe that loads data from distributed resources across the internet. Terrain and buildings can be viewed 3 dimensionally. The (
XML based) markup language allows users to integrate their own personal content. This virtual globe needs special software and doesn't run in a web browser.
* 2004:
OpenStreetMap
OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a free, open geographic database updated and maintained by a community of volunteers via open collaboration. Contributors collect data from surveys, trace from aerial imagery and also import from other freely licensed ...
, an
open source
Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
,
open content world map founded by
Steve Coast.
* 2004: ''
Yandex Maps'' is founded.
* 2005: ''
Google Maps
Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panorama, interactive panoramic views of streets (Google Street View, Street View ...
'', The first version of Google Maps. Based on raster tiles organized in a
quad tree
A quadtree is a tree data structure in which each internal node has exactly four children. Quadtrees are the two-dimensional analog of octrees and are most often used to partition a two-dimensional space by recursively subdividing it into four q ...
scheme, data loading done with
XMLHttpRequests. This mapping application became highly popular on the web, also because it allowed other people to integrate google map services into their own website.
* 2005: ''
Baidu Maps'' is in beta.
* 2005: ''
MapGuide Open Source'' introduced as open source by Autodesk
* 2005: ''
Google Earth'', The first version of Google Earth was released building on the virtual globe metaphor. Terrain and buildings can be viewed 3 dimensionally. The
KML (
XML based) markup language allows users to integrate their own personal content. This virtual globe needs special software and doesn't run in a web browser.
* 2005: ''
OpenLayers'', the first version of the open source Javascript library OpenLayers.
* 2006: ''
WikiMapia
Wikimapia is a geographic online encyclopedia project. The project implements an interactive "clickable" web map that utilizes Google Maps with a geographically-referenced wiki system, with the aim to mark and describe all geographical objects ...
'' is launched
* 2009:
Nokia
Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finlan ...
made ''
Ovi Maps'' free on its smartphones.
* 2012: ''
Apple Maps'', the first vector-tile based mapping app, is launched, replacing
Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ances ...
's own Google Maps client as the default mapping app for its platforms.
* 2020: ''
Petal Maps'' is released.
Technologies
Web mapping technologies require both server-side and client-side applications. The following is a list of technologies utilized in web mapping.
*
Spatial databases are usually object relational databases enhanced with geographic data types, methods and properties. They are necessary whenever a web mapping application has to deal with dynamic data (that changes frequently) or with huge amount of geographic data. Spatial databases allow spatial queries, sub selects, reprojections, and geometry manipulations and offer various import and export formats.
PostGIS is a prominent example; it is open source.
MySQL
MySQL () is an open-source relational database management system (RDBMS). Its name is a combination of "My", the name of co-founder Michael Widenius's daughter My, and "SQL", the acronym for Structured Query Language. A relational database ...
also implements some spatial features.
Oracle Spatial, Microsoft SQL Server (with the spatial extensions), and IBM DB2 are the commercial alternatives. The
Open Geospacial Consortium's (OGC) specification "
Simple Features" is a standard geometry data model and operator set for spatial databases. Part 2 of the specification defines an implementation using SQL.
*
Tiled web maps display rendered maps made up of raster image "tiles".
*
Vector tiles are also becoming more popular—Google and Apple have both transitioned to vector tiles. Mapbox.com also offers vector tiles. This new style of web mapping is resolution independent, and also has the advantage of dynamically showing and hiding features depending on the interaction.
*
WMS servers generate maps using parameters for user options such as the order of the layers, the styling and symbolization, the extent of the data, the data format, the projection, etc. The OGC standardized these options. Another WMS server standard is the
Tile Map Service. Standard image formats include PNG, JPEG, GIF and
SVG.
Impact on society
Web maps have become an essential tool for many, as illustrated by a 2021
labor strike
Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became common during the I ...
demanding (among other things) a certain type of map.
See also
*
Online cadastral map
*
Comparison of web map services
*
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
*
List of online map services
*
Neogeography
*
Geoweb
*
Public Participation GIS (PPGIS)
*
Soundmap
*
Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI)
Notes and references
Further reading
* Fu, P., and J. Sun. 2010. ''Web GIS: Principles and Applications''. ESRI Press. Redlands, CA. .
* Graham, M. 2010
Neogeography and the Palimpsests of Place Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie. 101(4), 422-436.
* Kraak, Menno-Jan and Allan Brown (2001): ''Web Cartography – Developments and prospects'', Taylor & Francis, New York, .
* Mitchell, Tyler (2005): ''Web Mapping Illustrated'', O'Reilly, Sebastopol, 350 pages, . This book discusses various Open Source Web Mapping projects and provides hints and tricks as well as examples.
* Peterson, Michael P. (ed.) (2014): ''Mapping in the Cloud'', Guilford, .
* Peterson, Michael P. (ed.) (2003): ''Maps and the Internet'', Elsevier, .
* Rambaldi G, Chambers R., McCall M, And Fox J. 2006
Practical ethics for PGIS practitioners, facilitators, technology intermediaries and researchers PLA 54:106-113, IIED, London, UK
* Gaffuri J, 2012.
Toward web mapping with vector data'. Vol. 7478 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Springer, Ch. 7, pp. 87–101
DOI:10.1007/978-3-642-33024-7_7* Feldman, S 2010
History of Web Mapping - slide deckan
History of Web Mapping - mind map
External links
Sites
UMN MapServer documentation and tutorialsWebmapping with SVG, Postgis and UMN MapServer tutorialsInternational Cartographic Association (ICA) the world body for mapping and GIScience professionals
Comparison of Online Mapping Tools Duke University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Web Mapping
Collaborative mapping
Map types