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PCI Geomatics gives geospatial images a web-friendly makeover
With customers in Canada, the USA, China, Italy, Japan, Brazil, and India, PCI Geomatics represents an international geomatics success story. Its clients include NASA, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, the National Space Agency of Japan, and corporations such as Imperial Oil Resources Ltd. and Abitibi-Price Inc.
Founded in 1982, PCI Geomatics is a privately-held business headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The company also operates an office in Gatineau, Quebec, in the National Capital Region. By assisting PCI Geomatics to develop software that enables users to create and integrate maps, photographs, and spatial data, GeoConnections has played a key role in PCI Geomatics' success, both in Canada and internationally.
"Our development progress would be at least a year behind without the support of GeoConnections," concedes Mr. Sylvain Lemieux, Director of R&D, GeoCapacity Solutions, with PCI Geomatics. "Developing a prototype doesn't necessarily take that long, but commercializing the product is always a challenge. Through GeoConnections, we'll bring the Web Server Suite to market much faster than we could otherwise. The program has been a real enabler."
In the high-tech industry, a year is like a millennium. With technology advancing so quickly, only the fleetest companies profit. GeoConnections helps small- and medium-sized Canadian geomatics companies, such as PCI Geomatics, compete globally in an industry that rewards both speed to market and continual innovation.
Expanding geospatial data access
With funding from GeoConnections, PCI Geomatics is integrating three standard geospatial data services–Web Coverage Service, Web Feature Service, and Web Map Service–into one unified software, Web Server Suite. This turnkey suite will enable organizations to easily make their geospatial data accessible over the web to anyone with a standard Internet browser.
For example, urban planners could use the Web Server Suite to gather high-resolution satellite images and package them with other data–perhaps population-growth trends. The resulting images could be used to manage residential or commercial development, chart roadways, or build public transportation routes. The Web Server Suite enables users to take data from different sources, integrate them, and add value to the final product. Other potential applications include disaster management and agriculture monitoring.
Commercially available to any geospatial data provider, the Web Server Suite will be simple to set up and use. Furthermore, its standards-based technologies will be easy to update whenever standards evolve. With all these features at their disposal, organizations should be able to distribute geospatial data more efficiently and at a lower cost than in the past.
Protecting the black rat snake
Researchers are now using PCI Geomatics web mapping technology to protect the black rat snake. Commonly found in the rocky terrain of the Rideau Lakes region in eastern Ontario, the black rat snake can grow up to 2.5 metres long. The snake eats mice, rats, and birds, often suffocating its prey within the coils of its body. Yet despite its serpentine prowess, the black rat snake is a threatened species.
Protecting the snake requires first knowing more about its habitat. Consequently, Environment Canada–Canadian Wildlife Service and PCI Geomatics teamed up to map and study the snake's habitat north of Kingston, Ontario. A recent graduate was hired to compile high-resolution images of the area, and to share the results over the web using PCI Geomatics web mapping service. The service enables researchers in different locations to visualize large (~130 megabyte) images over the web and interactively zoom and pan.
"We no longer have to ship software and files around the province," says Mr. Richard Post, Knowledge Analyst with the Integrated Environmental Applications Branch at Environment Canada. "We can all look at the maps on the website and discuss them much more readily than if we had to transfer map files to each location. The PCI Geomatics Web Server Suite lets us communicate our research results very easily among all our partners."
Promoting community dialogue
Mr. Lemieux praises GeoConnections and the CGDI network for fostering dialogue among the Canadian geomatics community. "The CGDI presents a focal point for people in industry and government to discuss ideas and receive feedback," he says. "We get very good information by talking with other people through the CGDI; it gives us a clearer picture of the geomatics market, and the demand for applications and services."
Based on these types of discussions, Mr. Lemieux thinks that the Web Server Suite will be a winner. "The suite will make it easier for people to analyze and visualize geospatial data," he says. "They want that capability. Web Server Suite will offer it to them and generate a more powerful product at the end. That's innovation."
| GeoConnections is a national partnership initiative, led by Natural Resources Canada, to build the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI), and make Canada's geospatial databases, tools, and services readily accessible on-line. |