Turning Data Into Information with Geo-

OntologiesJustin Lewis - @jmapping - TerraFrame

A bit about us

Some Basic Requirements

Remote data collection (no internet)Data syncing across systemsData manipulation & analysisDynamic data mapping & chartingReport generation

Complex domain modelsMapping data with NO geometriesExpansive configuration...

Not Easy

Some Common Challenges

1.Disparate data sources

2.Limited organizational resources (no GIS staff)

3.A lack of quality GIS data

4.Need for robust data + vis manipulation tools

DATA

Turn messy & incomplete data into useful data

How do we meet these needs?

FOSS + 4G Community

And many others

A Different Approach

A method for modeling data as ontologies that can help turn messy

and/or incomplete data into useful data.

Ontology Crash Course

Ontologies | User Data

What are ontologies?

A style of programming that allows you to define human-like inferences about

data objects.

To Elaborate

Ontology

<justin> is a <person><justin> has a <brain>

Geo-Ontology

<colorado> is a <state><colorado> located in <usa>

An Ontology Model for Geo

Universal A collection of geographic locations representing a common political hierarchy.

Ex: Countries

GeoEntity A single geographic entity within a Universal collection.

Ex: South Korea

GeoEntity

Universal

Purpose of Universals / GeoEntities

Provide a central geographic context for the system

Strengths Of This Approach

1.Well defined spatial and non-spatial relationships

2.No dependency on geometries (less GIS)

Ontologies in the OPEN

RunwaySDK

An ontology based data engine.

GeoDashboard

A visualization layer that sits on top of RunwaySDK.

What about user data?

User Data Is Different

User data can maintain relationships to GeoEntities and Universals giving user

data spatial context.

JSON

{"sales":[

{"product":"widget 1", "amount":"2", "loc":"denver"},

{"product":"widget 2", "amount":"5", "loc":"seattle"}]}

GeoJSON

{"type": “feature”, “geometry”:{“type”:”point”,“coordinates”:[124.6, 10.1]},“properties”:{

"location":"denver"}}

Common GIS Formats

Spreadsheet

The Reality of User ALL Data

IncompleteMessy

Non-Existent (geometry)

Why is this valuable?

Generic data integration, manipulation and visualization

What do I mean by “generic”?

My data, Your data,

Everyone’s data

No Problem

No Geom?

How does this work in a web application?

What about geometries?

Geometries Are Used To

Visualize GeoEntitiesVisualize lowest level data pointsAlgorithmically enhance dataValidate spatial relationships

However, geometries are optional

RunwaySDK in The Wild

Deployed to 7 countries and growing

Demo

Thank You!

@jmapping

GitHub Links

github.com/terraframe/Runway-SDK

github.com/terraframe/geodashboard