UNIVERSITY OF THE AEGEAN SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF MARINE SCIENCES

WP3. Geographical Information System (GIS) development Deliverables D9 – D11

DIMITRA KITSIOU, THEODOROS NITIS, GEORGE TSIRTSIS, APOSTOLOS TSAKNAKIS, MIGUEL A. ESTEVE, MANUELA FALCÃO, GIANMARCO GIORDANNI & LIONEL LOUBERSAC

University of the Aegean, School of Environmental Sciences Department of Marine Sciences 811 00 Mytilini, Lesvos, GREECE

EVK3-CT-20022-00084 (DITTY Project) July 2006

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Introduction Coastal zones represent a transition protective area between the land and the sea containing very important diverse and unique resources for biological and economic productivity. The economic, environmental and demographic pressures are very intense in these areas, since a very high portion of the world’s human population lives near the coastline (Gibson, 2003), leading to conflicts not only between human activities and the strong demand for environmental quality, but also among stakeholders competing for different uses of the same space. Management of coastal areas requires therefore the integration of environmental protection and development policies to ensure a rational use of coastal resources. However, the incompatibilities between ecological and social science perspectives and methodologies increase the complexity of developing appropriate coastal management tools. Geographical Information Systems play a significant role in that field, since they provide a powerful context where detailed spatial databases can be stored, analysed, visualized and integrated with appropriate methodologies and models. The last years, GIS functionality shifted towards the development of a hybrid of GIS and Internet technologies (Tait, 2005), widely known as WebGIS, thanks to the rapid development of internet facilities, allowing the interaction of a variety of users with spatially organized data over the Web (Mathiyalagan et al., 2005; Castrogiovanni et al., 2005; Wang et al., 2005). The objective of WP3 was the development of a Web based GIS tool able to act as an interface for the visualization of datasets collected and stored in a spatial database and an integrative tool for spatial analysis and development of thematic maps, with the aim to support the management of coastal areas and especially, of the five southern European coastal lagoons studied in the framework of the DITTY Project. The main characteristics of this WebGIS tool are: (a) The direct interface with the database implemented in WP2 with all the available information compiled in WP1 and (b) the accessibility by all the DITTY partners through the web. In this way, the communication between developers and end-users is facilitated and the publication of new information is immediate and easily accessed. Though the gap between technology developers and possible users is quite wide, the described WebGIS application could be characterized as a user friendly dynamic tool that could be easily used by people involved in the management of coastal lagoons for supporting actions related to effective decision-making. Moreover, the fact that users are not obliged to be aware of any complicated GIS software is an additional strong advantage of the application, since people involved in coastal management are not most of the times computer experts. Therefore, they get the opportunity to analyze spatial data sets, submit queries and visualize the results that can be afterwards be 2

disseminated to a wider audience for exchange of ideas and submission of proposals; activities that are quite common during sustainable natural resource management and the decision-making process.

Definition and analysis of the structure of the WebGIS application The partners involved in the project, including the developers and the end-users, defined the structure of a common WebGIS based tool applicable to the five test sites, considering the data from WP2, the information coming from WP1 and the requirements of the end-users. Therefore, a strong cooperation between WPs 1, 2 and 3 was established, an important fact for accomplishing part of the scope of the DITTY project. The WebGIS tool is accessed through the main web page of the DITTY project (www.dittyproject.org) using standard client-server communication by a simple web browser, as the Microsoft Explorer; the data stored in the database are accessed through the same web page. The connection between the database and the WebGIS tool is direct, based on appropriate algorithms for the import of the data to the GIS for visualization and analysis. The users of the WebGIS tool have the ability to: (a) Visualize a map of a selected test site with all the available representative cartographic layers. (b) Perform spatial analysis to the data and save the results in ASCII files or picture format. (c) Visualize selected outputs of the simulation models developed in WP4 for each test site. (d) Visualize selected spatial/temporal indicators, the results of scenario analyses or the results of the application of more aggregated tools for coastal zone management (e.g. for eutrophication assessment) developed according to the needs of the end-users in WPs 6 and 7. In Figure 1 the structure of the developed WebGIS tool is presented.

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Figure 1. The structure of the WebGIS tool.

Two web servers are available: (i) the Ditty Web Server is the main server of the DITTY project, where the non-spatial database is stored and (ii) the Ditty Web-GIS Server, where the georeferenced spatial database is stored. The non-spatial database contains information concerning physico-chemical, hydrological, oceanographic, biological, geological, meteorological and socioeconomic parameters, while the spatial database includes geographical data with their corresponding attributes in the form of GIS layers, such as land use, orography, hydrographical and road network, sampling sites in sea and land etc; the latter was developed using the capabilities of the ESRI’s ArcGIS 9 software (ESRI, 2004b). The connection between the two databases was established using hyperlinks, allowing access to a quite complete dataset, essential for carrying out analysis and applying appropriate methodologies for supporting decision-making in coastal areas. Moreover, a number of tools are available to the users through the Ditty WebGIS server, offering the potential to perform various operations, such as submit queries and make suggestions concerning certain issues, i.e. the status of the available data, a solution to a raised question, carry out spatial analysis, overlay of spatial data, visualization or data import / export. Additional data not already included in the database, such as satellite data, model results etc, that are considered important during the analysis carried out, can be temporarily incorporated in the system without become widely available. Subsequently, if users believe that these data should be permanently incorporated in the database and become available to the wider public, a query regarding this subject should be submitted to the system administrator.

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GIS Implementation The development was carried out using ESRI's ArcIMS (ESRI, 2004a) that is user friendly software for distributing GIS capabilities over the Internet (Chang and Park, 2004), allowing the design and management of Internet mapping services. Moreover, it is characterized by a number of advantages, such as integration with ESRI's ArcGIS Desktop products, ability to combine data from multiple sources, secure access to map services, wide range of GIS capabilities, standard-based communication, support of a wide range of clients and useful metadata services for indexing and sharing geographical information. ArcIMS works both with ESRI's ArcGIS software (ArcView, ArcEditor and ArcInfo) specialized in geo-processing, visualization and management of data and the extensions of ArcGIS, including Spatial Analyst and 3D Analyst toolboxes. The latter can be characterised as an additional advantage, since the development of the Spatial Database is mainly based on the use of the ArcGIS software and its extensions. The GIS application and the user’s manual are available at the DITTY web site (www.dittyproject.org). The GIS application is easily accessed by a simple click in the corresponding page of each test site (Figure 2). The first step therefore, is the selection of the test site of users’ interest and visualization of both the test site map and the list of the available cartographic layers of this area. Afterwards, there is the possibility to select the layers to be visualized and analyzed. The users can zoom in/out, create buffers of a given distance around geographical data, measure distances between certain points or the length of a given path, visualize the attribute tables of selected geographical data etc.

Figure 2. Access to the GIS application for the test site of Gera’s Gulf via the DITTY web site. 5

All the spatial information in the form of GIS layers available for the test site is listed on the right side of the screen. The users can visualize a layer on the screen by simple clicking on the checkbox on the left side of its name, e.g. urban areas, aquaculture positions, marine sampling stations, hydrographical and road network in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Visualization of the spatial information available for each test site (e.g. urban areas, aquaculture positions, marine sampling stations, hydrographical and road network for the Gulf of Gera, Greece).

The users can navigate through the GIS applications of the five test sites by clicking on the tools available at the bottom of the toolbar in the left-hand side of the screen. Button I stands for Sacca di Goro in Italy, E for Mar Menor in Spain, P for Ria Formosa in Portugal, F for Etang de Thau in France and GR for Gulf of Gera in Greece. The users can also establish connection directly with the Database by clicking on the button DB or with the main DITTY web page by clicking on DIT. A layer can become active by clicking on its name and the attributes of selected spatial data can be obtained, e.g. population of an urban area, length of a river, concentration of measured parameters in a sampling station, area of certain land use etc (Figure 4). 6

Figure 4. Information related to mean annual values of several parameters at the selected sampling station GG7 in the Gulf of Gera, Greece.

The toolbar available on the left-hand side of the screen helps to perform certain activities on the geo-referenced data. A description of these tools is shown in Figure 5.

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Zoom in

Zoom out

Zoom to full extent

Zoom to active layer

Previous extent

Next extent

Pan

Identify

Query builder

Find

Measure

Buffer

Map notes

Edit notes

Select by rectangle

Select by circle

Select by line

Select by polygon

View attributes

Clear all selections

Map tips

Add layer

Layer properties

Open project

Save project

Close project

Copy map to image file

Print

Go to Etang de Thau

Go to Sacca di Goro

Go to Ria Formosa

Go to Mar Menor

Go to the DITTY homepage

Connect to the DITTY database

Figure 5. The toolbar of the WebGIS application.

GIS data input for each test site As already mentioned, two databases were developed in the framework of the DITTY project. (a) The Spatial Database, where geographical data with the corresponding attributes were stored for each site in the form of GIS layers, such as land use, orography, hydrographical and road network, sampling sites in sea and land, geological map, administrative boundaries, bathymetry, wetlands, urban areas, vegetation type, protected areas etc and (b) the Non-Spatial Database, where information concerning biological, physico-chemical, hydrological, oceanographic and socioeconomic data was stored for each site. The connection between the two databases was established using hyperlinks facilitating the exchange of data. The GIS layers were stored either in vector or in raster format depending on the examined parameter. Moreover, a common map projection was adopted for the five test sites; the Lambert Azimuthal Equal Area characterized by the following parameters: UNITS SPHERE RADIUS LONGITUDE OF PROJECTION CENTER LATITUDE OF PROJECTION CENTER FALSE EASTING / NORTHING 8

meters 6378338 09 00 00 48 00 00 0.0 meters

In Figure 6 the access to the Database via the DB button in the toolbar of the WebGIS application is shown.

Figure 6. Access to the Database via the WebGIS application; selection of certain type of data and ability to download them in text or excel format.

Characteristic GIS layers from the five test sites are presented in Figures 7 to 11: (a) Gulf of Gera: hydrographical and road network, land sampling stations, land use, aquaculture areas, bathymetry (b) Ria Formosa: land use and hydrographical network (c) Sacca di Goro: geological map and urban areas (d) Etang du Thau: hydrographical network and administrative boundaries (e) Mar Menor: type of vegetation and major urban areas

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Figure 7. The hydrographical and road network, the land sampling stations, the land use the aquaculture areas and the bathymetry at the test site of the Gulf of Gera, Greece.

Figure 8. Land use and hydrographical network at the test site of Ria Formosa, Portugal.

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Figure 9. Geological map and urban areas at the test site of Sacca di Goro, Italy.

Figure 10. Hydrographical network and administrative boundaries at the test site of Etang de Thau, France.

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Figure 11. Type of vegetation and major urban areas at the test site of Mar Menor, Spain.

Application of GIS data analysis techniques Spatial data analysis techniques are available and can be activated via the toolbar of the GIS application. Synthesis / overlay of the available information are possible for visualization and further processing in order to answer raised queries concerning the management of the coastal lagoons. The users can select certain geographical data that fulfill specific requirements, make calculations and compute the representative value statistics. A number of the operational tools are presented below. (a) The Query builder queries features based on their attribute values. For example, the users can select, visualize and get tabular information about areas with certain characteristics, such as areas covered by a certain type of trees (Figure 12). (b) Creation and visualization of Buffer zones according to criteria imposed by the user around one or more selected geographical data. For example, a buffer zone extended at a certain distance around selected sampling stations in the sea (Figure 13). (c) Determination of the area covered by specific types of land use. In Figure 14, a buffer of 500 m around the hydrographical network of Gera’s Gulf is created and the parts of the major areas that fall within it are selected. (d) The distance between selected points on a map can be measured as well as the length of a path. 12

Figure 12. GIS data analysis techniques, Data Query: Visual and tabular information of the areas covered by a certain type of trees (type = coniferous forest).

Figure 13. GIS data analysis techniques, Data Query: Area extended at certain distance (1 km) of selected sampling stations in the sea. 13

Figure 14. GIS data analysis techniques: Buffer of 500 meters around the hydrographical network of Gera’s Gulf and selection of the urban areas that fall within that area.

The system developed has a number of advantages: (a) Access by the users is possible using only a web browser. As a result, the access to the system by users from various places is possible at minimal cost without any restrictions concerning complex hardware infrastructures. (b) Users are not obliged to be aware of any sophisticated GIS software, since a high percentage of people involved in decision-making or simply interested in this process are not computer experts and have limited GIS knowledge. (c) Based on (a) and (b) the system could be characterized as user-friendly, as all the operations are menu-driven allowing use by people not deeply familiarized with computers. (d) A wide range of clients can be supported, in other words, an unlimited number of users can get advantage of the capabilities of the system simultaneously.

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(e) The system administrator is the only responsible for the proper functionality of the application, insuring in that way a fully controlled operation. (f) The system components, such as the databases, were independently developed and subsequently integrated in the system following specific standards initially set. In that way, effective monitoring of the system and immediate reaction in case of errors is possible. (g) Non-spatial data and spatial information followed by tabular data are available to the users as well as a number of analysis tools. (h) The application is open and offers a high degree of flexibility in terms of the update of the databases and the incorporation of new data, in raster or vector format. (i) There is simplicity and clarity in the illustration of the results that can be disseminated to a wider public making the exchange of ideas and submission of new proposals a quick and easy task. (j) The end-users can run various scenarios concerning the sustainable development of the areas under study, illustrate the results and evaluate their potential impact; they can be therefore supported to reach valuable conclusions.

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