Glossary

Android

Operating system for smartphones, tablet computers, e-books, digital players, smart watches, game consoles, Google glasses, TVs and other devices. It plans to support vehicles. It is based on a Java virtual machine by Google. Initially developed by Android Inc. which was aquired by Google. Subsequently Google initiated the creation of Open Handset Alliance, which is now engaged in the support and further development of the platform. Android allowes to create Java applications that use libraries developed by Google to control the device. Android Native Development Kit allows to port (but not to degug) libraries and components written in C and other languages.

API

A set of protocols, tools and procedures that an application (software or web service) provides for the use by external software. Web services API is typically a description of possible HTTP requests.

coordinate system

A way for decription of point location relative to selected axes.

CSV

A format for storage of tabular data in plain text. The file contains a set of rows where columns are separated with commas or semicolons. The format is used for data exchange between programs if they can not read more complex formats. CSV could be used to store geodata: columns may store coordinates for points or geometry description in WKT or WKB formats. Example: 37.2200309,55.8320522,2001755270,Anikeevka,halt

data

Information represented in a way it can be processed with automatic tools with possible participation of an operator. [GOST 15971-90, article 1]

ESRI Shapefile

ESRI Shape

Shapefile

Popular format for geodata files. Is developed and supported by Esri company for interoperability between products of Esri and other software.

Extent

Coordinates of map borders usually written with 4 numbers. Extent identifies the place shown on the map and its scale.

geodata

geospatial data

spatial data

Data aboult spatial features and sets of features.

geographical feature

spatial feature

geofeature

Digital model for material or abstract feature of real or virtual world with assigned identifier, coordinates and attributes.

geographical information system

Information system that operates with geographical data (geodata). [GOST R 52438-2005 “Geographical information systems. Terms and definitions”]

GeoJSON

Open standard for representation of simple geographical features with their non-spatial attributes using a JavaScript Object notation.

GeoPackage

Open, standards-based, platform-independent, portable, self-describing, compact format for transferring geospatial information.

GeoTIFF

Open geodata format for raster data representation in a TIFF format with matadata about georeferencing. Uses TIFF 6.0 specification, and adds some types of geotags that defines a type of cartographic projection, geographical coordinate system, geoid, datum and all other information required for precise spatial orientation of satellite image.

GLONASS

Global navigation satellite system

Soviet/Russian satellite navigation system initially developed for Ministry of defence of USSR. One of the two currently functioning systems for global satellite navigation (Chinese satellite navigation system BeiDou currently functions as regional).

GML

Geographic Markup Language

The XML grammar defined by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) to express geographical features.

GPS

Global positioning system

information support for geographic information system

A set of knowledge about information resources, information services, classificators, rules for digital description, data formats and documentation, that is presented to the user or a developer of geographical information system for it’s creation, maintenance and usage.

information system

1. System for storage, processing, search, distribution, transfer and representation of information. [GOST 7.0-99, arcticle 3.1.30] 2. A set of information contained in databases and tools and technologies for information processing . [Federal law “About information, information technnologies and information security” 27 July 2006 N 149-FL]

KML

Keyhole Markup Language

The file format used to display geographic data in an Earth browser such as Google Earth.

Mapnik

Open source map renderer. Written on C++ and Python. Uses a AGG library and has a function of smoothing of features with high acuracy. It can read from ESRI formats, PostGIS, TIFF, .osm files, and also supports for any GDAL or OGR formats.

MapServer

Server geographical information system with open source that is launched through CGI interface.

Open data

Open data is data that can be freely used, re-used and redistributed by anyone - subject only, at most, to the requirement to attribute and sharealike. Most important requirements are:

Availability and Access: the data must be available as a whole and at no more than a reasonable reproduction cost, preferably by downloading over the internet. The data must also be available in a convenient and modifiable form.
Re-use and Redistribution: the data must be provided under terms that permit re-use and redistribution including the intermixing with other datasets.
Universal Participation: everyone must be able to use, re-use and redistribute - there should be no discrimination against fields of endeavour or against persons or groups.

For example, ‘non-commercial’ restrictions that would prevent ‘commercial’ use, or restrictions of use for certain purposes (e.g. only in education), are not allowed.

See more at http://government.ru/open_data/, http://opendatahandbook.org/guide/en/what-is-open-data/

Open Source

Software with open source code. Source code of such software is available for view, study and update. This allows a user to participate in a process of development of open source software, to use a code for creation of new software and debugging — through borrowing of source code if that is allowed by license compatibility, or to study of used algorithms, data structures, technologies, methods and interfaces (as source code could essentially complete documentation or be a kind of documentation if there is no one).

PostGIS

Extension for relational DBMS PostgreSQL for storage of geodata in a database. PostGIS has a support for spatial indexes R-Tree/GiST and geodata processing functions.

QGIS

A user-friendly geographical information system with open source code, distributed under GNU General Public License. QGIS is a project of Open Source Geospatial Foundation. It works on Linux, Unix, Mac OSX, Windows and Android, supports for various vector, raster formats, databases and has a variety of functions.

QML

A main language for description of map styles for the NextGIS QGIS software. Vector and raster styles are edited in QGIS and saved to a file with qml extension. Internal representations is xml. Map styles in qml format are supported by NextGIS Web.

Software

All or part of the programs, procedures, rules, and associated documentation of an information processing system [ISO/IEC 2382-1:1993].
Computer programs, procedures and potentially associated documentation related to functioning of computer system [IEEE Std 829—2008].
A program or a set of programs used to control a computer [IEEE Std 829—2008].
The collection of programs of information processing system and documentation required for the operation of these programs [GOST 19781-90].

TMS

Tile map service

OSGeo standard that describes an access to representation of geodata through the Internet/Intranet without an access to geodata itself.

URL

Uniform Resource Locator

A Uniform resource locator (description of location). Previously called Universal Resource Locator (URL). URL is a standartized way to record a resource address in the Internet.

WFS

Web Feature Service

A web service that represents data in a vector GML format. Client gets both attributes and geometry. Thare are standard extensions:

Transactional (WFS-T) - allows clients to send to WFS server new and updated data;
Gazetteer (WFS-G) - a draft of a standard that adds a search and a query of items by dictionary of geographical names. Initially developed by USGS;
Temporal - a draft of a standard that adds a temporal measurement;
Versioning (WFS-V, WFSV) - allows to work with different versions of data (particular development of GeoServer project, not standardized by OGC).

WMS

Web Map Service

A standard protocol for serving of georeferenced images through the Internet that are generated on server on a basis of data from a gis database. Standard was developed and initially published by international organization OGC (Open Geospatial Consortium ) in 1999.