Geo Inkscape
Geo Inkscape
Synopsis
This page is designed for all things geographical, cartography, or mapping oriented in Inkscape.
SVG is a perfect format for maps and GIS. And Inkscape is a perfect SVG editor.
(I've brainstormed some ideas - page to be cleaned up later)
Useful geo links
GML
Most geo data is based on lon lat coordinates - this must be translated to a projection (round earth to flat map) and then to screen coordinates. Also lat data (y scale) goes from bottom to top, opposite of SVG. Inkscape doesn't really handle view box well.
Interfacing with other OS Geo Projects That Use SVG
Open Street Maps (OSM)
They currently use Inkscape to convert SVG to tiles Had a chance to discuss with them at SCALE - they would like to integrate more. I haven't had much chance yet to go thru all the OSM stuff yet but see biggest opportunity is to do map editing in Inkscape - we could probably add some extensions to make this easier. basic idea:
- Bring in current OSM mapping
- Import in GPS data
- Do map editing
- Export map data to their database
Open Layers
A set of javascript APIs that render map data to browser (similar to Google maps). If browser supports SVG, renders in SVG, otherwise in VML. Opportunities would include direct import of SVG files for icons, map overlays, editing maps in Inkscape. Export from OL to Inkscape for presentation purposes (abiding by any terms of usage of linked mapping data)
Google Maps / Google Earth
If browser supports SVG, renders in SVG, otherwise in VML. Opportunities would include direct import of SVG files for icons, map overlays, editing maps in Inkscape. Export from OL to Inkscape for presentation purposes (abiding by their terms of usage of mapping data).
Big opportunity: KML-SVG translator
Both Google Earth and Google Maps can display kml files (which are xml files). These could be translated to/from SVG via XSLT.
GRASS GIS
Commonly referred to as GRASS, this is an open source Geographic Information System (GIS) used for geospatial data management and analysis, image processing, graphics/maps production, spatial modeling, and visualization. GRASS is currently used in academic and commercial settings around the world, as well as by many governmental agencies and environmental consulting companies. GRASS is an official project of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation Support for SVG is being developed and a functional but early version input/output module is now available.