Interoperability through Web Services: Evaluating OGC Standards in Client Development for Spatial Data Infrastructures.
Leonardo Lacerda Alves, Clodoveu Augusto Davis Jr. · Biblioteca Digital da Memória Científica do INPE (National Institute for Space Research) · 2006
Interoperability is one of the most important challenges related to GIS. Through the last years, research on interoperability has evolved from the simple off-line exchange of standardized-format files, through the establishment of spatial data clearinghouses, and to the first initiatives in the treatment of semantic aspects of data. The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) has proposed a number of standards to that respect, with the intention of promoting interoperability through the use of services. However, issues regarding fault tolerance, server-independent implementation, delayed-time transactions, privacy, and others reflect the need for further study and discussion. This paper discusses the current status of service-oriented architectures as applied to interoperable GIS, or, more specifically, to the implementation of local spatial data infrastructures (LSDI). A prototype designed to test the services abstract model by simulating a real-world use case is presented. Our conclusions indicate that some improvements may be helpful in the development of GIS/LSDI clients, as well as in the communication between thin clients and servers, supporting delayedtime transactions through asynchronous communication, and enabling clients to support fault-tolerant mechanisms without provider-dependent solutions.