October 28 ,2010Carmen Maso’ – Region 5

National GIS Workgroup Chair

GoalsIntroduction to Web Mapping APIsEPA and Web MappingHow we can work togetherOEI Web Mapping Generator

What is a Web Mapping API?An application programming interface that

allows web programmers to embed interactive maps from the API provider in their own website

May include other functionality besides map image

Facilitates “mash-ups” of user data on base map or imagery background

Most key functionality is similar across APIs – only a few differentiators

Commercial Web Mapping APIs at EPAIn 2008, EPA entered into 2-3 year trial license

agreements for use of Bing Maps API and Google Maps API

Since then…Use of Bing Maps API at EPA has been

substantially greater than Google MapsESRI has made their (vastly improved) web

mapping APIs available free of charge for government use

ESRI has deeply integrated the Bing Maps products into their offerings (desktop, workgroup and web)

Other Agencies (DHS, potentially USDA) have begun to standardize on Bing Maps

MyEnvironment

www.epa.gov/myenvironment

BP Spill Air Monitoring

www.epa.gov/bpspill/air.html

R7 News Where You Live

www.epa.gov/region07/news_events/map/

Region 10 Stimulus Funding

www.epa.gov/region10/map/funding/pugetsound_funding_map.html

National Priorities List Map

www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/where.htm

Commercial Web Mapping APIs at EPA

Based on this…For FY11 and the foreseeable future,

unlimited use of the Bing Maps API is provided for via WCF (service “EG”)

For FY11 only, the Agency has purchased x M hits on the Google Maps API

What happens after FY11?The GIS Workgroup and the Web Workgroup

need to work together to develop recommendations for the QIC and WCF Board for the future use of Google Maps at EPA

Getting us all on the same map…Administrator’s Office is acutely interested

in standardizing our approaches to geospatial data use, presentation and web mapping across the Agency

OEI and the GIS Workgroup will be leading an effort to develop…Standardized geospatial architecture

Shared data, web services, source code, etc. available for reuse and customization

Style guidelines for the use of KMLTemplate(s) for web mapping applications…and more…

Getting us all on the same map…We need your help!!

Looking for ~2-3 representatives of the WWG to work with the OEI / GIS Workgroup team on developing the proposed roadmap

This work will build on…2010 EPA Geospatial BlueprintEPA Geospatial Segment Enterprise

ArchitectureOMB / Federal Geospatial Platform initiative

Why the OEI Web Mapping Generator?First and foremost, to make creation of these maps as

easy as possible for everyoneAnd second to answer the questions…

“If we have licensing for both Microsoft and Google, which one should I choose and why?” “What happens if I build something using one of the APIs and our licensing goes away in the future?”

Demand for new web mapping functionality is highEPA HQ Building LocatorNewsroomMany new mapping applications appearing across the

AgencyNeed to encourage further advancement in this area

and to empower web developers (and not GIS Analysts) to take advantage of this new functionality

EPA Web Mapping GeneratorEPA Web Mapping Generator

Uses EPA’s own javascript library which allows platform free developmentWhatever license the EPA is providing

KML generation From manual entry, Excel spreadsheets, Oracle and Access

databasesMap Authoring Interface

Gives a high level of control to create the best possible map Can draw shapes on the screen and use them in the

mapping application Hides complexity of JavaScript API calls required to

generate mapping applicationsCreation of Pages

Can generate either code snippets for insertion into pages, or complete pages wrapped in the EPA Template

intranet.epa.gov/rtpgis/oei_web_mapping/

OEI Web Mapping Generator

OEI Web Mapping Generator

OEI Web Mapping Generator

Why use the OEI Web Mapping Why use the OEI Web Mapping Generator?Generator?ProsEasy wizard-style page

creation processUses an EPA JavaScript

Mapping Library – developers refer to this library and do not need to worry about the underlying commercial API!

If licensing changes applications will automatically be switched to the appropriate API / platform – no rework required

Cons

Limited functionality - impractical to provide access to all of the functionality of the underlying API

EPA library will grow and improve, but will always lag the commercial APIs

Relies mainly on KML or GeoRSS for data publishing