Express Server Case Study – Cartographic Institute of Catalonia, ICC

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Express Server helps mapping agency of Spain efficiently broaden image serving capability

Background

The Institut Cartogràfic de Catalunya (ICC), or Cartographic Institute of Catalonia, is a public agency of the Catalan Autonomous Government. Its mandate is to lay the technical groundwork for the development of cartographic information in various government agencies and to carry out mapping and development projects requested by public and private institutions. The ICC turned to LizardTech Express Server to make its image data available to users at high speed and high resolution.

Challenges

The ICC maintains a vast library of digital map imagery that has traditionally been delivered to users on CD-ROM s, as well as paper maps that are accessible only on site. In 2004 the ICC Web site served 11,000 registered users with more than 215,000 downloads each averaging 8 megabytes (MB). In addition, 300,000 image tiles totaling 14 terabytes (TB) were delivered to end-users on more than 4,000 CDs and DVDs.

“We had been delivering these digital materials to customers individually for some time, first on CDs and then via FTP sites,” says Lluis Colomer, general technical subdirector for the ICC. “As our catalog and user-base both grew these methods began to be impractical. It became clear to us that our future involved serving digital imagery directly online to public and private institutions, as well as to users at large.”

Efficient Delivery of User-Defined Image Scenes
The challenge was assembling a system that could effi ciently handle thousands of clients requesting gigabytes (GB) of user-defi ned image scenes through standard Web browser interfaces. The ICC had already begun serving individual mosaic tiles but wanted to be able to extract any scene, even a scene composed of multiple partial tiles, and quickly render that scene in an end-user’s browser.

Integrated Access
Besides serving the needs of individual Catalonian citizens and the world at large, the ICC needed to provide businesses and public agencies in Spain with integrated access to the ICC database through GIS applications at the professional and enterprise level.

Solution

The ICC turned to LizardTech Express Server, a server add-on that optimizes both the transfer and viewing of data from images in MrSID, JPEG and other formats over networks such as the Internet, with or without a browser plug-in. Express Server’s components include support for Web Map Services (WMS), a set of standard interfaces defined by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) for transmitting map data.

Through an online interface, individuals may select maps by area, type and scale — for example a topographic view of Barcelona at 1:5000 — for instant viewing and quick download. At Express Server’s back end, WMS provides access to the ICC database to geospatial professionals and businesses and agencies handling such activities as road maintenance and transportation and delivery services.

“We found that Express Server was the fastest and most efficient way to deliver our map data to our users,” says Colomer. “Express Server significantly increased our image throughput in comparison with the main server alone — not only in serving images but also in building the spatial index — and enabled us to build into our system other features our users were looking for.”

Benefits

High Resolution at High Speed
Express Server’s high-speed delivery of high-resolution image data enables the ICC to provide a positive user experience even with thousands of simultaneous image requests, while also providing network efficiencies for the institute through optimized bandwidth use.

Reduced Labor and Material Costs
The ICC’s material and labor costs associated with burning and shipping CDs and DVDs are completely eliminated.

Broadened User Base
Express Server enables ICC map data to be included in other search applications such as NASA’s WorldWind, broadening the usefulness of the database and extending the reach of the ICC’s service.

Reduced Project Delivery Time
Thanks to Express Server’s WMS API, finished projects can be delivered to requesting agencies and businesses efficiently as a data stream. Without the need to burn CDs or DVDs, the time between completing a project and getting map and image data in the hands of a client is reduced from days or weeks to mere hours.