The Swiss Federal Office of Topography (swisstopo) is the national center of excellence for georeferenced data. Among other things, it provides national maps, elevation and landscape models, satellite images and orthophotos. The federal geoportal geo.admin.ch is operated by the Federal Office of Topography swisstopo on behalf of the Federal Geoinformation Coordination Office. All data from the federal administration is accessible via the Internet under the URL http://www.geo.admin.ch/ and the maps under the URL http://map.geo.admin.ch.
Nowadays, the Internet is not only accessed with desktop PCs that have precise input tools such as the mouse, but also with a variety of other devices including smartphones. Mobile Internet use is constantly increasing. Many data providers on the WWW are already taking this trend into account by providing special websites tailored to mobile devices.
While geo.admin.ch provided a far-reaching programming interface (API) for accessing its data and creating web-based GIS applications, mobile users had not yet been given special consideration. The current commission of terrestris is intended to take this user group into account. Using OpenLayers and Sencha Touch, three components are being developed:
- A surface library that combines SenchaTouch with OpenLayers (GeoExt Mobile, GXM, see links below)
- An API specifically tailored to swisstopo, which in a further step should make it easier for other users to create mobile WebGIS with content from swisstopo
- The actual GeoAdmin Mobile application, which demonstrates the API possibilities and exploits the potential of GXM. (Beta version)
Our partner OpenGeo supports the sustainable development of this work through special code reviews by their team of proven specialists. Above all, GXM should benefit from this variety of influences.
This client will enable users to explore geodata from Swisstopo with the touch-screen functionalities of their devices. For a first impression, you can view the following examples on a mobile device:
http://dev.geoext.org/sandbox/gxm/geoext/gxm/examples/mappanel.html
http://dev.geoext.org/sandbox/gxm/geoext/gxm/examples/layerlist.html
http://dev.geoext.org/sandbox/gxm/geoext/gxm/examples/buttons.html
