CartoService: A web service framework for quality on-demand geovisualisation

Abstract

The last decades have seen a steady increase of digital spatial data and their effective availability. Embedded in the rapid developments in information and communication technology (ICT) such geospatial data or geodata are globally accessible, mainly via the internet, in a magnitude unseen before. In a parallel development of geographical information systems, computer-assisted cartography and the internet, a vast variety of web-based services have emerged to capture, store, analyse and present geodata. The map output from these systems is frequently suboptimal, lacking graphic expressiveness and effectiveness. This paper discusses a web-based service framework, the CartoService, to improve the geovisualisation quality of mapped geodata and provide laypersons and professionals with quality map graphics. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.