SIG & Territoires is the portal for GIS professionals. It offers information on the latest GIS technologies, training and resources for professionals in the sector. GIS & Territoires is the ideal starting point for professionals wishing to find out more about GIS and how to use it to improve their activities.
- Union in GIS: choosing between overlay, merge, unary union, and dissolve
Understanding the different types of unions in GIS Spatial union is one of the fundamental operations in geomatics. It allows you to combine multiple layers or entities to produce new geometries or enrich attributes. However, behind… - Fuzzy logic and GIS (2/2): from transformation to aggregation of spatial data
In the first part of this series, we saw how fuzzy logic allows us to go beyond rigid thresholds by assigning each spatial entity a degree of membership between 0 and 1.We explored several membership functions,… - Fuzzy logic and GIS (1/2): an alternative to all-or-nothing for geographic analysisModeling uncertainty and gradual transitions in QGIS using the FuzzyAttributes plugin. Not everything in geography is black and white. However, GIS tools often impose binary choices. What about transition zones? What about criteria that are partially…
- Exporting a QGIS layout to SVG: uses, limitations, and solutions
Exporting to SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) from QGIS allows you to produce high-quality vector maps for printing or graphic editing in software such as Inkscape, Illustrator, or Affinity Designer. It is an interesting alternative to PDF,… - Associating points with their municipality or zone: simple spatial joins with MMQGIS
When you have a layer of points (field surveys, geocoded addresses, incidents, observations, etc.) and a polygon layer (municipalities, sectors, zones), it is often useful to know which zone each point is located in. This is… - Geocoding place names and finding an address from GPS coordinates with QGIS + MMQGIS
In a previous article, we saw how to geocode complete addresses with the MMQGIS plugin. Today, we will go further with two very practical use cases, still without coding: 1. Geocoding places based on their names… - Work or train independently: create a portable QGIS environment
In our previous articles, we saw how to structure an efficient working environment in QGIS using bookmarks, template projects, the Layer Menu from Project plugin, and PyQGIS scripts. Today, we are taking an essential step forward:… - Building a consistent, reusable QGIS environment: bookmarks, project templates and automation
In our previous article, we discovered how the Layer Menu from Project plugin enables you to quickly add layers to a project in progress. Today, we’re extending this logic to build a modular, reusable and professional… - Save time with the “Layer Menu from Project” plugin in QGIS
When you regularly work on similar projects in QGIS – whether for spatial analysis, mapping or field monitoring – you may be wasting valuable time manually re-opening the same layers each time. The Layer Menu from…
Why do we prefer Open Source software?
Geomatics is a discipline at the crossroads of geography and computer science, which involves using software tools to collect, store, analyze and represent spatial data. In this field, the use of open source software offers many advantages.
First of all, what is open source software? It’s software whose source code is publicly available and can therefore be modified and distributed by anyone. It also means that the software is often free, in the sense that it can be used without license fees. The open source movement was born in the 1990s with the emergence of Linux, an open source operating system based on the Unix kernel. Since then, many other open source software products have emerged, covering a wide range of fields, including geomatics. Licenses play an essential role in the operation of open source software. The GPL. General Public License is one of the most common in the open source world. It guarantees fundamental freedoms for users, including the freedom to use, modify and redistribute the software. Many libraries, frameworks and open source tools used in geomatics are distributed under the GPL license.
One of the major advantages of open source geomatics software is its flexibility. Developers have access to the software’s source code, enabling them to adapt it to their specific needs. For example, if you’re using open source geospatial data visualization software and want to add a specific feature, you can modify the source code to implement it.
Another important feature of open source software is the community of developers that surrounds it. These communities are made up of volunteer programmers who actively contribute to the development and improvement of open source software. They share their knowledge, resolve bugs and provide support to users. This ensures the software’s longevity and scalability, as new versions and features are continually developed.
Among the most popular open source geomatics software are GIS-based geographic information systems such as QGIS, which offer a user-friendly graphical interface and powerful spatial analysis functions. There are also libraries such as GDAL and proj, which can be used to manipulate geospatial data in a wide range of formats. As far as geospatial databases are concerned, PostgreSQL with the PostGIS extension is a popular open source solution. It enables efficient storage and processing of spatial data. In addition, open source tools such as Geoserver or MapServer can be used to publish this data on the web. In the field of cartography, the free and open source Mapnik software offers a powerful solution for custom map creation and tile generation. In addition to geomatics-specific software, more general open source solutions such as Python, R and Java can also be used to analyze and manipulate geospatial data.
In conclusion, using open source software in geomatics offers many advantages. They are flexible, scalable and benefit from an active community of developers. What’s more, they offer genuine interoperability with other software and can be used in a variety of environments, including Windows, MacOS and Linux. However, it should be remembered that the use of open source software does not mean that all software used in a geomatics project must be open source. It is common practice to integrate proprietary software into an open source environment, using open protocols and data formats to ensure greater interoperability.
In short, the open source world offers a multitude of solutions for geomatics, allowing users to access, modify and redistribute software source code according to their specific needs. This fosters freedom, innovation and collaboration within the community of open source geomatics software users and developers.