Shared Project Working – Implementing GIS Interoperability

By David Crowther

In this blog we will utilise GIS interoperability in order to promote effective data sharing across your project. We explore the benefits of storing your geospatial datasets within a spatial database (such as PostGIS), so no matter what software you are using, all members of the project team will see the most accurate and up to date information, leading to more informed project decisions.

In this shared project, we will utilise QGIS, an Open Source desktop GIS, to create and manage spatial datasets, a webGIS viewer (Cadlines own MapThat application) allowing internet browsers the ability to view and edit spatial information and finally the CAD team members using Autodesk InfraWorks to visualise the GIS and other CAD datasets in a 3D Model.

Using QGIS, your GIS technicians can create and manage existing spatial datasets. By storing those datasets within a shared spatial database, such as PostGIS, this means the data is live as soon as it is edited and ready to be shared by other users.

Autodesk InfraWorks allows you to connect to several data sources, including GIS files, CAD data and Point Cloud Models. Using the Database connection panel, we can now connect to our PostGIS database, load the Drainage Network layer and once it has been configured it will be added to the 3D Model.

In addition to managing spatial data in a desktop GIS (such as QGIS) many non-GIS experts can utilise web based viewers, such as Cadlines MapThat webGIS, to not only view shared spatial project data but also update it. The intuitive MapThat Drawing tools allows you to easily edit the shape of the Drainage Network and once that is saved into the PostGIS database, it can simply be refreshed within InfraWorks to update the 3D Model to show the most up to date information.

So why not migrate your shared geospatial datasets into a centralised spatial database and ensure that all project staff have access to the most up to date information, so that you can be confident in the decisions you make.

Below is a link to the full video outlining how you can implement a shared project environment, utilising QGIS, PostGIS, MapThat and InfraWorks.