[Mapserver-west] Crytozoology non-profit seeking advise

[Tyler Mitchell]

On 10-Oct-06, at 9:06 PM, Fred wrote:
> BACKGROUND: We have a bunch of volunteer investigators who input  
> sighting information into our web based database, we get about 50  
> reports/month. The info includes gps coordinates and date/time of  
> each sighting. We want to plot that data colorcoded based on the  
> date/time onto a map of the pacific northwest in order to reveal  
> migration patterns (if they exist at all). Of course we have  
> already done the analysis on existing data, but would like to  
> automate the process for all of the forthcoming data. We would like  
> to present the results via the web in the form of a map.
> ...
> QUESTIONS:
>
> Is it possible to implement this using all open source software?

Hi Fred, sounds interesting for sure.
This is definitely possible.

> What software would you use?

I would base the system on MapServer and the PostGIS extension to  
PostgreSQL database.  To keep it as simple as possible (maybe too  
simple) - you can create a web-based form for capturing the  
coordinate and date and save it into PostGIS....

> Is an expert required to generate the data maps or can they be  
> generated on the fly by the server?

... then MapServer can re-request data on-the-fly from the table in  
PostGIS.  Once you have a basic install of MapServer up and running,  
you can create a simple web map using some background map layers  
accessible over the web (or do you have your own map data you want to  
use?).

To simplify this approach further you can use almost any database you  
are comfortable with, even something that is non-spatial, like SQLite  
(easy to maintain) or a text file.  As long as you have a web  
interface to add data to the format, you can likely get MapServer (or  
any other web map server, including MapGuide) to read from it without  
a lot of work.

Hope this helps, fire off more questions as you have them.  I'm still  
wondering if Sasquatch makes his home in Lillooet BC :)

Tyler