The Australian Geological Survey Organisation (AGSO) presents its solutions to mapping and GIS on the Internet. Software used is based on commercial and open source products. A distributed web mapping system is demonstrated, and concepts of distributed web mapping discussed. Systems for online delivery of spatial data are also demonstrated.

AGSO has been providing Internet access to spatial data since 1996. AGSO is the main repository for national geoscientific data, and services a wide range of clients across industry, government and the general public. Data provided range from point data, such as site descriptions and scientific analysis of samples, to line, polygon and grid data, such as geological and geophysical surveys and associated maps. AGSO currently holds 500 MB of GIS data and a similar amount of image data on its web site; these data are expected to expand to a number of terabytes over the next few years.

A primary role of AGSO is to provide its data to clients and stakeholders in as efficient a way as possible, hence its choice of Internet delivery. The major obstacle for supplying data of large volume over the Internet is bandwidth. Many AGSO clients are in remote locations with low bandwidth connections to the Internet. Possible solutions to this problem are presented. Examples of AGSO web tools are available at http://www.agso.gov.au/map/

The Australian Geological Survey Organisation (AGSO) presents its solutions to mapping, GIS and image processing on the Internet. Software used is based on commercial and open source products. A distributed web mapping system is demonstrated, and concepts of distributed web mapping discussed. A model and prototype system for online delivery of satellite image data is presented. AGSO has been providing Internet access to spatial data since 1996. AGSO is the main repository for national geoscientific data, and services a wide range of clients across industry, government and the general public. Data provided range from point data, such as site descriptions and scientific analysis of samples, to line polygon and grid data, such as geological and geophysical surveys and associated maps. AGSO currently holds 500 MB of GIS data and a similar amount of image data on its web site, these data are expected to expand to a number of terabytes over the next few years. A primary role of AGSO is to provide its data to clients and stakeholders in as efficient a way as possible, hence its choice of Internet delivery. The major obstacle for supplying data of large volume over the Internet is bandwidth. Many AGSO clients are in remote locations with low bandwidth connections to the Internet. Possible solutions to this problem are presented. Examples of AGSO web tools are available at http://www.agso.gov.au/map/