A geospatial web service model with application to traffic noise simulation

Abstract

There is a recent trend to use Web service technologies to support the collaborative efforts from different arenas, like researchers, policy-makers, and the public when trying to solve environmental problems. To achieve this goal of integration, we propose the adoption of Web-based spatial analysis services because such services can provide interoperability, flexible composition, and just-in-time integration of spatial analysis and modelling. A model has been developed in this paper to provide the service involving multi-step spatial analyses. This model employs XML-based protocol as the communication foundation of interoperability and integration. The metadata for geospatial Web analysis services is employed for publishing, discovering, and invoking the services, and the user proxy is designed for providing the user interface, data visualization, and interaction with geospatial Web analysis services. As an application of the geospatial Web service model, a traffic noise prediction model is deployed and the interactive visualization interface is generated. It is demonstrated that the proposed Web service model is able to accomplish chained services of spatial analysis and modelling in a heterogeneous environment and hence provides an effective option for collaborative decision-making in environmental planning and management.