Webservices for Animated Mapping: The TimeMapper Prototype

Within a larger aim of improving automated vector animated mapping, the main objective of this research was to look into the possibility of combining two technologies: distributed webservices and animated, interactive vector maps. TimeMapper was developed as a prototype for an OGC-compliant Web Map Service implementation that serializes spatio–temporal data from a database backend as Scalable Vector Graphics. The SVG is used in a web browser to show animated maps with a built-in advanced user-interface. This interface allows the user to interact with both the spatial and the temporal dimensions of the data. The potential and limitations of the TimeMapper prototype were explored using Antarctic iceberg movement data. The prototype can be explored on the TimeMapper website (http://geoserver.itc.nl/timemapper/).