open source GIS and data sharing

[Benjamin Ducke]

Leif,

Thanks for your offer to help.
Landscape scale data is indeed the stuff I am most desperate about.
The problem ist that in many countries -- including Germany -- you
can only buy a restricted right to use this data for a certain research
project.
The licensing policy usually prohibits you from using it for anything
else aftwerwards. If you can get data from Andalucia which can be used
freely after purchase -- that would be great indeed.
Don't worry too much about excavation data, I am sure we will find
something soon enough.

GRASS programming is almost 90% done in C and the rest is
Tcl/Tk and shell scripting. I am not sure if there is a current
Java API for GRASS. I'll check with the GRASS developers.


Benjamin

Leif Isaksen wrote:
> Hi Benjamin, all
>  
> I'm trying to see if I can dig up a landscape-scale dataset from a project I used to work on. The geodata could be purchased pretty cheap if need be (it's in Andalucia who do this stuff pretty well) but the archaeology is bound up with a funded uni project so it might not be on general release yet. I'll see what I can do.
>  
> In the meantime, what language(s) are you coding in? I can offer java skills if there's anything specific you need looking at.
>  
> Leif
>  
> Leif Isaksen
> Application Development and Support
> Oxford Archaeology
> 
> ________________________________
> 
> From: archaeology-bounces+l.isaksen=oxfordarch.co.uk@lists.linux.it on behalf of Benjamin Ducke
> Sent: Thu 28/09/2006 11:02
> To: archaeology@lists.linux.it
> Subject: open source GIS and data sharing
> 
> 
> 
> It's good to see that this list has become so lively!
> I would like to throw in a few things:
> 
> I am sure that the biggest problem to learning GRASS is
> the bad state of documentation. The user interfaces of IDRISI
> or ArcGIS have given me as much frustration as GRASS has caused
> others, but I suppose students get better training for
> those commercial products, so they find them easier.
> 
> As those of you who attended the QMDAA course on GRASS GIS
> may know, I am currently writing a QGIS/GRASS tutorial for
> archaeologists to cover all that I have taught at QMDAA and more.
> 
> For this, I need at least two open access, unrestricted GIS datasets:
> 
> 1. sth. on landscape scale, inlcuding soil maps, DEM and hydrology
> 2. sth. on site scale for intrasite examples.
> 
> Will we be able to scrape together those datasets?
> Can AHDS provide them?
> 
> Development of QGIS and GRASS for archaeology is making fast
> progress. Integration with R promises the most powerful analytical
> GIS ever, etc. etc.
> 
> HOWEVER, we are currently VERY short of archaeologists with
> programming skills to implement all the things we want.
> I have implementation plans ready for many things, but lack
> the time to do it all myself. So I would like to ask you all:
> 
> 1. to promote investment in targeted OS software development for
> the QGIS/GRASS platform instead of commercial license acquisition
> wherever you can
> 
> 2. to try and encourage colleagues from other disciplines such as
> computer science, geoinformation science etc. to focus on archaeological
> projects and OS software development for graduate projects etc.
> 
> 3. to help building up a community site to host a GRASS/QGIS software
> project specificially for archaeology.
> 
> Best,
> 
> Benjamin
> 
> 
> --
> Benjamin Ducke, M.A.
> Archäoinformatik
> (Archaeoinformation Science)
> Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte
> (Inst. of Prehistoric and Historic Archaeology)
> Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
> Johanna-Mestorf-Straße 2-6
> D 24098 Kiel
> Germany
> 
> Tel.: ++49 (0)431 880-3378 / -3379
> Fax : ++49 (0)431 880-7300
> www.uni-kiel.de/ufg
> 
> 
> --
> Mailing list info: http://lists.linux.it/listinfo/archaeology
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This message has been scanned for viruses by BlackSpider MailControl - www.blackspider.com
> 

-- 
Benjamin Ducke, M.A.
Archäoinformatik
(Archaeoinformation Science)
Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte
(Inst. of Prehistoric and Historic Archaeology)
Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
Johanna-Mestorf-Straße 2-6
D 24098 Kiel
Germany

Tel.: ++49 (0)431 880-3378 / -3379
Fax : ++49 (0)431 880-7300
www.uni-kiel.de/ufg