Interoperability of Spatial Data through Open Web Map Server

Over the past few years, a number of studies have been made on web map services, which enable the GIS user to access spatial data through the web. They, however, have focused on only implementation techniques separately, such as map client implementation, map server implementation, communication between client and server, and the map data representation. Therefore, it is hard to share and practical use the spatial data, because they does not ensure interoperability in heterogeneous map servers. In this paper, we have designed and implemented the web map server with open architecture, which complies with the standard interfaces proposed by OpenGIS Consortium (OGC). In particular, we have extended the OGC’s interfaces for a map server to support one or more data sources. This paper has contributed to construction and practical use of web map services by newly proposing the method of implementation of a map server, which could be reused regardless of the types of data sources.