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Journal of the Brazilian Computer Society
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A progressive vector map browser for the web

Journal of the Brazilian Computer Society volume 15, pages 35–48 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

With the increasing popularity of web-based map browsers, remotely obtaining a high quality depiction of cartographic information has become commonplace. Most web mapping systems, however, rely on high-capacity servers transmitting pre-rendered tiled maps in raster format. That approach is capable of producing good quality renderings on the client side while using limited bandwidth and exploiting the browser’s image cache. These goals are harder to achieve for maps in vector format. In this work, we present an alternative client-server architecture capable of progressively transmitting vector maps in levels-of-detail (LOD) by using techniques such as polygonal line simplification, spatial data structures and, most importantly, a customized memory management algorithm. A multiplatform implementation of this system is described, where the client application is written entirely in JavaScript and processed within the web browser, avoiding the need of external applications or plug-ins. Results of experiments aimed at gauging both the performance and the display quality obtained with the system are presented and explained. Extensions to the system are also discussed, including issues such as level-of-detail versus visual importance tradeoffs and the handling of closed polygonal lines.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Computer Science Institute, Federal Fluminense University - UFF, Niterói, RJ, Brazil

    José Augusto Sapienza Ramos & Esteban Walter Gonzales Clua

  2. Alberto Luiz Coimbra Institute for Graduate Studies and Research in Engineering - COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro - UFRJ, Brazil

    Claudio Esperança

Authors
  1. José Augusto Sapienza Ramos
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  2. Claudio Esperança
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  3. Esteban Walter Gonzales Clua
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Additional information

A previous version of this paper appeared at GEOINFO 2008 (X Brazilian Symposium on Geoinformatics)

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Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Ramos, J.A.S., Esperança, C. & Clua, E.W.G. A progressive vector map browser for the web. J Braz Comp Soc 15, 35–48 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03194500

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03194500

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