[Mapserver-users] best way to color ramp topo/bathy data that's in PostGIS

[Charlton Purvis]

Hi, folks:

I've got an approach question to ask.  I've been boning up on GRASS and
r.colors and MapServer integration.

Say I'm updating my PostGIS data based on :15 minute pings of netCDF
DODS-available data.  In these datasets is some interpolated bathymetry
data.  What is the best way for me to store and then render it?

We're already going from netCDF to PostGIS.  I don't think I really want
to break my .map into a lot of classes (255?) to display a nice and
gradual color ramp for different sea depths.  So should I be pumping my
PostGIS data into GRASS and somehow doing an r.colors on it to then be
displayed by MS as a raster dataset?  Or should I be trying to take
advantage of the alpha (?) GRASS version which already talks PostGIS (I
think I heard that somewhere)?  Or should I spend a little bit of time
making a large .map file that contains many layers w/ unique RGB's?

Truth be told, I think the less pieces, the better.  I'd love to keep it
all wrapped up in MapServer.  But I'm trying to bone up on GDAL, too
however, I don't quite see where that fits in.

Any help always appreciated.

Thanks.

 
 
 
Charlton Purvis
(803) 777-8858 : voice
(803) 777-8833 : fax
cpurvis at sc.edu
 
Advanced Solutions Group
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208