[postgis-users] How do you use PostGIS?

[Pericles S. Nacionales]

> - Name of the organization
University of Minnesota:
	1. Bell Museum/Department of Forest Resources
	2. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior

> - Data being managed in the database
	1, Squirrel Project
		- Squirrel locations
	2. North American Pollen Database (NAPD) and European Pollen Database (EPD)

> - How the data is being accessed / manipulated
	1. Data is displayed via MapServer (PHP/MapScript). Data entry via web 
interface.  Squirrel home range is calculated using ConvexHull function.

	2. The databases themselves were imported from the original pollen databases 
(in Paradox) available at NOAA's NCDC web site: 
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/pollen.html
	    Data is retrieved/viewed using MapServer.  

> - Why you chose to use PostGIS for the application

	1. For squirrel project:
		a. Needed PostGIS/GEOS functions like ConvexHull
		b. MapServer interoperability
		b. Low cost

	2. For pollen databases:
		a. Low cost
		b. MapServer interoperability (and I can view the pollen data much faster 
than viewing it in ArcView/ArcGIS).
		c. Because I wanted to use PostGIS

>
> And also for our edification and strategic planning:
>
> - What PostGIS feature or PostGIS-related software (not necessarily
> internal to PostGIS) would make your life much easier/better?

	1. For squirrel project:
		a. Additional functions useful for wildlife ecology (kinda like ESRI's 
Tracking Analyst extension or the animal movement extension)
	
	2. For pollen databases:
		a. The 4D support is very exciting
		b. pivot-table/crosstab functions would be very cool (but this isn't 
necessarily spatial, I guess)


-- 
Pericles S. Nacionales

Dept. of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior
University of Minnesota
work: 612 624 6713
e-mail: nacional at cbs.umn.edu