[Qgis-user] Open Data via Open Standards using Open Source: a new tool from NIWA

[pcreso at pcreso.com]

NIWA (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in New Zealand) has released a free mapping tool for anyone to download and use with NIWA (or other) data. See: https://www.niwa.co.nz/software/quantum-map for information, user guides, to provide feedback and to download a Windows installer for the application.

Quantum Map is a simplified version of the popular Quantum GIS application, with the more complicated analytical capabilities removed, creating an easy to use desktop mapping application. Both  Quantum Map and Quantum GIS are Open Source applications, available as free downloads for anyone to use. 

Quantum Map includes a custom NIWA tool which provides direct access to map data that NIWA is making available using open Web Services. This means that just like your
 browser can open a web page, Quantum Map can open layers of map data provided over the internet and plot them directly on your screen. Such datasets include climate and hydrometric stations, freshwater biodiversity data, Bay of Islands survey data, etc. NIWA has an ongoing programme to make more of its datasets available using this approach. To enable field or offline use, the tool allows you to store the web data locally on your computer to use as desired, and to update such local versions as requitred. 

Unlike web portals, Quantum Map can be used offline and to display local datasets, which can be added to the map just like the web based layers. This approach allows users with private or confidential data to visualise their data along with NIWA and other data, without sending the sensitive data anywhere but their own PC, or providing anyone else with access to the data.

NIWA will be continuing to make more data available via these services, and will be further enhancing
 Quantum Map to provide more functionality for users to access and work with the data.

For those who already have their own GIS or mapping applications, these can generally already support the Web Services uses, so the data can be used in your existing desktop or web mapping applications. A growing list of the available datasets (not just from NIWA) is at https://www.niwa.co.nz/ei/feeds/report
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