Modernizing geospatial services: an investigation into modern OGC API implementation and comparative analysis with traditional standards in a web application

Abstract

The study explores the transition from traditional geospatial service standards to modern Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) API standards in web applications, focusing on urban development management. The main goal is to compare the performance and practical implications of integrating modern and traditional geospatial technologies. Two prototype system architectures were formulated based on the underlying principle of three-tier architectures. Database operations were facilitated by PostgreSQL (PostGIS), while server-side functionalities employed GeoServer and pygeoapi for data publication and OpenLayers served as the frontend for data visualization. The primary data source for this study is ALKIS (Authoritative Real Estate Cadastre Information System of Germany). The investigation encompasses two principal facets: a theoretical evaluation of two distinct server implementations utilizing conventional standards (GeoServer) and contemporary standards (pygeoapi), alongside a practical testing phase. Theoretical comparisons underscore GeoServer’s robustness, well-established user base, and comprehensive feature set, along with its highly efficient folder structure and detailed, user-friendly documentation. In contrast, pygeoapi is characterized by its emphasis on simplicity and utilization of modern technologies such as OpenAPI for implementing a RESTful API. During hands-on testing, it was observed that pygeoapi consistently exhibited longer rendering times than GeoServer. Moreover, as the feature count increased, both platforms showed a linear escalation in rendering times. To address prolonged rendering times in pygeoapi, incorporating vector tiles led to a significant reduction in rendering times. Regarding the affect of different data format, PostgreSQL (PostGIS) consistently outperforms other data formats used in pygeoapi, while Shapefile and PostgreSQL (PostGIS) perform well in GeoServer. This research aims to effectively integrate geospatial technologies, bridging the gap between established standards and emerging APIs in web applications.