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Fig. 1. The three-layered tier architecture of the MI-Safe platform.
2.1 Presentation tier (Deltares Data Viewer)
The MI-SAFE platform makes use of a customized instance of the Delta Data Viewer (DDV) which is an open-source GIS viewer part of the Openearth stack that allows geospatial data visualization and also supports a variety of processes. This viewer makes data requests via the OGC WPS protocol to the backend obtaining the necessary data to produce the plots and reports. The basic information in the viewer is presented via OGC services (WMS). The viewer harvests layer definitions dynamically querying the GeoServer instance of FAST via GetCapabilities (WMS).
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PyWPS is used to communicate all the necessary information to the presentation tier. This python open-source implementation of the OGC WPS protocol makes use of owslib and GDAL libraries to retrieve data values via WCS with the GeoServer instance that holds the layer data. For the expert mode, PyWPS queries a PostgreSQL/PostGIS database in order to obtain the XBeach wave propagation results for the sites. XBeach is a two-dimensional community driven model for wave propagation, long waves and mean flow, sediment transport and morphological changes of the near shore area, beaches, dunes and back barrier during storms.
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2.3 Data tier (GeoNetwork, GeoServer and PostGIS)
On the data layer OGC compliant solutions are used to handle raster and vector layers and the corresponding metadata. GeoServer was chosen as the solution to handle global and local raster layers in GeoTiff format and provide WMS access for visualization and WCS for coverage queries. GeoNetwork is deployed as a catalogue solution to cover the metadata editing and search part through CSW protocol. The vector outputs produced by XBeach modelling are stored into a PostGIS database that enables fast queries from the PyWPS instance of the MI-SAFE expert version. Earth observation data from the Sentinel-2 mission has been processed with the Google Earth Engine in order to obtain higher resolution vegetation maps.
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Conclusions
The MI-Safe platform is a good example of a marine IGIS assembled uniquely with open-source components that provide a fully OGC compliant solution. The purpose of the tool is to help users understand how vegetated foreshores reduce coastal flood risk on any given location worldwide. This knowledge may help to reduce the cost of flood protection as well as may deliver inputs to a more wide-spread, successful restoration and conservation of coastal ecosystems.
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