GIS Software

The ecosystem of GIS software is quite large and complex, with new software being developed everyday. This page focuses on applications that integrate multiple pieces of GIS software to create a single desktop or server application. Resources for other GIS software, including spatial databases can be found here, while resources for geospatial libraries/packages can be found with their associated programming languages.

ArcGIS Pro

Developed by Esri, ArcGIS Pro succeeded ArcMap and as the foundation to Esri’s extraordinarily popular ecosystem of GIS software. It is by far the most popular and commonly used commercial GIS desktop application.

All UBC Students can access ArcGIS Pro through the UBC Library labs documented in their GIS research guide. Students, who are enrolled in a geography course that requires access to ArcGIS Pro, will also have access to the Geography Computer Labs. Additionally, students may purchase a discounted one-year license for using ArcGIS Pro on their personal computers from the UBC GIS Software page.

UBC Geography maintains a department license for all ArcGIS software, which is available to all faculty, staff, and researchers.

ArcGIS Pro is developed exclusively around Windows, so running it on a Mac or Linux device requires either the ability to dual boot into a Windows operating system or access to Windows from a virtual environment. Esri provides these instructions for Mac users.

QGIS

QGIS is a free and open-source GIS desktop application with broad support for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. Its development is supported by the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo), which also supports other popular geospatial software, like GDAL, GEOS, GrassGIS, PostGIS, and many others. You can download and install QGIS from their download page or, if you are a UBC Vancouver student, you can access it from one of the labs listed in UBC Library’s GIS Research Guide.

The UBC Library Research Commons frequently provides introductory workshops on QGIS for students, faculty, and staff. You can review previous workshop materials below and find upcoming workshops on their calendar.

GeoServer

GIS servers, like ArcGIS Server, QGIS Server, and GeoServer, enable users to publish and share their maps and geospatial data through web-hosted services. Similar to QGIS, GeoServer has been supported as an OSGeo project. It supports the following standard protocols: Web Feature Service (WFS), Web Map Service (WMS), and Web Coverage Service (WCS) alongside Web Processing Service (WPS) and Web Map Tile Service (WMTS) via added extensions. It also provides the back-end for the geospatial content management system, GeoNode.

While GeoServer can be hosted on a virtual machine through the Alliance Cloud, we strongly recommend that you review and consider deploying cloud-optimized geospatial formats with object storage as an alternative if your use case allows it.

Web Mapping

Web maps, like OpenStreetMap and Google Maps, provide one of the most effective methods for sharing geospatial data, as they enable users to render, view, and interact with that data directly through their web browsers either via a laptop, desktop, or mobile device without the need to install specialized GIS software.

Examples:

There are a large variety of tools that can assist in developing and distributing web maps. Prior to selecting a tool, be sure to closely analyze your use case and assess whether the tools you are reaching for can best addresses it. For particularly unique use cases, it may be necessary to develop a web map from the ground up using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. You can find a few resources to assist that work in this site’s JavaScript page.

ArcGIS Online

Industry and government GIS experts, frequently rely on ESRI’s ArcGIS Online to provide access to their geospatial data via an extraordinarily powerful web mapping interface. Similar to ArcGIS Pro, UBC students and researchers can learn more about getting access to an ArcGIS Online account on the UBC GIS Software page.

An important item to note when assessing this tool for your use cases is that your web map cannot be exported from ArcGIS Online, which means the lifespan of your map will be heavily dependent on ESRI’s servers and your continued subscription to an ArcGIS Online account. If your web map will need to be supported and/or preserved well into the future, consider reviewing a few alternative options. Additionally, while the extensive number of features included in ArcGIS web maps can make them extraordinarily powerful, those same features can also make your map quite bloated, so if you are developing a web map to serve communities where internet access may be limited, consider working with a lighter web mapping tool that can be optimized to load more efficiently.

Alternatives to ArcGIS Online that may fit similar use cases include: Mapbox and CARTO, which both run popular Software as a Service (SaaS) models for developing and hosting web maps.

uMap

Built on OpenStreetMap and open-source software, uMap provides a lighter, but less feature-rich alternative to ArcGIS Online. Public instances are available, which enable users to create and share their web maps for free. If you hope to embed images or other media on your map, checkout the Object Storage page for free/low-cost hosting options.

QGIS2WEB

Distributed as a QGIS plugin, this tool enables users to generate web maps as static web sites. HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are exported alongside your data, which can then be hosted like any other static website through object storage or providers like GitHub Pages.

GeoNode

As noted earlier, GeoNode provides an open-source content management system atop a GeoServer instance, which works well for developing, collaborating, and sharing web maps. Unlike ArcGIS Online and uMap, GeoNode is only available via a self-hosted instance, so requesting a cloud-based virtual machine would be required to setup a server.

Ushahidi

Developed with a specific focus on creating web maps from crowdsourced data, Ushahidi provides a friendly user interface for quickly creating and distributing forms from which data can be collected and then mapped automatically. Ushahidi can either be self-hosted or managed via a SaaS account, but registering users should be avoided or discouraged in order to avoid collecting any personal identifiable information (PII), which could violate UBC policies and BC privacy regulations.