3 Top Data Formats for Map Mashups: KML, GeoRSS and GeoJSON. Map mashups continue to mature in terms of sophistication and functionality, providing end users with an ever-expanding set of tools and applications. As a result, the intersection between traditional geospatial data and these new map mashups requires well defined ways to transfer, distribute, and consume geospatial data in a web-friendly way. Some new geospatial data formats have emerged in response to this need, enabling a broad spectrum of users and developers to mashup information in a geographic context. Here is a rundown of the three primary formats for geo- mashup developers today: Did you know that before it was known as Google Earth, the popular 3D globe viewer was named Keyhole? So it should come as no surprise that KML stands for Keyhole Markup Language, Google Earth’s native file format which is based on XML.
GeoRSS GeoRSS provides a way for including geographic reference information in RSS (and Atom) feeds via specific encoding. GeoJSON. Location Aware (Geo RSS) : AppMakr Help. Feed 101 - FeedBurner Help. What are feeds? I see "RSS", "XML", and "Atom" out there, but I don't know how I might use these links when I find them. Feeds are a way for websites large and small to distribute their content well beyond just visitors using browsers. Feeds permit subscription to regular updates, delivered automatically via a web portal, news reader, or in some cases good old email. Feeds also make it possible for site content to be packaged into "widgets," "gadgets," mobile devices, and other bite-sized technologies that make it possible to display blogs, podcasts, and major news/sports/weather/whatever headlines just about anywhere.
What Does This Mean? You may recognize the universal feed icon or these "chicklets" from your favorite websites, blogs, and podcasts. Why is This a Good Thing? Consumer Bottom Line: Subscribing to feeds makes it possible to review a large amount of online content in a very short time. Who publishes feeds? How do I read feeds? Show me what a typical feed reader looks like. Technical Overview: GeoRSS. GeoRSS is a standard for adding location information to an RSS feed. Example applications include travel blogs, news feeds, and real time earthquake feeds. Location information is typically a point location, but it can also include geographic lines, polygons, and related feature descriptions. Many online mapping services support GeoRSS, allowing map "mashups" to be easily created. GeoRSS currently has three different vocabularies: Simple, GML, and W3C Geo.
All three vocabularies can be inserted into RSS 1.0, RSS 2.0, and Atom feeds. Although the GeoRSS model is usually serialized as XML, it can also be serialized as RDF or XHTML. GeoRSS currently uses a fixed coordinate system of decimal longitude, latitude degrees using the global WGS84 geoid. The GeoRSS model geometry supports points, lines and boundaries. The GeoRSS model also supports the featuretypetag that stores a single string determining the feature's type referred in the geometry. Simple Vocabulary GML Vocabulary.