Web portals for visualizing and searching spatial data

Spatial data have proven to be extremely useful in many areas. Accordingly, there are more and more Web GIS solutions. These solutions allow the visualization of spatial data to all Internet users. A large number of available online resource introduced the problem of efficient retrieval of relevant information. The aim of this paper is to describe the way in which Web portals can be used to search and presentation of spatial data. The paper first analyzes the area of the Web portal. It provides an overview of the Web GIS technology, with particular emphasis in its advantages and disadvantages and how the client/server architecture can be applied to Web GIS solutions. Then, it describes how the service oriented architecture can be used to resolve interoperability problems, and gives an overview of OGC standards: WMS, WFS, and WCS. In the end, it explains the need for introducing a geoportal, as a special type of a Web portal. In the practical part of this paper is implemented interactive map of Bosnia and Herzegovina. An overview of the technologies was given: PostGIS, Boundless SDK, GeoServer and OpenLayers, which are an integral part of the OpenGeo Suite. The paper also describes how to integrate local data sources with public web services: MapQuest, Bing Maps and OpenStreetMap.