ReportViz Allows Users to Assess Impact of Oil and Gas Exploration

CartoVista partner, ICI Innovations, has developed an interactive mapping application for the public and industry to better understand the changes happening in our oceans

Note: Be sure to use ReportViz on a desktop computer as it has not been optimized for mobile viewing at this time.*

In August 2019, the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAA) awarded a contract to CartoVista partner, ICI Innovations (ICI), for the development of an interactive reporting and mapping system for use by the general public and industry as part of IAA’s Regional Assessment of Offshore Oil and Gas Exploratory Drilling East of Newfoundland and Labrador (RA). The data to be contained within the system would be defined through the course of the RA’s development, requiring a flexible model for integrating regional geospatial and tabular data that include:

• Environmental information at various spatial and temporal scales.
• Results of environmental effects analysis.
• Information that is not geospatial in nature, such as text, figures, graphs and tables, but is related to data that may be mapped or visualized. This information may be clearly linked to various components of the system to support meaningful interaction and a comprehensive understanding.

Additional system requirements included:

• An easy, quick and repeatable process for loading data of various formats into the system for the development of map layers.
• Easy, yet powerful data exploration techniques such as sophisticated cartographic display, charts linked to map features and intuitive methods for accessing feature attributes.
• An ability to filter the available data using easy to define parameters such as a range in time, the extents of the map display and/or data specific metadata.
• Through custom software development and a well-documented software development framework (SDK), the support of specific needs that are not typical of out-of-the-box mapping solutions.
• The support of rapid development schedules to accommodate changes as feedback is provided by stakeholders and the RA Committee.

ICI undertook a comprehensive investigation of available mapping products as part of its proposal to the IAA and determined CartoVista to be the product that best met the requirements of the RA and the IAA as a whole. ICI engaged with CartoVista to execute a comprehensive product review and confirmed the product provided a superior fit. CartoVista’s underlying technologies and architecture were also a very good match for ICI’s expertise, which includes the use of enterprise relational databases for data management and software development using HTML5 standard web technologies, such as JavaScript and CSS. This alignment of technologies, standards and expertise permitted the rapid adoption of CartoVista by ICI for the development of its ReportViz solution for the RA mapping system. The system can be accessed at nloffshorestudy.iciinnovations.com.

ReportViz is a customized version of CartoVista that offers a user experience new to those familiar with CartoVista’s standard user interface. New features include:

• A panel for the navigation and review of report contents linked to the display of map layers
  • Report contents, including links to figures, are authored in Microsoft Word, without additional formatting or export
• A layer control supporting thematic grouping of layers, with expanded layer options, including:
  • Filters that adjust the display of available features based on selected values
  • Expanded graphing capabilities and summary statistics tables
  • Legends for raster layers
  • A data summary link providing additional details about the data (metadata)
• A control to easily define a date range that is used to filter features within layers which are temporal in nature
• A new type of dynamic web services layer that supports the dynamic query of data within a SQL Server database
• Ability to define an area of interest (AOI) using map features, which limits data within dynamic SQL Server based web service layers for map display, graphs and summary statistics tables.

The final mapping system for the RA provides a comprehensive mapping solution for a large area of Canada’s eastern offshore environment. With access to over 180 unique layers, the solution offers unprecedented access to a wide array of information related to the region’s physical, biological and socioeconomic environments. Rather than providing a typical document containing static figures of geospatial data, the RA mapping system provides extensive information that is linked to an easy to use, yet powerful mapping solution that allows the public to explore data and layer interactions, resulting in an improved understanding of the potential effects of offshore exploration drilling activities for offshore Newfoundland and Labrador.

About ICI Innovations: ICI creates easy to use solutions for the visualization and management of organizational risk. They improve how their customers manage, process, view, and analyze their data so they can see the whole picture and gain the insight their business needs.

About CartoVista: CartoVista is a premier web mapping company that helps businesses and corporations unlock the potential of their geospatial data. With an off-the-shelf software solution as well as professional services, we help our clients create web maps that are meaningful and engaging to end-users and decision-makers.

*Important Notice About ReportViz

ReportViz is intended for use on devices that provide a suitable form factor for simultaneously viewing report modules and geospatial data, such as a desktop and/or tablet, with a minimum width of 1024 pixels. The application is supported by the following list of internet browsers (latest available versions):

• Windows (7,10): Chrome, Firefox, Edge
• MacOS (10.x): Safari, Chrome, Firefox
• Apple iOS (iPad): Safari, Chrome, Firefox
• Android (tablet): Chrome, Firefox

Press Contact Info:

Karl Spencer
CartoVista
1-866-772-2660
Email Contact