Downloading Spatial Data from the NT Government

Introduction

The Northern Territory Land Information System (NTLIS) has developed a mechanism allowing non-NT government users to download the latest spatial information datasets directly from our dissemination databases. Previously this has required a manual, request based extraction and delivery process.

This mechanism is called the Spatial Data Broker, and provides authentication and data delivery functionality to users via the Internet.

End users are required to establish licence agreements with a range of NT Government data custodians entitling them to a list of layers appropriate for their needs. Users can choose to subscribe to only a subset of the total set of attributes available on a layer and/or only a certain spatial extent, possibly lowering the cost of subscription.

During a subscription, the latest data can be downloaded as often as required, ensuring the user has the most up-to-date information for their projects.

 

Note that some data is available from the NT Government in the form of free web services. For information about this visit:

• Web Mapping Servers (WMS) available from the NT Government
  

 

Datasets Available

Currently there are two participating NT Government agencies, the Department of Planning and Infrastructure (DPI), and the Department of Natural Resources, Environment and the Arts, (NRETA).

 

For a listing of the data currently available via the Spatial Data Broker:

• Layers Available via the Spatial Data Broker

 

Note this is not the total list of spatial datasets available from the NT Government, they are the ones readily available via the Spatial Data Broker. For a total list of datasets visit ILIS Maps, NRETA Maps or the NT Atlas and use the 'Spatial Dataset Search' tab of the Northern Territory Spatial Data Directory (NTSDD).

 

If you are a government spatial data custodian and would like to make a dataset available to certain approved users, you will need an account with the Spatial Data Broker.  To discuss how to obtain an account please contact  gis.support@nt.gov.au

 

Obtaining a Subscription

The Spatial Data Broker does not accept payments, and is not intended to handle once-off data delivery requests at this time.

Instead, it is appropriate for users who require a regular supply of a selection of datasets, based on existing arrangements with data custodians.

 

To subscribe to a dataset, you will firstly need an account with the Integrated Land Information System (ILIS).. many spatial data users in the Northern Territory will already have one of these. An ILIS account currently costs nothing and can be obtained from ILIS Support.  Users outside of the NT Government require an ILIS SSL certificate to be installed on their PC in order to access ILIS and use the Spatial Data Download facility.

 

 

Once you have a working ILIS account, you need to contact the custodian(s) of the data and negotiate a data licence agreement that includes:

• the layers (from that agency / custodian) that you require
• the attributes for each of those layers
• the spatial extent for each of those layers
• the date of expiry (if any) of the licence agreement
  

 

You may need to establish a number of agreements with a number of agencies. However, once set up the total list of datasets you are entitled to will be available for download from a single location, regardless of origin. Note that a data licence agreement may have an expiry date, if so after that date certain layers will cease to download.

 

Accessing Data

Once you have subscribed to one or more datasets you can download them for the length of your subscription period in two different ways;

1. Data Download Form; or
2. Auto Downloader.

 

Please note that only the Data Download Form method is available outside of NT Government.

 

Accessing Data: Data Download Form

For immediate extractions data can be downloaded from the ILIS Maps web mapping application. ILIS Maps is a companion to ILIS, (the Integrated Land Information System).

More information about ILIS can be found here:

• ILIS (Integrated Land Information System) Support

 

In order to use ILIS you must first set up an account. Establishing an account and connecting to ILIS Maps is free for government and non-government users.

 

ILIS Maps can be launched from ILIS using the link in the left hand Menu. Note that, as mentioned above, to connect to ILIS you must first setup an account. If you cannot login to ILIS, you will not be able to download spatial data.

 

 

 

Once in ILISMaps, click the Spatial Data Download button: to bring up the Data Download Form. In this form you can choose the layers, GIS file format, coordinate system and extent you require.

 

 

Figure 2: Spatial Data Download Form

 

Clicking 'Translate Data' will start the extraction, and you will then be presented with a zip file containing the data and respective metadata documents according to your request.

Note that the extraction and delivery process may take a while, you may need to minimise your browser window and leave it for a few minutes for large (whole of NT) extracts.

 

Accessing Data: Automated Downloader

Some users may wish to populate a local file store periodically on an automatic basis, ensuring the latest data is in their organisation without manual intervention. For this purpose NTLIS have built the Automated Downloader. The Automated Downloader can be scheduled to run periodically on your local server or PC to effectively visit the data download form, choose layers and other parameters and unzip the results to a specified local directory. This ensures that the latest data is available locally without any form of intervention by the end user.

Currently the Automated Downloader will only work inside the NT Government. Instead these users should use the method above: 'Data Download Form'.

 

Obtaining the Auto Downloader

The latest version of the tool can be downloaded from here:

•  NTLIS Automated Downloader

 

Installing

Simply unzip the install file (above) to a folder on the machine that will be performing the download.

 

Building a configuration file

The Auto Downloader takes a XML config file as a parameter defining the layers, extent, format, projection and user name / password details.

Here is a sample configuration file, copy and paste this into a new text document on your downloader machine and edit its details to suit your needs. There is a sample configuration file included in the installable zip file above, you may wish to simply edit that one.

 

<spatialDownloadConfig>
  <ilisAuthentication>
    <username>USERNAME</username>
    <password>PASSWORD</password>
  </ilisAuthentication>
  <spatialData>
    <name>MyWeeklyDownload</name>
    <comment></comment>
    <saveTo>d:\data\</saveTo>
      <param>
      <name>layerList</name>
      <value>0,1,15</value>
    </param>
    <param>
      <name>upperRightX</name>
      <value>180</value>
    </param>
    <param>
      <name>notificationEmailAddress</name>
      <value></value>
    </param>
    <param>
      <name>coordsys</name>
      <value>LL-GDA94</value>
    </param>
    <param>
      <name>lowerLeftY</name>
      <value>-90</value>
    </param>
    <param>
      <name>format</name>
      <value>2shp.fme</value>
    </param>
    <param>
      <name>lowerLeftX</name>
      <value>-180</value>
    </param>
    <param>
      <name>downloadType</name>
      <value>config</value>
    </param>
    <param>
      <name>upperRightY</name>
      <value>90</value>
    </param>
  </spatialData>
</spatialDownloadConfig>

 

Executing the Auto Downloader

Save modified configuration file in the same directory as the tool and call it something like 'mySpatialDownloadConfigFile.cfg',

Then, from the same directory run:

runDownload.bat mySpatialDownloadConfigFile.cfg

 This should download your data and extract it into the output location you have specified.

 

Troubleshooting

If you get an error similar to:

'java' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

then you probably do not have the 'java' program in your PATH environmental variable. Contact your technical support person for help fixing this.

 

Need help ?

Any questions relating to the Spatial Data Broker please contact GIS Support.