Open source software for environmental research

With environmental issues growing ever-more pressing the development of software which meets the needs of the scientific community is a research priority. The accessibility of open-source software makes it ideally suited to environmental applications, says Professor Th?©r?®se Steenberghen of CASCADOSS.

 One of the key strengths of open-source software is its accessibility. No fee is required for its use, while individual developers are able to alter and re-distribute software to meet the needs of specific groups, attributes which make open-source enormously relevant to modern concerns, according to Professor Thérèse Steenberghen, the overall coordinator of the CASCADOSS project. “Open-source software stimulates community-based development, which makes it very interesting for large communities which share the same interests and software needs,” she says.

An EC-backed initiative bringing together partners from five European countries, CASCADOSS was formed to educate the geospatial community on the potential of open-source software, particularly in terms of improving their working methods and decision-making, and is targeted primarily at the needs of the environmental community. “Those working in the environmental field in Europe share a common need for things like spatial analysis tools, monitoring tools and satellite imagery,” explains Steenberghen. “The environmental community, a large proportion of which already uses GIS (Geographical Information Systems) and remote sensing, is set to grow significantly over the coming years. We believe the environmental community could benefit from the use of open-source, and so want to stimulate groups and organisations to use it, which will in turn help people share their expertise and build upon each other’s developments.”

With environmental issues growing ever-more prominent, and the need for effective tools acute, the project’s focus on evaluating the technical, economic and marketing potential of software is very much in line with the wider agenda. Indeed, a number of major organisations are already moving towards open-source software, a trend which is encouraging Steenberghen to look towards further development. “We hope that we will be able to help develop local open source software chapters where there were none before,” she says. “If we are to remain relevant then we need to continually update our software and keep pace with development, a goal we are determined to pursue.”

Contact Professor Thérèse Steenberghen, Managing Director of the Spatial Applications Division at the K.U.Leuven, and Project Coordinator for CASCADOSS, at therese.steenberghen@sadl.kuleuven.be 

Published: Monday, 9th November 2009

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