Géoportail

Géoportail is a web mapping service of the French government whose aim is to publicise geographical data about the whole French territory. This service, developed by two public agencies (the IGN and the BRGM), was officially inaugurated on June 23, 2006 by president Jacques Chirac. The newly launched website, which only offered 2D maps, was largely reported because it went quickly down after undergoing large underestimated traffic.

Though the French service has sometimes been described as a competitor or rival to Google Maps’s, it is different from Google's mapping service (launched one year before in February 2005), since they are designed in a different fashion, have different objectives (Geoportail is only available in French language) and offer different geographical data. While Geoportail covers the whole French territory in the same resolution, Google Maps cover the whole world with higher resolution on places of interest. As a consequence, apart from the main towns, the maps of France proposed by Geoportail are higher quality than those offered by Google.

Since its inception in June 2006, the French service has progressively improved (better resolution, new data like cadastres for certain departments) and undergone two significant updates: a new version in May 2007 and a 3D version in August 2007. This last version is actually provided through a client software named TerraExplorer, a virtual globe developed by SkylineGlobe. As of February 2008, this software is only available for Microsoft Windows but is expected to be released in early 2008 for Mac OS and Linux. As with the 2D version, this virtual globe is quite different from Google's similar product Google Earth because only the French territory can be observed at high resolution.

Origin of the project
The project originated for two main purposes:
 * INSPIRE (Infrastructure for spatial information in Europe) European directive and ADELE French programme aim at the development of on-line administrative information;
 * the success of other online projects like Google Maps, in which navigation in maps and satellite views is possible.

Partners
The DGME (French General Directorate for State Modernisation) is in charge of the project, with implementation managed by two state entities:
 * IGN developed the visualisation interface, with the background of its own data (maps and photos),
 * French Office of Geological and Mineral Research BRGM developed the catalog and search system.

Each administration or partner will provide the data they are responsible for. For example, the Sports Ministry could provide data on activities and links to the corresponding websites.

Project
The project was launched during summer 2005 in the IGN. The goal for the opening of the Géoportail was set as summer 2007.

On January 6, 2006, in Metz, the former President of the French Republic, Jacques Chirac, expressed the wish to open the Géoportail during the year.

In early March 2006, the IGN launched an advertising campaign about the Géoportail.

Launch problems
On June 23, 2006, the site was launched by Jacques Chirac and other ministers.

In this first release, users could browse in 2D over:
 * the orthophoto (corrected aerial photographs) of France, including a great part of French overseas departments and territories, with an image resolution of 50 cm;
 * the IGN maps, at a scale adapted for the chosen zoom (up to 1:25000 with a zoom of 1/3000).

After the site was first launched, connection requests were 5 times greater than expected by the project team, which lead to a crash of the servers. A message was posted apologizing for this problem while a solution was found. On July 1, access to the site was restored.

Evolution

 * During August 2006, the maximum zoom was set to 1/1500.
 * In summer 2007, a 3D interface was made available.

Links

 * Le Géoportail
 * Press release of the IGN
 * Geoportail plug-in for NASA World Wind adds 3D navigation to geoportail.fr imagery