Abstract
The advent of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) has changed the way people think and interact with the world. The main objectives of this paper are: (i) to provide an overview of 10 years (2010–2020) regarding the creation/development of GIS open-source applications; and (ii) to evaluate the GIS open-source plugins for environmental science. In the first objective, we evaluate the publications regarding the development of GIS open-source geospatial software in the last 10 years, considering desktop, web GIS and mobile applications, so that we can analyze the impact of this type of application for different research areas. In the second objective, we analyze the development of GIS open-source applications in the field of environmental sciences (with more focus on QGIS plugins) in the last 10 years and discuss the applicability and usability of these GIS solutions in different environmental domains. A bibliometric analysis was performed using Web of Science database and VOSViewer software. We concluded that, in general, the development of GIS open-source applications has increased in the last 10 years, especially GIS mobile applications, since the big data and Internet of Things (IoT) era, which was expected given the new advanced technologies available in every area, especially in GIS.
Highlights
The benefits of open-source software have been acknowledged for a long time in industry and academic contexts [1]
The open approach (or open movement) was a movement originally limited to computer engineering; it has spread over several other fields, such as open data, open science, open governance and open innovation [1]
We evaluate the publications regarding the development of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) open-source geospatial software in the last 10 years, considering desktop, web GIS and mobile applications, so that we can analyze the impact of this type of application for different interdisciplinary research areas
Summary
The benefits of open-source software have been acknowledged for a long time in industry and academic contexts [1]. The evolution of open-source software over the past 40 years has had a major impact on today’s world. Open-Source Software (OSS) is characterized by the fact that the source code is available for use, copying and redistribution with or without modification. The OSS follows several criteria in this regard: (i) free redistribution, i.e., the license does not require a license fee or the like for such sale; (ii) source code that permits redistribution, i.e., the code should be downloadable over the Internet without charge; (iii) derivative works, i.e., the license must permit modifications and derivative works under the same terms as the original software;
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