Abstract
Jaspa (Java Spatial) is a novel spatial extension for relational database management systems (RDBMSs). It is the result of a research project that aims to accomplish two goals: firstly, to fill the absence in the Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) world of a solid Java-based alternative to PostGIS, the leading spatial extension written in C. Secondly, to exploit the advantages of Java and the Java geospatial libraries over C in terms of portability and easiness to extend. Java programming for geospatial purposes is a flowering field and similar solutions to Jaspa have recently appeared, but none of them can equate with PostGIS due to lack of functionalities. Jaspa currently implements almost all PostGIS functionality. The next step will be the enrichment of the software with more sophisticated features: storage of spatial data in a topological structure within the RDBMS, cluster tolerance and geodetic functionalities. Jaspa is being developed at the Department of Cartographic Engineering, Geodesy and Photogrammetry of the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia and it has been published under an Open Source license on the OSOR.eu repository. This paper has been written by its creators with the aim of introducing users to its main capabilities. © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
