GeoRSS is a specification for encoding location as part of a
Web feed
On the World Wide Web, a web feed (or news feed) is a data format used for providing users with frequently updated content. Content distributors ''Web syndication, syndicate'' a web feed, thereby allowing users to ''subscribe'' a channel to it b ...
. ''(Web feeds are used to describe feeds ("channels") of content, such as news articles, Audio blogs, video blogs and text
blog
A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...
entries. These
web feed
On the World Wide Web, a web feed (or news feed) is a data format used for providing users with frequently updated content. Content distributors ''Web syndication, syndicate'' a web feed, thereby allowing users to ''subscribe'' a channel to it b ...
s are rendered by programs such as aggregators and
web browser
A web browser is application software for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used on ...
s.)'' The name "GeoRSS" is derived from
RSS
RSS ( RDF Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) is a web feed that allows users and applications to access updates to websites in a standardized, computer-readable format. Subscribing to RSS feeds can allow a user to keep track of many di ...
, the most known
Web feed
On the World Wide Web, a web feed (or news feed) is a data format used for providing users with frequently updated content. Content distributors ''Web syndication, syndicate'' a web feed, thereby allowing users to ''subscribe'' a channel to it b ...
and syndication format.
In GeoRSS, location content consists of geographical points, lines, and polygons of interest and related feature descriptions. GeoRSS feeds are designed to be consumed by geographic software such as map generators. By building these encodings on a common information model, the GeoRSS collaboration is promoting interoperability and "upwards-compatibility" across encodings.
At this point, the GeoRSS collaboration has completed work on two primary encodings that are called GeoRSS Geography Markup Language (GML) and GeoRSS Simple. GeoRSS-Simple is a very lightweight format that supports basic geometries (point, line, box, polygon) and covers the typical use cases when encoding locations. GeoRSS GML is a formal Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) GML Application Profile, and supports a greater range of features than GeoRSS Simple, notably coordinate reference systems other than
WGS84
The World Geodetic System (WGS) is a standard used in cartography, geodesy, and satellite navigation including GPS. The current version, WGS 84, defines an Earth-centered, Earth-fixed coordinate system and a geodetic datum, and also desc ...
latitude/longitude. There is also a W3C GeoRSS serialization, which is older and partly deprecated but still the most widely used.
GeoRSS can be used to extend both RSS 1.0 and 2.0, as well as
Atom
Every atom is composed of a nucleus and one or more electrons bound to the nucleus. The nucleus is made of one or more protons and a number of neutrons. Only the most common variety of hydrogen has no neutrons.
Every solid, liquid, gas ...
, the
IETF
The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is a standards organization for the Internet and is responsible for the technical standards that make up the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP). It has no formal membership roster or requirements and ...
's latest standard for feeds.
Examples
Here's a GeoRSS Simple example using Atom.
EarthquakesInternational earthquake observation labs2005-12-13T18:30:02ZDr. Thaddeus Remor[email protected]urn:uuid:60a76c80-d399-11d9-b93C-0003939e0af6M 3.2, Mona Passageurn:uuid:1225c695-cfb8-4ebb-aaaa-80da344efa6a2005-08-17T07:02:32ZWe just had a big one.45.256 -71.92
Here is a schema fragment for a GeoRSS GML encoding for RSS 2.0
http://maps.google.com
Cambridge NeighborhoodsOne guy's view of Cambridge, Massachusetts00000111c36421c1321d3Thu, 05 Apr 2007 20:16:31 +0000Central SquareThe heart and soul of the "new" Cambridge. Depending on where you
stand, you can feel like you're in the 1970s or 2020.rajrsingh
+71.106216 42.366661
+71.105576 42.367104
+71.104378 42.367134
+71.103729 42.366249
+71.098793 42.363331
+71.101028 42.362541
+71.106865 42.366123
+71.106216 42.366661
Here is example of W3C geo GeoRSS
USGS M5+ EarthquakesReal-time, worldwide earthquake list for the past 7 days
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/
U.S. Geological SurveyThu, 27 Dec 2007 23:56:15 PSTFri, 28 Dec 2007 05:24:17 GMTM 5.3, northern Sumatra, IndonesiaDecember 28, 2007 05:24:17 GMT
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2007llai.php
5.531995.8972
*
Atom (standard)
The name Atom applies to a pair of related Web standards. The Atom Syndication Format is an XML language used for web feeds, while the Atom Publishing Protocol (AtomPub or APP) is a simple HTTP-based protocol for creating and updating web ...
, the IETF's XML-based Web syndication format.
*
RSS
RSS ( RDF Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) is a web feed that allows users and applications to access updates to websites in a standardized, computer-readable format. Subscribing to RSS feeds can allow a user to keep track of many di ...