Used software
This page lists the (open source) GIS software I used in this project. The criteria were that it should be freely available with a permissive license. This allows me to easily share our work without having to worry about expensive licenses or vendor lock-in (ArcGIS and windows-only sollutions). Also, if necessary, we can run the scripts on a supercomputer to speed up the calculations if they are too slow.
Proj.4
website: http://trac.osgeo.org/proj/
Cartographic projection library. Implements all projections you will ever use or need. Don't try to do this yourself. The library is used in most open source GIS software. Licence: MIT
GDAL
website:http://www.gdal.org/
Processing (transformation, format conversion) of vector and raster data. Supports most formats, including proprietary ESRI formats when ESRI libraries are installed. Java bindings exist. License: X/MIT
PostGIS / PostgreSQL
website: http://postgis.net/
Geospatial extension to PostgreSQL. Implements geospatial queries (intersections, unions, etc.) on vector and raster data. Raster functions require at least version 2.0. Licence is GPLv2.
QGIS
website: http://www.qgis.org/en/site/
Opensource GIS-viewer. Can connect to PostgreSQL/PostGIS database for vector data; raster data can be imported via a special plugin. Uses GDAL, so supported formats depend on GDAL installation. Licence: GPLv2.
mapnik
website:http://mapnik.org/
Visualization of GIS data; can be used to render production quality maps. Uses GDAL for input, but can also connect directly to PostGIS. Best used via the XML interface. Licence: LGPLv2.1
Fiona and Shapely
website:https://pypi.python.org/pypi/Fiona
webiste:https://pypi.python.org/pypi/Shapely
Alternative to the vector part of PostGIS. Fiona provides clean python bindings to GDAL, Shapely implements GIS operations (intersections, unions, etc.). Both are under a BSD license.
Software Alternatives
ArcGIS
website: ArcGIS
Industry standard GIS environment, with commerical license. Mostly windows oriented.
JHMaps
website:http://www.jhlabs.com/java/maps/proj/
Compatible alternative for PROJ.4. Pure java project. License: Apachev2
JTS
website: http://www.vividsolutions.com/jts/jtshome.htm
Original java implementation of GIS operators. License LGPL. (v3?)
GEOS
website:http://trac.osgeo.org/geos/
Geometry Engine - Open Source is a C++ port of the Java Topology Suite (JTS). License LGPLv2.1