Joseph Elfelt is a software developer in the geo world as a result of a life-long interest in maps and self-teaching. His interest in maps began as a child looking at his father’s collection of USGS topographic maps for a large part of Minnesota. After college, Joseph moved to Seattle and went to work for Boeing helping to implement database technology. A few years later he changed careers and spent most of his working years as an independent real estate investor. Now mostly retired, he continues to write geo software as a hobby. The first-of-their-kind features in Joseph’s software are free to use and have no registration requirement, no ads, no tracking and no personal information collection.
Joseph. What do you do and where are you on earth?
My name is Joseph Elfelt and I live on a small acreage parcel near the city of Redmond, Washington State, USA. Although I am mostly retired from the real estate field, I still do some consulting work producing online property line maps for clients. My main geo interest is various software projects. Need geo data? I curate a list of 5,000+ ArcGIS server addresses at all levels of USA government, from federal to local. GISsurfer is a web map I developed which can display several types of geo data including ArcGIS data. Another project is GeoJPG which is a web map I developed that can be installed on both iOS and Android so it works 100% offline. Anything GISsurfer can display can be viewed offline with GeoJPG. Got location? FindMeSAR displays your coordinates and their accuracy value in several formats and can work offline.
How did you decide to develop GISsurfer?
Back in 2009 I launched the web map Gmap4 which was based on the Google map API. At the time there were just a few general purpose web maps using Google’s map API. I remember ACMEMapper, GPSVisualizer and there was one other one whose name I do not recall. They were my inspiration.
Although Gmap4 was not open source it could be used freely by anyone to display data hosted on ArcGIS servers and various other kinds of data. I built this initially so people posting on a local hiking forum could display their GPX tracks on an interactive map that displayed seamless scans of the USGS paper topographic maps (which are no longer being updated or produced). Various other hiking/climbing/outdoor websites also included Gmap4 links.
One way that I used Gmap4 was to produce interactive maps displaying various layers of GIS data for large wildland fires. These fire map links became extremely popular since at the time the federal government lacked a robust system for producing wildland fire maps for the public. At one point I received an email from Google stating that they were increasing my allocation of free map API loads to one million per day – which was the maximum allowed to anyone.
Things changed around 2018 when Google announced they were greatly reducing the number of free map API loads for all users and charging $ for additional API loads. In response, I shut down Gmap4 and launched a new web map called GISsurfer which is based on the free and open source Leaflet map API. GISsurfer now includes features, including screenshot mode, that were in the development or planning stage for Gmap4 but which never made the production code before that web map was shut down.
Q: You had mentioned the 5,000 or so ArcGIS sites you catalog. How long does that take?
Each week I spend about an hour maintaining the list of ArcGIS servers that I curate. An updated list is usually posted each Wednesday as a PDF file at: https://mappingsupport.com/p/surf_gis/list-federal-state-county-city-GIS-servers.pdf
This list of ArcGIS server addresses has been built bit by bit over the last 7 years. The list is focused on ArcGIS servers at all levels of USA government, from federal to local. Although the list does have a few ‘portal’ addresses that is not the main purpose of the list.
Most of the work in maintaining the list is done by code that I wrote which scans each address once a week. That code is run three times with a few hours between each run. Each run can produce an exception report which I review by hand and another output file which is used as input for the next run. The list is then updated as needed before a new PDF is produced.
I am delighted to be able to make this resource available to the geo community. And in response, here is a very nice ‘thank you’ I recently received.
“I just wanted to say thank you for your work on compiling a list of GIS data servers, I fully appreciate the amount of effort this had to take. I am a tribal member and employee of the Shoshone Bannock Tribes in Idaho, and we, like many tribes, are resource limited and this includes in the world of data. As I continue to build decision-support tools for my Tribe, Departments, and Programs, I have consistently found your guide to be a meaningful, and potentially more importantly, impactful document. With the most sincere sense of gratitude I can send you via text, thank you for the effort!”
And for anyone looking for WMS servers anywhere in the world, check out https://www.geoseer.net/ . That incredible work is someone else’s project, not mine.
Q: It may be a slightly complicated question, but how does GISSurfer display the data from the ArcGIS servers?
- Open: https://mappingsupport.com/p2/gissurfer.php?center=47.515751,-122.011414&zoom=10&basemap=USA_basemap
- Click the basemap button and look under the “Overlay” heading. Mobile users scroll down to the Overlay section.
- Click “Add GIS overlays”.
- Paste in this ArcGIS address: https://gismaps.kingcounty.gov/arcgis/rest/services/Parks/KingCo_ParksAndTrails/MapServer
- Click “Send request to GIS server”.
Your screen will split. The left side will display a list of layers related to the county’s parks and trails. The right side of your screen will display the map. Click on a layer and that data will appear on the map. Click the same layer again and the data is removed from the map.
At step 4 you can also enter any ArcGIS server address. You then may need to click on the folder or service names to drill down to a list of layers that the map can display.
There are two kinds of help for surfing an ArcGIS server.
- Video: https://youtu.be/IW818LwkBlY
- PDF: https://mappingsupport.com/p2/help/GISsurfer-surfing-tips.pdf
Second, you can make a GISsurfer link that includes parameters that specify the GIS data the map will display. To see an example, use the surfing technique described above to display one or more layers and then click Menu > Link to this map. Here is an example of what you might see:
The &overlay parameter lists the overlays that will be ‘on’ when the map opens. The &data parameter specifies one or more GIS basemaps and/or overlays. Here are two links with documentation and examples for the &data parameter.
- Video: https://youtu.be/qz0EHExTKSk
- PDF: https://mappingsupport.com/p2/help/GISsurfer-data-parameter.pdf
Third, assume you want to make a GISsurfer map that displays a basemap hosted on an ArcGIS server plus a bunch of GIS overlays with various kinds of data that you can turn on/off after the map opens. Yes, you could use the &data parameter to specify all that GIS information. But that approach has two problems. The GISsurfer link to open the map is *very* long and as a result the link might not work every place you wish to use the link. Also, if you want to add/delete a layer then you need a new link.
A much better approach is to make a text file that holds all the GIS specifications that you want available for your map. Put the text file online. Google Drive provides free hosting. Then make a GISsurfer link with the &data parameter pointing to the text file. Below are two examples. You can download either text file and look at it.
- Weather
- Wildland fires
If any of this looks interesting and you would like to know more, then you can find links to all the GISsurfer videos and PDFs on the ‘Help’ page at: https://mappingsupport.com/p2/gissurfer-help.html
Q: You also developed an application called “FindMeSAR”. What made you build that?
I wrote FindMeSAR (https://findmesar.com) since cell phones do not come with an app pre-installed that displays the user’s coordinates and the equally important accuracy value. If you ever need to call for help of any kind then you need to be able to provide your location to the person at the other end of the call. FindMeSAR helps to meet that need.
I read a news story a few years ago about a person who accidentally drove their car into a pond. From inside the car, they used their cell phone to call 911. The person was unable to adequately describe their location and whatever technology the 911 call center was using also could not correctly determine the caller’s location. Eventually the right pond was checked and the car retrieved with the body. No one should die because they do not have a super easy way for their phone to display their coordinates and the equally important accuracy value.
Here is the reason the accuracy value is so important. If you draw a circle with the coordinates as the center and the accuracy value as the radius then there is supposed to be a 95% likelihood you are inside that circle. However, when you first open any software that uses the GPS feature, the accuracy value could easily be over 5,000 meters! As your device collects more data the accuracy value quickly improves to around 12-15 feet. This is the reason that the “Copy to clipboard” feature in FindMeSAR is not active until the accuracy value improves to 100 feet or less.
If you are using any software that displays your coordinates but does not display the accuracy value, then my advice is to get rid of that software. Find different software that provides the same features and also displays the accuracy value along with your coordinates.
FindMeSAR can display your coordinates in several different formats. For anyone in the UK this includes Ordnance Survey National Grid (also known as British National Grid). But my advice is that if you call for help you should provide latitude longitude in decimal degrees (yellow screen). All 911 call centers in the USA can use decimal degrees without needing to do any coordinate conversion which can introduce a potential point of failure.
This project is open source but it is not on GitHub. To view the source code use your browser’s developer tools.
FindMeSAR is a progressive web app (aka ‘web app’). This means it can be installed so it will work offline on both iOS and Android. However, it is not in any app store. For installation instructions, open it, scroll down and tap “No” and then read the “Tips”. If you ever need to call 911 but have a very weak cell signal, then you might be able to text to 911 but not make a voice call. If FindMeSAR was already installed on your phone then you could use the “Copy to clipboard” feature and paste your coordinates and accuracy value into your text message.
Q: From your profile pic you’ve done some hiking. What’s the best hike you’ve done around Washington State.
The best hikes are the ones that I am doing this year given that I am well into my 70s and can still carry the same pack with the same 10 essentials up the trail. Sure, the hikes the wife and I are doing are more modest than what we did back in the day. But we are pushing ourselves this summer since we are going on vacation to Scotland in September. This is a small group tour which will include a lot of hiking in Shetland and Orkney.
One of my all time favorite day hikes is a ridge run on the east side of the Cascade Mountains in Washington State. Here is a GISsurfer map with markers at both ends of the ridge. Zoom in for a more detailed map.
And here is a trip report I filed for this trip with lots of photos.
https://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7968513&highlight=county+line
Q: I also noticed from Mastodon you have a Garden. How’s the Garden doing this year.
Since we live on a small acreage parcel we are able to have a large organic garden which produces a lot of the food that we eat. It is a lot of work but both the exercise and garden food are good for us.
The garden is doing great and produces more than we need. The excess is shared with neighbors, friends and the local food bank. I am writing this on July 17th and so far this year we have harvested strawberries, blueberries, potatoes, garlic, cabbage, broccoli, carrots, sweet pepper, cucumbers and lots of lettuce. Crops not ready to harvest yet include tomatoes, summer squash, winter squash, zucchini, sweet corn, beans and plums. Three new apple trees were planted this spring and their first crop will be next year. The garden also has various herbs and tons of flowers to attract pollinators.
The space for the last question is yours – anything you want to tell the readers of Geohipster?
I am going to close out by thanking the team at GeoHipster for the opportunity to tell you a bit about some of my projects and to share an idea for a big impact geo project that (1) no one is doing and (2) is easily doable. Me? There are only so many hours in the day and I am maxed out. Yes, I am eager to contribute, but in a minor capacity.
The *free* Android app ATAK is hands down the best map app that you most likely have never heard about. The project is to write a Recreation User’s Guide To ATAK.
Check out this post from the advrider forum:
https://www.advrider.com/f/threads/atak-itak.1602721
ATAK is developed by the federal government and there are three versions.
- Military
- Government users (police, fire, SAR, etc). For example, it was used extensively by teams responding to Hurricane Helene and the 2025 Texas floods.
- Civilian
The main difference among the versions are the plugins that are available to add features.
ATAK is all about situational awareness. There are a lot of features and documentation related to setting up TAK servers, communication among team members, blahblahblah. None of that is relevant to one person using ATAK for recreation.
ATAK can display ArcGIS data, WMS, WMTS and XYZ tiles as basemaps and/or overlays. You can record your track, drop waypoints, import KML/GPX files and do other recreation oriented stuff.
There is also:
- WinTAK Windows. Free.
- iTAK iOS – Recommend do not bother with this one. Free.
- TAK Aware iOS – Much better than iTAK and the team is making rapid improvements. Free.
ATAK and WinTAK can be downloaded from https://tak.gov/ after you register. Previously you needed to be a USA citizen to register but that maybe has been removed.
After you install ATAK you can find a User Guide in the folders. Look in ATAK > Support.
Here are two sites put together by California fire fighter “A.J”.
There is a very active discord for ATAK. For an invite link, do a search on:
discord tak community invite
If you join the Discord then I suggest you first post in ‘whoami’ and then perhaps post in ‘mapping’. You might inquire about which ATAK features should be part of a user’s guide for recreation.
For a bunch of XML files to display lots of kinds of tiled basemaps see:
My primary interest in ATAK is documenting how to display various kinds of GIS data including data hosted on ArcGIS servers and I have produced several PDF files. I have also written some code to help with that. There is an ESRI plugin for ATAK but it is only available to government users and it is basically worthless – I was given access for testing purposes. My interest includes developing XML files that specify multiple data sources.
If you decide to take on this project you can reach me via email.