Canada
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need to find out
rapidly and easily what data are
available that may bear on the
application of interest; they need to
obtain the selected data and associated
information products in the time frame
and form that will make the data usable
for the application; and they need to
combine the data with those obtained
from other sources, including holdings
in national and international archives
(Long Term Space Plan Interagency
Working Group, 1992a). Typically, this
step involves registration of the data in
a common spatial framework and map
projection. The integrated data set can
then be analyzed to prepare new
products or information sought by the
user. Importantly, the user should be
able to go through the above steps
conveniently and effectively, employing
tools available in his/her office.
Program Elements
The Canadian Earth Observation
Network (CEONet) is being developed
collaboratively by science based
departments of the federal government
to address these shortcomings in the
Canadian earth observation data
services. CEONet will bring together
the remote sensing data archives and
other databases, and will make their
contents more accessible to users. It
will also give Canadians access to other
international databases, and will
facilitate foreign access to Canadian
data (Long Term Space Plan
Interagency Working Group, 1992b).
The proposed CEONet program has the
following elements:
Canadian Earth Observation Catalogue
System: The objective of this element
is to develop a network of Canadian
databases that will support "one stop
shopping," where a user can enter the
network, locate all the relevant data in
27
distributed databases, and obtain or
place an order for the required data.
This objective will be achieved by
developing interoperability standards
and software that will provide users
with a standard access method to
data in the major Canadian earth
observation archives, and will provide
interoperability with international
systems. Figure 1 is a conceptual view
of how the CEONet user communities
will be linked.
Integrated Thematic Data Bases: The
objective of this element is to promote
the use of earth observation data to a
very broad user community including:
resource managers, scientists,
educators and students. This will be
accomplished by preparing thematic
data packages containing baseline
datasets that are important for many
applications. These data will be
converted to a standard form suitable
for easy distribution, integration and
processing with data from other
sources.
Workstation Infrastructure
Development: The objectives of this
element are to provide the user with an
integrated software environment to
access and use earth observation
data, and to provide industry with an
advanced technology platform for
product development for the earth
observation market. This will be done
by developing an integrated set of
software tools for catalogue browse
and visualization, for data ingest and
format translation, and for data
modelling and visualization.
Program Rationale
CEONet will address the data access
problems identified in several recent
studies and will contribute to the