ibul 2004
GEOSPATIAL DIGITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT - A SOLUTION
INTEGRATING IMAGERY AND GIS
WHERE WILL ALL THE PIXELS GO?(AND HOW WILL WE EVER FIND
THEM?)
Dr. Joan Lurie, GCC, Inc.
30 West 61* Street, Apt 9A
New York, NY 10023 USA
drjoan@gte.net
KEY WORDS: Remote Sensing, Databases, Imagery, Archiving, Retrieval, Spatial Information Sciences
ABSTRACT:
The era of widely available high resolution remotely sensed data has arrived. With the advent of numerous commercial
satellite systems, data sets of a quality and size previously restricted to government use are now readily available to a
broad range of customers. But the data is only the beginning; the continued growth and health of the remote sensing
industry depend on broad adoption of this technology. To achieve success, systems to derive information from imagery
are essential. Utility of the high resolution data must be apparent to a broad community ranging from map makers to
agricultural analysts to intelligence staff. Data utility depends critically on intelligent, useable systems for data storage,
management, and exploitation. Digital asset management systems for storing and maintaining high resolution imagery
data must be capable of integration with GIS layers and other metadata in order to move beyond GIS to spatial decision
support systems. In this paper we describe an image-based geospatial data management system which meets these
requirements and addresses issues crucial to the user including efficient data ingest and retrieval, cataloging, data
security, data integrity, intellectual property and others. The system incorporates extensive retrieval strategies
including geographic search techniques. The open architecture of the system ensures easy integration of multi-
functional software to meet the needs of the individual user. For example, the system as currently configured integrates
third party viewing and imagery manipulation software. The technical specifications and heritage of the system will
be described as well as typical applications.
1. INTRODUCTION crucial element of the marketplace. Dr. Stephen
Cambone, Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence
Commercial high resolution and multispectral satellite and a keynote speaker, discussed the need to transform
and airborne systems are delivering an unprecedented the use of geospatial assets in the military and
quantity of earth observation data in a very short time intelligence establishment — in the current
alter acquisition. The ready availability of the data environment we must "know something about
and the short time line together open up exciting new everything all the time" rather than know everything
application areas including disaster management, about a few things (as in the Cold War era). At the
urban planning, homeland security and many others. same time, more and more commercial enterprises are
The demand for the data is growing and more and using geospatial information as an essential element of
more imagery-derived products and applications are their business strategy. And, of course, the concern
being developed. with Homeland Security has led to a critical need for
geospatial databases which can be accessed effectively
There is an increasing recognition, in both public and and efficiently in the event of an emergency. These
private sectors, of the importance of managing all of major paradigm shifts in how government and
this digital imagery and associated derived products. * commercial enterprises do business imply a critical
À very successful and highly visible conference, need for intelligent management of digital assets of all
Geolntel, late in 2003 appears to herald a new era in kinds but, particularly of geospatial digitak assets.
the US in which the importance of geospatial Extensive (and expensive) data gathering efforts, in
information will be more widely recognized as an government and industry, will be in vain if the
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