The National Advanced Remote Sensing Applications Program, 
an Integrated System of Commercial Off-the-Shelf Components 
Gary Vanderhaven 
U.S.Geological Survey, Reston, VA. 22092 
Clifford W. Greve 
U.S.Geological Survey, Reston, VA. 22092 
K. Eric Anderson 
U.S.Geological Survey, Reston, VA. 22092 
ISPRS Commission II Working Group 5 
KEY WORDS: Integrated Production System, Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing, GIS 
ABSTRACT 
Integrated production systems have been defined as integrated systems that generate georeferenced products from 
spatial information obtained through photogrammetry and remote sensing. Providing an interface to a GIS 
enhances the system's range of applications by adding the GIS's capabilities for analyzing multiple layers of 
registered spatial information. The U. S. Geologic Survey, starting in 1992, began a search for such a system as 
part of its National Advanced Remote Sensing Applications Program initiative. The search centered on a system 
composed of standard commercially available products since resource constraints dictated that the system could 
not be custom developed. The search was successful and shows that such systems are indeed becoming 
commercially available. The capabilities that they possess are already sparking considerable interest among earth 
scientists and program administrators in a wide variety of civil agencies within the U. S. Government. 
INTRODUCTION 
“In 1992, US. Geological Survey (USGS) began 
defining a new capability to be known as the National 
Advanced Remote Sensing Applications Program 
(NARSAP). It would be designed to provide a facility, 
the systems, and the trained personnel to permit 
scientists and administrators within the civil agencies 
of the U. S. Government to use data derived from 
advanced remote sensors in environmental, resource, 
and safety areas. The system would combine the 
capabilities traditionally found separately in the areas 
of photogrammetry, image processing, and geographic 
information systems (GIS). In developing the 
NARSAP concept and in determining the hardware 
and software systems that would implement it, the 
USGS defined what has come to be called an 
integrated production system. It is a system that 
generates georeferenced products from spatial 
information obtained through photogrammetry and 
remote sensing. Providing an interface to a GIS 
enhances the system’s range of applications by adding 
the GIS’s capabilities for analyzing multiple layers of 
*Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for 
descriptive purposes only and does not imply 
endorsement by the U.S. Government. 
272 
registered spatial information. Spatial and attribute 
data should be storable in data bases that are an 
integral part of the GIS. The NARSAP system 
incorporates traditional photogrammetric operations 
with image processing capabilities and a GIS in a 
digital environment. The system is fully capable of 
producing a wide variety of georeferenced products 
using the whole range of airborne and orbital imaging 
sensors. Its design is open ended and will allow the 
incorporation of new sensor models and capabilities in 
the future. The system to accomplish all of the above 
is completely off the shelf. 
BACKGROUND 
Approaches to the interactive use of remote sensing 
systems with GIS’s differ significantly between the 
traditional mapping community and the environmental 
and land management communities. The mapping 
community has typically employed rigorous 
photogrammetric methods using metric photography 
obtained by calibrated camera systems to generate the 
equivalent of a map, whether in hard or soft copy. 
That information is then introduced into the GIS for 
further analysis. Commercially available systems have 
usually consisted of an interactive data capture 
capability for use with analog and analytical 
  
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