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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