*close window to return to the RAPID main website
CAST,
USGS, State
of Arkansas, PCI Geomatics, Oracle
and Sun Microsystems team up to provide quick
access to satellite data to the public through RAPID - AmericaView
FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. - In Arkansas, farmers will check their fields for today's changes in moisture
levels and forestry workers can examine forests for pest outbreaks with the
click of a few buttons, thanks to new technology created by University of Arkansas
researchers, working with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) the Arkansas State
Land Information Board, PCI Geomatics, Oracle and Sun Microsystems. RAPID (Real-time
Acquisition and Processing of Imagery Data), provides "same day service"
conversion of Earth orbiting Thematic Mapper satellite data into easy to use,
publicly available information that can be downloaded from the World Wide Web.
"The technology will demonstrate how remotely sensed data can truly solve
near real-time needs that exist within the state of Arkansas," said Chris
Doescher of the USGS EROS Data Center in South Dakota, co-leader of the AmericaView
project.
The U of
A Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies (CAST) has created a program to enhance
the work of AmericaView, a USGS program designed to increase public access to
geospatial data. The RAPID program rapidly translates raw data, taken from the
Landsat 7 satellite and processed by the USGS, into usable information.
"In
this project we will be able to have georeferenced, GIS-ready processed imagery
products accessible to the public in our Oracle-based statewide geospatial warehouse
(GeoStor http://www.cast.uark.edu/cast/geostor/)
within 10 minutes of receipt from the USGS," said Fred Limp, director of
CAST. More detailed information could take up to six hours, but the turnaround
time for public access still beats the current methods, which can take up to
six weeks. "Through this project, a person will be able to type in his
or her address, draw a box around their house, and get the data specifically
for the designated area," Limp said.
CAST researchers
Bruce Gorham and Bill Johnston developed the computer processing techniques
involved in RAPID. "RAPID was possible because we had access to the latest
generation software from PCI Geomatics and the computing power provided by a
massive Sun Microsystems UltraEnterprise 4500 server with 16 GB of RAM,"
Gorham said.
Gorham and
Johnston have used a suite of tools from PCI Geomatics to automate an entire
series of processing steps. System corrected data is FTP-ed from the EROS data
Center to the CAST servers. When software on the server recognizes a new file
it starts a processing sequence that generates a range of products. The output
is a set of GeoTIFFs that are automatically loaded into the GeoStor database.
"All the products are generated fully automatically, except for the precision
location of the ground control points in the second step," said Gorham.
The products
and delivery times are:
+10 minutes:
All Level 1G bands available in GeoStor for download in GeoTiff format.
+2.5 hours:
All Terrain Corrected (1T) bands available for download in GeoTiff format.
+3 hours:
Real-color and CIR composites at 28.5 meter resolution.
+6 hours:
Pan-Fused Products (multispectral bands at 14.25 meter resolution).
CAST researchers
are also working on a project that will automatically create a set of change
detection maps in GeoStor that will compare current conditions to a detailed
1999 state-wide land-use/land-cover map that they have created. "We are
also looking forward to the availability to the new PCI Geomatics software functionality
in Geomatica that will allow us to process raw Level 0R data from EROS which
we can acquire even more quickly and cheaply," Gorham said.
The Arkansas
State Land Information Board, created by legislative act 914 in 1997, is the
state's coordinating council for geospatial information and focuses on facilitating
improved decision making, effective asset management, and reduced costs. The
board worked with CAST and its many private sector partners to develop GeoStor,
a large (1.5 TB) web-accessible seamless geospatial warehouse containing more
than 500 raster and vector data themes for Arkansas. Through Geostor, anyone
with a web browser can determine what data is available for an area of interest
and download the data in a wide range of formats and projections. These layers
include roads, cities, interstates, creeks, streams, state parks, rest areas,
churches, railway stations, grain elevators, aerial photography and satellite
imagery - anything that might be found on a map and more, according to Learon
Dalby, GIS program manager for the Office of the State Land Information Coordinator.
"Users
can select an area in many ways including typing in an address, a township/range
or section, a place name, or by drawing interactively on a map. The system will
re-project what's there and cut out only the desired data, reformat it and ship
it to the user" said Dalby.
"With
support from Federal Geographic Data Council (FGDC) we are working to add WMS
and GML server capabilities to GeoStor so that any compliant desktop client
will be able to stream data as well" said Limp.
The RAPID
project will add a new dimension to GeoStor, allowing public access to the data
as rapidly as possible. Such data could be extremely useful in the wake of natural
disasters, such as flooding, fires, tornadoes or ice storms, depending upon
the location of the satellite, which moves to different locations and may not
be sending data during or immediately after a disastrous event.
"In
the long term, it could also help farmers protect their crops from drought and
disease more efficiently," said Suzanne Wiley, GIS applications specialist
for the U of A Cooperative Extension Service and chairman of the State Land
Information Board.
Corporate partners have provided key technology pieces for the RAPID project. These include image processing software from PCI Geomatics, computer systems from Sun Microsystems, and data base software from Oracle Corporation. Each of these companies has designated CAST as a Center of Excellence and is working with CAST on these next-generation projects.
About the AmericaView Program
AmericaView goals include improving the access to remotely sensed data in a
timely fashion, supporting environmental and land-use research at the university
level, and encouraging the inclusion of remote sensing technology into university
education. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) EROS Data Center (EDC)
and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Glenn Research
Center (GRC) manage the program, under a grant from Congress, and current participants
include research universities, tribal colleges, and state governments. The program
encourages pooling and sharing of resources between the university system and
state/local government, so that both may benefit from access to database of
government and commercial satellite data. http://americaview.usgs.gov
and http://gloviz.usgs.gov
About the Arkansas State Land Information Board
The State Land Information Board (SLIB) was created in 1997 by Act 914. Governor
Mike Huckabee appointed 12 initial board members who represent state entities;
city county and local government; the private sector; and institutions of higher
education.
The SLIB seeks to facilitate cooperative agreements and partnerships among state
entities in order to purchase satellite data that will best meet the needs of
its users. For more information visit http://www.gis.state.ar.us/
About PCI Geomatics
PCI Geomatics (www.pcigeomatics.com)
has been a leader in the development of innovative software for almost twenty
years, producing industry-leading software for the remote sensing, photogrammetry
and data visualization markets.
About Oracle
Oracle Corporation provides the software that powers the Internet. For more
information about Oracle, please call 650/506-7000 or visit their web site at
www.oracle.com
About SUN Microsystems
Sun Microsystems is a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software
and services that power the Internet and allow companies worldwide to take their
businesses to the nth. With $19.2 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found
in more than 170 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com.
###
Trademark
Oracle is a registered trademark and Oracle9i is a registered trademark or trademark
of Oracle Corporation.
Sun, Sun Microsystems, and Java are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and in other countries
PCI Geomatics is a registered trademark and Geomatica is a trademark of PCI Geomatics.