Remote sensing and open source geographic information system integration

Abstract

Geographic information system (GIS) is platform for massive geographic information management and processing. Remote Sensing data is processed and analyzed as a key application in geographic information system platform. A large number of proprietary and open source applications exist to process remote sensing data. According to an NOAA Sponsored Research by Global Marketing Insights, Inc. the most used applications among Asian academic groups involved in remote sensing are as follows: ERDAS, ESRI, ITT Visual Information Solutions ENVI, and MapInfo. On the other side, open source developments or their applications in the geo-spatial community have somewhat long history, and nowadays they are regarded on the maturing stage in both the academics and industries. The most notably open source systems are well known, such as, GRASS, OSSIM and ILWIS. Standards are a fundamental enabling technology of the Internet and allow thousands for applications, vendor solutions, and technologies to be interoperable. The OGC web services are standards which have resulted in the interoperability between different applications, such as commercial system and data from open source system. In Oracle 11g, they have implemented following OGC Web Service Interface Standards. This paper mainly studies interoperation of multi-source enviroment in the OGC Web Service Framework. The author shows how the OGC standards work and how the system present the data. As a sample of commercial remote sensing software, ERDAS APOLLO supports the standards specifications developed by OGC (WMS, WFS, WCS). And this paper shows the impelementation of publishing data to web-based client application in ERDAS APOLLO Essentials. As one of typical open source software's characteristic, open source software framework provides the ability to implement thematic information systems that collect, reference, visualize, exchange and disseminate statistical, survey and indicator data. Finally, open source platform based architecture and system design with several sturdy open source software is shown in order to remote sensing applications to construct remote sensing contents and to provide specific target applications services in integrated platform. It is thought that the application and implementation of in open source geographic information system software can widen uses-scope of remote sensing applications as international information trade main trend.