Australia has
become a world leader in the use of
Earth observation data especially in fields such as mineral exploration
geology, topographic mapping and weather forecasting/modelling.
Over the past few years the Earth observation market
has been changing as the use of remotely-sensed data are being
combined with other forms of spatial/temporal information and
are being increasingly used by more people around Australia and
the world. Earth observation data, until recently, have been
exploited mostly by the non-renewable resources sector. As new
data sources become available, providing better resolution and
higher accuracy, the demand for Earth observation data in the
renewable resources sector, which represents a much larger market,
will increase significantly. Applications areas for remotely
sensed data now include non-traditional disciplines such as land-use
management, urban planning, enforcement and insurance as well
as the established applications in geology, forestry, meteorology,
climate change, etc.
Accessing and distributing spatial data has been
plagued by the difficulties of identifying what is available,
where it is located, and how it can be obtained. Physically obtaining
a copy of data has normally involved the transfer of data by tape
or CD-ROM either through the post or by going in person to collect
it. Once a copy has been obtained the user is then presented with
another whole raft of issues such as how the data can be processed,
combined and used with other data or applications in a timely
and cost effective manner.
The demand for spatial data is growing rapidly.
With the growth of computer applications in mapping, Geographic
Information Systems, image analysis and geographic/spatial databases,
the demand for remotely sensed satellite and other map data is
increasing faster than market analysis had anticipated.
Technologically developments continue in the area
of hardware, software and communications. The continual evolution
of the Internet - in particular the development of cross-platform
application languages such as Java; the availability of secure
servers; and the support of on-line commercial transactions (combined
with developments in satellite remote sensing) - have combined
to create much more favourable conditions for the development
of a commercial network along the lines of Earthinsite.
Given this market climate, there is a widely acknowledged
need in Australia to improve the distribution and accessibility
of remotely sensed and complementary data through the establishment
of a national distributed network. Such a network would service
existing markets while assisting in the development of new markets
and value added services by providing less expensive and more
efficient access to data.
Such a network is Earthinsite, based on existing and emerging database and networking technologies,
open systems standards and telecommunication services.
Earthinsite is aimed at:
- developing systems and procedures that will reduce
the overall and unit cost of the base line Earth observation data
and decreasing the delays in the delivery of data and information to the user.
- increasing the use of Earth observation and related
spatial data and information within the renewable resource and environmental sectors.
- providing a framework for informing, training
and educating existing and potential new users, consultants adding
value to Earth observation data and exporters of goods and services
in the renewable resource, environmental and other sectors.
- not only at servicing the existing market but
also at assisting in the development of new markets by providing
cheaper and more efficient access to a wide range of Earth observation and complementary data.
- providing an infrastructure for easy, prompt
and flexible access to spatial data and services, irrespective
of where the user is located or where and how the data are stored.
- providing a comprehensive interface to other
systems, whether they are user application programs or large-scale business area systems.
- providing a uniform, extensive, flexible, selective
and rapid access to all spatial data and services, and to have
those data and services presented in a form most beneficial to
the user and/or the application to which it will be applied.
- efficiently and effectively meeting the needs of its users.
Earthinsite is more than a remote access or simple data
exchange system. The objective is for Earthinsite to be self-sustaining,
with policies and procedures for gaining access to Earthinsite, setting
up a user account, paying for data, connecting up data holdings,
advertising data products, charging for data and providing for
value-added resale of data etc.
Earthinsite is a transaction-based system that mediates
between data/services and users and undertakes the management
of data access and delivery, and data linking. Users will be able
to access data without knowing or particularly caring how the
data are physically stored.
Earthinsite will enable the sharing and exchange of data
and services from on-line and off-line sources. In addition it
will provide access to value added services that may or may not
combine spatial data with other kinds of data. The network will
serve groups both within and outside all levels of the Australian
government, private individuals, corporations and educational
institutions.
There is an anticipated increase in demand for specialist
data analysis, synthesis and interpretation from the expanded
user base of these data and information. Many of the decision
makers using these data will not have the need or capacity for
in-house specialists and will most likely wish to access Earthinsite
through specific or specialist value added consultancies, acting
essentially as nodes to the network.
Earthinsite will provide the infrastructure to support
access to value-added services that government agencies or private
corporation could provide without compromising the security and
integrity of any data or services it accesses.
In concert with systems development, Earthinsite will create
a surrounding policy and management framework that will ensure
effective use and long term success of the system.
The benefits of Earthinsite are:
- Better and easier access to spatial information and services
- Growth of value added services industries both domestic and export oriented
- Increased transfer of information and services to regional and remote Australia
- Increased exchange and shareability of spatial information
- Support for improved quality, integrity and currency of spatial information
- A framework for integrated land information management
- Support for cooperative land management and planning
- Increased access by the private sector and the public to spatial information
Earthinsite will be developed in stages providing further
iteration that allows frequent review by all stakeholders and
evolutionary systems development to meet emerging needs. A system
that can provide significant utility early, and can then be incrementally
grown without undermining system integrity and providing a system
that is adaptable to new policies and requirements. It will also
create an open system that can support third party development.
It is a complex distribution system developed and
implemented with consideration for the environment in which it will run.
Earthinsite has immense strategic importance for Australia.
If implemented as a national management mechanism it would be
able to carry the information component of Australia's land, resource
and environmental sectors and be used in the management of all those activities.
Earthinsite has considerable benefit to Australia by the
use of these data and information in the public domains for environmental
and other monitoring, research and development, teaching, mapping
and so on. Earthinsite will aim to address issues related to stimulating
the further development of the private sector in Australia and
its potential to export goods and services into the Asian region.
Earthinsite and the experience gained in its ongoing development
may be considered as having considerable value-added export potential.
In developing Earthinsite we are creating an application
services layer which deals with Earth observation data, derived
information, other spatial data and services fitting the requirements
of:
- the diversity of consumers and information providers
- the evolutionary character of network development
- the importance of metadata
- autonomy of information and service providers.
New and Innovative Project to Increase the Competitiveness of Australian Industry
The mission of Earthinsite is to provide Australian industry,
value-adding services with cost effective, prompt and versatile
access to all forms of geographic information and space derived
imagery. Earthinsite will be one of the first systems in the world to
directly connect, via an electronic network, individual users,
data archives and value added companies and organisations.
The system will offer a uniform on-line service where
industry and other users can identify, query, browse, select and
order a range of environmental, resource based, spatial and other
information from geographically diverse Commonwealth, State private
and international data bases and value added service organisations.
Earthinsite, apart from reducing enormously the cost and
timeliness in obtaining time crucial information, will enhance
and encourage the practical use of geographic information and imagery.
Australia is well recognised internationally for
its use of geographic and satellite imagery technology for land
and resource management practises, town planning, emergency services,
crop and soil assessment and other value-adding services. However,
these technologies rest on a large number of diverse data sources
and archives which rest in the public, predominantly Commonwealth, sector.
There is currently no coordinated means which
allows the merging and utilisation of these data sets to extract
the maximum national economic and public benefit which the current
digital on-line technology can provide. The acquisition by industry
and value added service providers of the current basic spatial
information held by public sector agencies is predominantly by pre-electronic means.
An Earthinsite system will provide the platform for Australian
expertise and value added services in spatial information and
satellite imagery interpretation to be exported to SE Asia and
the Middle East. Some of the specific value-added services which
Australian industry currently offers based on spatial and satellite imagery interpretation are:
- soil moisture, salinity and crop evaluation
- vegetative cover, forest management and logging
- flood assessment & control, catchment management
- fisheries
- emergency fire services, weather monitoring
- custom and immigration barrier control
- mineral exploration, environmental and pollution monitoring
The value of such services in SE Asia and the Middle
East are estimated to be about $400 million by the year 2005.
Earthinsite is a world class Australian innovation. The
only known comparable system is the Canadian CEONET system which the Canadian Government is funding.
Utilisation of Open Standards or Public Specifications
The user access software component of Earthinsite will
be portable and designed to run on multiple software and hardware
platforms. Where applicable Earthinsite will be developed to meet and
adhere to generally accepted data communications and interface
standards. Development of Earthinsite will adhere to the principles
of open systems and specific vendor independence.
Marketing and Dissemination of Project Outcomes
The quantities of data produced by remote sensing
platforms is enormous. Consequently, data is sold to the end
user or organisation usually in large amounts stored on magnetic
computer media, such as tapes and discs. This can lead to delays
between data recording and delivery to the user and because of
the media used often the data sets purchased contain more information
than required by the user. As a result the data is sometimes
priced too high for certain applications. To overcome these problems
the remote sensing community has for some time discussed the desirability
of delivering data to the user in electronic form using the public telecommunications network.
With the advent of the Internet and the World Wide
Web, the technology for data delivery to the end user by electronic
means is now available and readily accessible and can significantly
expand commercial and public sector use of the data. Earthinsite has
been developed to demonstrate this capability and more than that,
commercial value adding firms can also develop and sell their
products electronically, through electronic commerce.
As with any service developed on the Internet, or
similar open system arrangements, Earthinsite will grow ultimately in
a way determined by its users. The initial concept is shown functionally
in the figure below to illustrate how the end users, system manager,
value adders and data suppliers are linked. Earthinsite architecture
will be designed to complement data providers facilities and will
seamlessly integrate into their operations. All data providers
will retain control and independence of their operations.
Because of the ease of access to Internet services
with even moderate computing and communications facilities it
is expected that the availability of Earthinsite will help the market
for space and aircraft derived goods and services to increase.
Even the small primary producer or environmental agency will
have ready access to data and products in a time scale suited to their application.
Earthinsite will provide a forum to advertise, and an avenue
to distribute Australian value-added Earth observation and geomatics information products and services.
As well as the system being marketed through the
Internet, promotion of the system will be through the relevant
industry journals, eg: targeting the space community, farming
community etc. and via the value added service providers.
Industry has been aware of Earthinsite under its original
names AEON and AEDOL since they were first touted back in 1994 and they have
been awaiting progression of the concept since that time. Earthinsite's
capabilities are a much needed resource for the Australian community at large.
