RUSSIAN JOURNAL OF EARTH SCIENCES VOL. 10, ES6001, doi:10.2205/2007ES000261, 2008

Survey of Existing Distributed GIS Technologies

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Figure 1
[4]  It was understood long time ago that a scientist or even organization cannot accumulate all geophysical data, necessary for carrying out research, in a local network or in one computer. In particular, it is related to the fact that many geophysical data comprise a strong time component (seismic data etc). However, in reality projects have to be constructed using various sources. Let us examine in this connection the existing technologies using digital data in the web. The most frequently used technology is based on desktop GIS systems for visual analysis and geocoding (Figure 1). Obviously, in this case a researcher is doomed to i) long-time searching for the initial digital data; ii) possible transformation of obtained data and their adjustment to the required format and iii) purchase of expensive software and paying costly wages to programmers.

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Figure 2
[5]  Moreover, a use of high-power computers and GRID environment for resource-consuming operations is related to data transformation, preparing of a task and reverse transformation of obtained results for downloading data in a desktop GIS. As a result very little time is left for scientific research. On the other hand, recently in the Internet a number of portals have appeared, the purpose of which leaves no doubt that the problem of access of scientists to distributed data resources in geoscience, their search and usage became one of the most important. The majority of these portals is based on the scheme: OpenGIS servers - portal - OpenGIS client (Figure 2). The obvious shortcoming of this scheme is that it doesn't allow to make any analytically significant processing of data. The only project known to the authors that differs from this scheme is GEON network (www.geongrid.org). The present project uses in theory a GRID component, providing an opportunity to users to apply analytical computing methods. At the present time an interface dealing with making GIS projects with analytical data processing is being prepared in the system.


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Citation: Arskiy, Yu. M., A. V. Veselovsky, B. G. Gitis, and A. N. Shogin (2008), Electronic Earth -- network environment of search, integration and analysis of geodata, Russ. J. Earth Sci., 10, ES6001, doi:10.2205/2007ES000261.

Copyright 2008 by the Russian Journal of Earth Sciences

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