Sensing and GIS

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) allow the viewing and analysis  of multiple layers of spatially related information associated with a geographical location or region. GIS enables companies and governments to easily analyze the development, maintenance, and impact of roads, vegetation, utilities (water, electrical, communication, sewage).

GIS includes maps, vector information, and imagery. The collection of imagery is commonly achieved through remote sensing. Remote sensing started with aerial photography in the late 1800's onboard a balloon. Airplanes were used to collect information from above in the early 1900's and the first image taken from space was aboard the Apollo spacecraft in 1969. In the early 1970s the first imaging satellite (ERTS-1) collected imagery of the Earth. Images continue to be collected form both space and aircraft and are available for commercial and personal use on the Internet. The challenge for Remote Sensing images for GIS and other applications is the size of the image. Currently, it is common to have images that are greater than 10,000 by 10,000 pixels, multiple bands, and greater than 8 bits per pixel per band. While JPEG DCT is currently being used for the collection, storage and delivery of several GIS applications and remote sensing systems, other compression and file format techniques have become popular because of greater efficiency of storing and accessing large images.

The original requirements for JPEG 2000 included requirements from the remote sensing and GIS community, which have been meet. Greater bit depths, tiles, resolution progression, quality progression, and fast access to spatial locations all contribute to the capability and functionality of JPEG 2000, which make it an ideal technology for the remote sensing and GIS applications. As an open standard, it is expected that JPEG 2000 will become more prevalent in the remote sensing and GIS applications.