Transforming Remote Sensing Data into Information and Applications (2001) / Chapter Skim
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3 Responding to Issues Critical to the Development of Successful Applications
3 Responding to Issues Critical to the Development of Successful Applications
Pages 34-45
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From page 34... ...
To better understand the process, the steering committee considered certain concerns voiced repeatedly by workshop participants and identified a series of implementation issues as being critical to the development of successful new applications. These issues are the cost-effectiveness of applications; the timeliness, reliability, and continuity of data and data products; standardization of data formats; workforce and educational issues; and intellectual property issues.
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From page 35... ...
Even when these expenses have been met, workshop participants indicated the transformation of remote sensing data into usable information requires additional investments. Much of the available remote sensing software is not easy to use, and according to discussions at the workshop, interpreting and analyzing the data can require extensive experience with frequent training required to maintain skills.
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From page 36... ...
Moreover, as noted in previous Space Studies Board reports, any organization using remote sensing applications will benefit from a level of internal technical knowledge and experience so as to be a "smart buyer" of remote sensing products and services.] Given the budgetary difficulties and at times the reluctance of organizations to support regular in-house training, the development of applications could be fostered with external support for such training.
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From page 37... ...
Such analyses could be used to inform decisions about whether to invest in the data and infrastructure to produce remote sensing applications, to purchase the products and services from value-adding companies, or to maintain existing data systems. Studies are needed to understand the life-cycle costs and benefits of using remote sensing for major public and private sector applications, similar to the cost-benefit studies conducted in the private sector remote sensing industry.
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From page 38... ...
Gaps of weeks to months between obtaining and processing the data are unacceptable for many operational applications, such as mitigation of potentially harmful events. For agricultural and natural resource applications, for example, remote sensing data is useful to the extent that it can provide information tied to the growth cycle and can be delivered rapidly enough to permit management interventions in this cycle.
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From page 39... ...
Both government and commercial systems are relying on a small number of ground stations for data acquisition, thus further constraining the flow of data to the user community. Moreover, given the breadth of the potential applications community, broad distribution of many small, customized remote sensing products could tax a centralized architecture that relies on global-scale standard products.
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From page 40... ...
Science and Design, Washington, D.C., National Academy Press, 2000; National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Climate Measurement Requirements for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Workshop Report, Herbert Jacobowitz, ea., College Park, Md., University of Maryland, February 1997.
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From page 41... ...
Workshop participants told the steering committee that vendors generally provide the data in the format requested by the customer, but this practice requires vendors to support several types of data formats and thus merely transfers the burden to data producers. Some applications users reported that having fixed standards for verifying and validating data, open and available protocols for developing algorithms, and standard software for processing data would encourage more widespread development and use of applications.
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From page 42... ...
The workshop discussions reiterated the importance of trained technical staff. Whether in the public or the private sector, an organization's capacity to incorporate remote sensing applications into its operations depends on having either technical staff with the necessary skills and understanding to process the data and transform it into usable information, or knowledgeable staff who can manage contracts with external, value-adding service providers.
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From page 43... ...
There was a concern for the continuation of a sufficiently strong remote sensing faculty in universities to train the next generation of remote sensing applications developers.l° Some universities provide technical extension training in remote sensing and other spatial information technologies for practitioners. This type of ongoing training, which is needed to support professional remote sensing experts already working in the public or private sector, includes photogrammetry, mapping, and remote sensing and geographic information systems, and it plays an essential role in maintaining a technically proficient corps of remote sensing professionals and in updating their skills.
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From page 44... ...
professionals.l2 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ISSUES Emerging intellectual property-related practices affect the cost of remote sensing applications and require new approaches to managing and safeguarding property nghts. Several National Research Council reports have addressed important intellectual property issues regarding digital databases and information, including remote sensing data.l3 These studies have noted that under current copyright law the data themselves, whether produced by the public or private sector, are not copynghtable, although the original selection, coordination, and arrangement of the data in databases may be copynghtable.l4 Databases also can be protected by contract, trade secret law, and some state unfair competition law, as well as by venous technological safeguards and a variety of business practices.
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From page 45... ...
The workshop splinter sessions raised several additional questions related to intellectual property rights and the needs of scientific remote sensing data users, such as publication of scientific research, the free and open circulation of the results of scientific research and access to that research, and the sharing of data for collaborative research issues that will be explored in the steering committee's second workshop.
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