Method and system for wide area motion imagery discovery using KML

1. A method for WAMI discovery, the method being implemented by a computer system that includes one or more processors configured to execute computer program modules, the method comprising:

issuing, by the one or more processors, a request to a WAMI federated collection service in one or more WAMI federated collection services to retrieve an entire WAMI collection tree metadata at said WAMI federated collection service, said WAMI federated collection service being in communication with one or more WAMI collection services, each of the one or more WAMI collection services being in communication with a WAMI location where WAMI data is stored, the entire WAMI collection tree metadata being organized in a form of an arborescence tree structure or directed acyclic graph (DAG) such that a root node of a WAMI collection service is an edge node in the WAMI federated collection service, the entire WAMI collection tree metadata containing WAMI collection metadata corresponding to each of the one or more WAMI collection services and providing the WAMI location where the WAMI data is stored;

receiving, by the one or more processors, a response from the WAMI federated collection service, the response comprising the entire WAMI collection tree metadata, the response being in a first format;

translating, by the one or more processors, the response comprising the entire WAMI collection tree metadata from the first format into KML format, wherein the translating includes mapping a one-to-one of WAMI federated collection tree nodes from the first format into KML WAMI federated collection tree nodes;

issuing, by the one or more processors, a further request to the WAMI federated service to access WAMI data in a KML format stored at the WAMI location based on the collection tree metadata in the KML format, the collection tree metadata containing the KML WAMI federated collection tree nodes, each tree node being associated with a network link to one or more KML files containing the KML WAMI data; and

retrieving, by the one or more processors, upon grant of the further request, the KML WAMI data from the WAMI location using the network link.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising storing, by the one or more processors, the response in the first format in a file or object or one or more entries in a database.

3. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising issuing, by the one or more processors, a request to verify an update sequence tag of the WAMI collection metadata at the one or more collection services, the update sequence tag comprising a date, a time, a number that changes with each update, or a string of characters that changes with each update, or any combination thereof.

4. The method according to claim 3 , further comprising checking, by the one or more processors, whether the update sequence tag changed since a previous check.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the issuing of the request comprises issuing, by the one or more processors, the request to a WAMI federated collection service in the one or more WAMI federated collection services in which the update sequence tag changed to retrieve the entire WAMI collection tree metadata at said WAMI federated collection service in which the update sequence tag changed, if the update sequence tag changed.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a connection to a child node in a WAMI collection tree metadata in the first format is a network link to a child node's metadata in KML format.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the translating from the first format into the KML format comprises showing, by the one or more processors, color coded geo-located polygon for each WAMI location where WAMI data is stored.

8. The method according to claim 7 , further comprising, upon clicking on the polygon, showing, by the one or more processors, metadata for the WAMI data stored at each WAMI location.

9. The method according to claim 7 , further comprising showing, by the one or more processors, a geo-located preview image of one WAMI frame from the WAMI data stored at the WAMI location on top of the geo-located polygon.

10. The method according to claim 7 , further comprising enabling, by the one or more processors, a data exploitation application running at a client computer to allow a client computer in communication with the one or more processors panning, zooming, or playback for selected WAMI data at selected WAMI location.

11. The method according to claim 8 , further comprising providing, by the one or more processors, a link to a web browser based application, mobile application, or desktop client application for exploitation of selected WAMI data at selected WAMI location.

12. The method according to claim 7 , further comprising publishing, by the one or more processors, the existence of the entire WAMI collection tree metadata in the KML format to an interested and subscribing consumer through an alert service.

13. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising entering a sleep state, by the one or more processors, until awakened after a fixed period of time or receiving an alert from an alert service indicating that the WAMI federated collection service for which the KML format is created has been updated.

14. A system for WAMI discovery, comprising: one or more processors configured to:

issue a request to a WAMI federated collection service in one or more WAMI federated collection services to retrieve an entire WAMI collection tree metadata at said WAMI federated collection service, said WAMI federated collection service being in communication with one or more WAMI collection services, each of the one or more WAMI collection services being in communication with a WAMI location where WAMI data is stored, the entire WAMI collection tree metadata being organized in a form of an arborescence tree structure or directed acyclic graph (DAG) such that a root node of a WAMI collection service is an edge node in the WAMI federated collection service, the entire WAMI collection tree metadata containing WAMI collection metadata corresponding to each of the one or more WAMI collection services and providing the WAMI location where the WAMI data is stored;

receive a response from the WAMI federated collection service, the response comprising the entire WAMI collection tree metadata, the response being in a first format; and

translate the response comprising the entire WAMI collection tree metadata from the first format into KML format, wherein the translating includes mapping a one-to-one of WAMI federated collection tree nodes from the first format into KML WAMI federated collection tree nodes;

issue a further request to the WAMI federated service to access WAMI data in a KML format stored at the WAMI location based on the collection tree metadata in the KML format, the collection tree metadata containing the KML WAMI federated collection tree nodes, each tree node being associated with a network link to one or more KML files containing the KML WAMI data; and

retrieve, upon grant of the further request, the KML WAMI data from the WAMI location using the network link.

15. A method for creating a network link for a KML file, the method being implemented by a computer system that includes one or more processors configured to execute computer program modules, the method comprising:

loading, by the one or more processors, a list of one or more WAMI locations of one or more WAMI collection services from a file, object or database;

creating, by the one or more processors, a master KML file configured to contain one or more network links to one or more KML files based on the list of one or more WAMI locations, each of the one or more KML files being generated by translating WAMI collection metadata from a first format into KML format, the WAMI collection metadata providing WAMI location where WAMI data is stored and the WAMI collection metadata corresponding to a WAMI collection service in the one or more WAMI collection services that are in communication with a WAMI federated WAMI collection service, the master KML file providing an entire WAMI collection tree metadata containing the WAMI collection metadata of each WAMI collection service, the entire WAMI collection tree metadata being organized in a form of an arborescence tree structure or directed acyclic graph (DAG) such that a root node of a WAMI collection service is an edge node in the WAMI federated collection service;

verifying, by the one or more processors, that a corresponding KML file exists at each of the one or more WAMI locations of the one or more WAMI collection services; and

creating, by the one or more processors, in the master KML file, a network link for each of the one or more KML files that exists at each of the one or more WAMI locations of the one or more WAMI collection services to obtain the master KML file containing the one or more network links to the one or more KML files;

receiving, by the one or more processors from a client, a request to access WAMI data in the KML format stored at the WAMI location based on the collection tree metadata in the KML format within the master KML file; and

sending, by the one or more processors to the client, upon grant of the request, the KML WAMI data from the WAMI location.

16. The method according to claim 15 , wherein creating the network link comprises creating, by the one or more processors, a network link following OGC KML schema specification.

17. The method according to claim 16 , further comprising providing, by the one or more processors, a predetermined lifespan to the network link.

18. The method according to claim 15 , further comprising storing, by the one or more processors, the master KML file on a storage device.

19. The method according to claim 15 , further comprising publishing, by the one or more processors, the master KML file on a network for access by a user.

20. A system for creating a network link for a KML file, the system comprising:

one or more processors configured to:

load a list of one or more locations of one or more WAMI collection services from a file, object or database;

create a master KML file configured to contain one or more network links to one or more KML files based on the list of one or more locations, each of the one or more KML files being generated by translating WAMI collection metadata from a first format into KML format, the WAMI collection metadata providing WAMI location where WAMI data is stored and the WAMI collection metadata corresponding to a WAMI collection service in the one or more WAMI collection services that are in communication with a WAMI federated WAMI collection service, the master KML file providing an entire WAMI collection tree metadata containing the WAMI collection metadata of each WAMI collection service, the entire WAMI collection tree metadata being organized in a form of an arborescence tree structure or directed acyclic graph (DAG) such that a root node of a WAMI collection service is an edge node in the WAMI federated collection service;

verify that a corresponding KML file exists at each of the one or more WAMI locations of the one or more WAMI collection services; and

create in the master KML file, a network link for each of the one or more KML files that exists at each of the one or more WAMI locations of the one or more WAMI collection services to obtain the master KML file containing the one or more network links to the one or more KML files;

receive from a client a request to access WAMI data in the KML format stored at the WAMI location based on the collection tree metadata in the KML format within the master KML file; and

send to the client, upon grant of the request, the KML WAMI data from the WAMI location.