SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR EARTH OBSERVATION
Systems and methods are provided for obtaining and managing remote sensing data (e.g. Earth observation data). A remote sensing platform obtains imagery and other remote sensing data of the Earth and other planetary objects. The remote sensing platform includes the International Space Station, or manned and unmanned spacecraft or aircraft. A sensor captures observation data and transmits the data to ground stations on the Earth. A ground segment receives and stores the data. Users use an order management system to place orders for the observation data, which specify processing parameters for the remote sensing data. The remote sensing data is retrieved from storage is processed according to the parameters to generate a data product. This system provides tools for searching and analyzing the data, and for interacting with the system through an API. The system combines data that is produced by the remote sensing platform and by third parties.
1 - 52 . (canceled)
53 . A system to electronically distribute geospatial information via a Web platform, the system comprising:
at least one processor; and
at least one nontransitory processor-readable medium communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and which stores at least one of processor-executable instructions or data, the at least one processor which:
causes a Web interface to be provided to a first requester, the Web interface including user input elements which allow the first requester to submit a first request for geospatial information;
receives the first request for geospatial information from the first requester via the Web interface, the first request comprising information that specifies the requested geospatial information via at least one location specification criteria and via at least one non-location specification criteria;
causes a map tile corresponding to the request for geospatial information to be presented to the first requester in response to the first request for geospatial information;
causes the Web interface to be provided to a second requester, the Web interface including user input elements which allow the second requester to submit a second request for geospatial source data product;
receives the second request for a geospatial source data product from which the map tile was generated from the second requester; and causes the requested geospatial source data product to be provided to the second requester in the form of geospatial source data and geospatial metadata associated with the geospatial source data.
54 . The system of claim 53 wherein the at least one location specification criteria comprises at least one value that specifies a geographic area of interest.
55 . The system of claim 53 wherein the at least one non-location specification criteria comprises at least one of: a sensor type that specifies a type of sensor which acquires geospatial sensor source data, a time of acquisition at which the geospatial sensor source data is acquired, a product format which specifies a format for at least part of the requested geospatial source data product, an event tag, an environment tag, or a sentiment tag.
56 . The system of claim 55 wherein the system further comprises an order management system, and an archival system communicatively coupled to the order management system, the archival system operable to store an archive of Earth based geospatial source data including both the geospatial sensor source data and the metadata associated with the geospatial sensor source data.
57 . The system of claim 56 , further comprising:
a geospatial data processing system, the geospatial data processing system comprising:
at least one geospatial data processor; and
at least one geospatial data nontransitory processor-readable medium communicatively coupled to the at least one geospatial data processor and which is operable to store at least one of processor-executable instructions or data, the at least one geospatial data processor which is operable to selectively process geospatial source data retrieved from the archival system to generate processed geospatial source data, and operable to distribute the processed geospatial source data to the second requester via a network.
58 . The system of claim 57 , further comprising a Web data storage and content delivery network comprising a number of non-transitory processor readable media which is operable to store the processed geospatial source data.
59 . The system of claim 53 wherein the at least one processor causes the Web-based interface to be provided to at least one of the first and the second requesters with one or more user selectable boundary drawing tools to define a boundary about a geographic area of interest to order the geospatial source data product related to the geographic area of interest.
60 . The system of claim 53 wherein for the first request for geospatial information, the at least one processor ranks two or more sets of geospatial data based at least in part on a degree to which the respective sets of geospatial data satisfy the at least one non-location specification criteria in the first request, and provides an indication of the ranking to the first requester via the Web interface.
61 . The system of claim 53 wherein the at least one processor causes a presentation of at least one thumbnail image of at least a portion of the geospatial information that satisfies the first request to the first requester.
62 . The system of claim 53 wherein the at least one processor causes an export of the geospatial source data product or a thumbnail version of the geospatial source data product to a third party software application, which provides the geospatial source data product or the thumbnail version of the geospatial source data product to the second requester.
63 . The system of claim 53 wherein the Web interface is at least one of an application programming interface or a Web-based graphical user interface.
64 . A method of distributing geospatial information via a Web-based platform which comprises at least one processor and at least one nontransitory processor-readable medium communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and which stores at least one of processor-executable instructions or data, the method comprising:
receiving, by the Web-based platform, a user request for a geospatial source data product from a user via a Web-based interface, the user request for the geospatial source data product logically associable with information that specifies at least one location specification criteria and at least one non-location specification criteria;
generating, by the Web-based platform, an order in response to the user request for the geospatial source data product;
causing a searching of an archive of geospatial source data product that at least partially satisfies the at least one location specification criteria and the at least one non-location specification criteria associated with the user request for the geospatial source data product;
receiving the geospatial source data product from the archive of geospatial source data product which results from the searching; and
distributing, by the Web-based platform, at least one instance of the geospatial source data product which at least partially satisfies the at least one location specification criteria and the at least one non-location specification criteria associated with the user request for the geospatial source data product.
65 . The method of claim 64 wherein receiving the geospatial source data product from the archive of geospatial source data product includes receiving geospatial imagery data and associated metadata from the archive of geospatial source data product.
66 . The method of claim 64 wherein receiving a geospatial request from a user via a Web-based interface includes receiving the request for a geospatial source data product from the user via an application programming interface.
67 . The method of claim 64 , further comprising:
receiving a request for geospatial information from a requester, the request for geospatial information which includes information that specifies the requested geospatial information via at least one location specification criteria and via at least one non-location specification criteria; and
causing at least one map tile corresponding to the request for geospatial information to be presented to the requester in response to the request for geospatial information.
68 . The method of claim 64 wherein receiving, by the Web-based platform, a request from a user includes receiving data defining an area of interest, and distributing, by the Web-based platform, at least one instance of the geospatial source data product includes providing, by the Web-based platform, a set of base map data for the area of interest.
69 . The method of claim 68 , further comprising:
providing to the user, by the Web-based platform, at least one of:
a catalog of geospatial observation data available via the Web-based platform for the area of interest, wherein the catalog comprises at least one of a catalog of image products and metadata available via the Web-based platform, or a timeline of geospatial observation data available via the Web-based platform for the area of interest.
70 . The method of claim 64 , further comprising notifying the user, from time-to-time, of a change in the geospatial source data product.
71 . A method of distributing geospatial information via a Web-based platform which comprises at least one processor and at least one nontransitory processor-readable medium communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and which stores at least one of processor-executable instructions or data, the method comprising:
receiving, by the Web-based platform, a first plurality of geospatial queries;
causing, by the Web-based platform, a search of a data archive to generate a respective set of results for each of the first plurality of geospatial queries, each result of the set of results comprising respective geospatial data and respective metadata associated with the respective geospatial data;
from each of a plurality of the sets of results, selecting a respective subset of the results; and
determining, by the Web-based platform, a rating for each result in the subset of results, the rating based at least in part on one or more of a commercial value of the respective geospatial data and the respective metadata, a measure of a usage pattern of the respective geospatial data and the respective metadata, a measure of a semantic assessment of the respective geospatial data and the respective metadata, or a trend in a frequency associated with the respective geospatial data and the respective metadata.
72 . The method of claim 71 , further comprising:
receiving, by the Web-based platform, a user geospatial query from a user;
retrieving a plurality of geospatial data and metadata results from the data archive in response to receiving the user geospatial query;
determining a score reflecting a relevance to the user of each of the plurality of geospatial data and metadata results, the score based at least in part on the user geospatial query and the rating; and
distributing a subset of results from the plurality of geospatial data and metadata to the user via the Web-based platform, for which the score of each result is above a determined threshold.
73 . The method of claim 71 wherein determining a trend in a frequency associated with the respective geospatial data and the respective metadata includes determining a trend based at least in part on a set of social media data.