RAPID: MRI: Development of Database Appliance Module for Multi-Temporal Analysis and Correlation of Gulf Oil Spill related Geospatial Data Grant

RAPID: MRI: Development of Database Appliance Module for Multi-Temporal Analysis and Correlation of Gulf Oil Spill related Geospatial Data .

abstract

  • Proposal #: 10-57661PI(s): Naphtali D RisheInstitution: Florida International UniversityTitle: RAPID: MRI: Development of Database Appliance Module for Multi-temporal Analysis and Correlation of Gulf Oil Spill Related Geospatial DataProject Proposed:This project, building an instrument that can analyze and correlate multi-temporal geospatial data, develops a new module working in conjunction with FIUs TerraFly database appliance, with specific applicability to the study of coastal and near-coastal areas affected by the Gulf Oil Spill. The instrument will provide data analysis, definition, and visualization in combination with efficient algorithms. TerraFly is an FIU project with wide outreach and impact, where users visualize aerial imagery, precise street name overlays, and various other overlays. Users virtually "fly" over imagery via a web browser, without any software to install or plug in. Tools include user-friendly geospatial querying, interfaces with real-time data suppliers, demographic analysis, annotation, route dissemination via autopilots, and an application programming interface (API) for web sites (to name a few). Since the instrument can provide quick-response development of the tools, the project develops a unique module in TerraFly that can enable various studies of the coastal communities affected by the Gulf Oil Spill. Application examples range from environmental monitoring (such as analysis of water source availability by the USGS and water management districts) to questions of economic impact, such value of real estate in certain regions.The instrument under development enables multi-temporal geospatial data analysis and correlation, with a specific applicability to the study of coastal and near-coastal areas affected by the Gulf Oil Spill. This hardware-software appliance, enables access to algorithms and data that allow a variety of functions to be defined, analyzed and visualized by the instruments users. This Instrument, consisting of a module working in conjunction with FIUs TerraFly database appliance, that enables temporal querying, cross-referencing, visualization, and analysis of geospatial data, including time series multi-temporal aerial imagery, multi-temporal measurement and economic data, and vast existing static geospatial databases. Hence, the instrument provides a platform for analysis of differences in imagery and vectors, to facilitate querying differences per location and to address a range of questions pertaining to the economic impact of the Gulf Oil Spill on coastal communities. The hardware aspects of the Instrument involve assembly and interconnection of a database machine from servers, mass storage units, and networking elements. The core of the Instrument is a software system running on the hardware platform. This is a Geospatial Database Management System to highly efficiently and reliably perform the functions enumerated above. The software system and the hardware elements together comprise a database appliance, i.e. a device accepting complex queries as input, rapidly evaluating said queries against massive data stored within the appliance, and emitting output streams for human consumption or for further machine processing. Thus, a smaller part of the work is assembling and interconnecting existing commodity hardware units into a new high-performance platform, while the bigger part of the work is software engineering effort to code, deploy, and calibrate the software system, as implementation of algorithms that have developed under non-MRI funding. Broader Impacts: Plans include having the data and graphic interface to queries, both user-definable and pre-defined, posted at http://terrafly.fiu.edu/r.htm. In addition to research outcomes, this site will provide documentation relative to the project. The project enables and facilitates the access to the database and interfaces for all researchers and general public and also allows system-to-system XML access to all academic researchers to their GeoQuery system for the relevant Gulf Coast data.

date/time interval

  • September 15, 2010 - August 31, 2013

sponsor award ID

  • 1057661

contributor