ACM SIGMOD Record · 2000 · 92 citations · 2 references
ComputingGeographyGeoinformaticsData ManagementDatabasesGeographic Information ScienceGeospatial Data AcquisitionGeospatial Data VisualizationImage Data ManagementQuery ProcessingRemote Sensing Image AnalysisRemote Sensing ImageryData Warehouse SchemaGeospatial Data ManagementGeospatial Data RetrievalImage TilingRemote Sensing Data ManagementSatellite Image VisualizationSatellite Remote Sensing DataSql Syntax
Microsoft TerraServer is the world’s largest online atlas, storing eight terabytes of aerial, satellite, and topographic imagery from USGS and SPIN‑2 in a SQL database accessible via standard web browsers without special hardware or software. The study details the conversion of terabytes of raw geo‑spatial imagery into hundreds of millions of web‑friendly tiles and their loading into a SQL data warehouse. The authors scrubbed and tiled raw images, then stored both metadata and tiles in a SQL database. TerraServer proves that a general‑purpose relational database can handle large image repositories and that web browsers provide effective geo‑spatial image presentation.
Microsoft® TerraServer stores aerial, satellite, and topographic images of the earth in a SQL database available via the Internet. It is the world's largest online atlas, combining eight terabytes of image data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and SPIN-2. Internet browsers provide intuitive spatial and text interfaces to the data. Users need no special hardware, software, or knowledge to locate and browse imagery. This paper describes how terabytes of “Internet unfriendly” geo-spatial images were scrubbed and edited into hundreds of millions of “Internet friendly” image tiles and loaded into a SQL data warehouse. All meta-data and imagery are stored in the SQL database. TerraServer demonstrates that general-purpose relational database technology can manage large scale image repositories, and shows that web browsers can be a good geo-spatial image presentation system.
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John P. Snyder, Philip M. Voxland · USGS professional paper · 1989 · 173 citations