EXPERIENCE OF RUSSIAN GEOPORTALS BASED ON EARTH REMOTE SENSING DATA

摘要

Quick development of information technologies lately had an impact on traditional methods to search, to process and to display geographic information. Obviously this happens due to the geoinformatics being transformed from a science for specialists into a science for the public. Presented information relevancy, adequacy and accessibility became of superior value. Therefore geoinformation on-line services start to play an increasingly more important part in meeting the cartographic requirements of a wide range of users.However, one has to understand the difference between the on-line map services and geoportals, based on the remote sensing data, stitched into a single seamless color-balanced mosaic. The advantages of the latter are quite obvious: a map is a conventional signedmodel of the Earth surface, in most cases requiring special skills to be able to read it. Satellite images give a more user-friendly andupdated presentation of geo spatial information. It should be always kept in mind though that the space imagery data open unlimited possibilities to the specialists for thematic interpretation. Operationally updated seamless mosaic image coverages became the foundation of a geoportal as the most effective solution to resolve the problem of geoinformatics introduction into governmental structures, public life and commercial companies. Popular foreign open commercial geoportals, such as Google Earth/Google Maps, MS Virtual Earth, Yahoo! Maps using remote sensing data are well-known worldwide. Today, we can mark out two Russian Internet-project, offering geospatial data services:maps.yandex.ru (Yandex Maps) and kosmosnimki.ru, with satellite images being prepared by the specialists of SCANEX R&D Center. Satellite-based data represent geospatial information in great demand by the public. They also serve as a unique basis to distribute different spatial information and to generate various customer services. Geoportals ideology development implies the creation of a network of geoportals, connected by single principles, technology and architecture and aimed at meeting requirements of different target groups: special government-oriented (Business-to-Government,B2G), industry-oriented (commercial -Business-to-Business, B2B), public-oriented (Business-to-Customer, B2C) geoportals.Special B2G geoportals are created to render geoinformation services to governmental authorities, using secure communication links and restricted access protocols. The main advantage of B2G geoportals is the optimization of management and substantiated decision-making based on actual geospatial data backup by additional reliable data sources. Industry-oriented commercial B2B geoportals are being created based on the orders received from major widespread national corporations and companies, as a means of corporate governance, visualization and giving a "big picture" of geospatial situation. Functionally B2B geoportals are also aimed at increasing the efficiency of management due to a comprehensive and near real-time presentation of different information together with geospatial description of objects and processes. Open public B2C geoportals aim at rendering on-line services to a wide range of users (same as Goggle Earth). B2C geoportals are designed to satisfy the customer's demand on information and directory services with data georeference. Yandex Maps project can beeasily named as the Russian example of a B2C geoportal. It is very popular among the local users and its principal difference fromthe international prototypes is in "fresh" image coverage and in a higher spatial resolution of the displayed satellite images. Kosmosnimki geoportal is a "test site", where SCANEX Center specialists develop own remote sensing data display technology as the basis of geoportals and design multiple add-on modules capable of meeting all possible demands of the customer. To date, SCANEX R&D Center, having a network of its own ground receiving stations, can provide for a