Establishment of a multimedia data storage and dissemination system for earth observation studies

Earth observation data is being acquired in increasing quantities, spurring a need for the ability to provide well-documented, organized and accessible information databases. The collection and conjunctive use of multiple data types and formats of differing levels of complexity obtained from a variety of sources requires a sophisticated management system Users desire a fast, efficient easy-to-use system with the capacity to archive, associate, and access very different types of data TRW's Info Web(TM) multimedia data storage and dissemination system is being used to organize and maintain not only remotely sensed images, but also associated text photo, audio, and video information Pertinent examples include anything from journal articles to videos of biological processes. Information acquired can be tagged with latitude and longitude in the archiving process for subsequent geospatial search and retrieval. The system supports insertion of hypertext links, and database browse and query capability. In addition, access to external sources of information can be provided over the Internet. A prototype reference database has been developed that illustrates the advantages of the system in facilitating the use of large amounts of multimedia ecosystem data.