GeoPAS - Geographic Photography Archive System
Ness has been active in the development of GIS and photogrammetry systems since 1985. Israel's national (both military and commercial) geographic databases have been created using Ness developed software. Ness has developed a state-of-the-art archiving system for geographic and photographic material which handles the following data:
- Raster maps
- Vector maps
- Orthophoto
- DTM/DEM
- Photographic images
- Point data
GeoPAS is designed to provide uninterrupted data storage and access services. GeoPAS has an unlimited capacity of data storage together with a sophisticated geographic retrieval and query capability. Data is automatically transferred in background mode, between on-line storage (disk array), near-line storage (jukebox), and back-up storage (safe-deposit) according to special algorithms and user parameters.
Data integrity is controlled by using a relational data-base management system (RDBMS) for cataloguing all data entries, and an object server data base management system (OSDBMS) for controlling the physical location of each data entry. All data which is available on the on-line RAID disk array is also stored in near-line or back-up storage to guarantee that there will be no loss of data due to any hardware, software or media fault. The near-line storage is an automatic jukebox that can use high-density tape cassettes, CD-ROM's or optical disks.
GeoPAS supports large data files such as photographic images, tiled seamless data structures such as raster maps and DTM, as well as multi-layer data structures such as vector maps.
The GeoPAS data retrieval and query sub-system allows the user to make multi-level queries and the query results are displayed both graphically and in text table format. The user specifies a required geographic area, type of data (map, photo, DTM, etc) and whether to display the actual data or the footprint (area covered). The accompanying text table displays all pertinent meta-data (date, source, resolution, accuracy, etc).
The GeoPAS data retrieval and query sub-system has exceptional response time due to the use of the RDBMS and Ness’ special data retrieval packages for handling large-scale data files.
GeoPAS is part of Ness’ Military Photography Intelligence System, MPHIS. This system provides the highest degree of automation for processing photography taken from both airborne and satellite military cameras. It enables automated storage, easy retrieval, automated dissemination, hard-copy and soft-copy, as well as complete management of the work in progress.