Difference between revisions of "Remote Sensing Information Gateway (RSIG)"

Revision as of 10:52, August 5, 2008

The Remote Sensing Information Gateway (RSIG) is a tool for selecting, downloading, assembling, and visualizing atmospheric data. After the data has been assembled, it can be stored on the user’s workstation, if desired. RSIG is developed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The RSIG application is operated by selecting from among fifteen or so variables available from the following data sources:

NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) data
AIRNow and Air Quality System (AQS) ozone and particulate-matter observations
EPA's Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model output
National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) biomass burning data

More details on RSIG's data sources can be found at http://rtpmeta.epa.gov/portal/datainventory.html.

The application then assembles the data from local files or by submitting requests over the Internet to data repositories at NASA, Sonoma Tech, etc. RSIG then presents a visualization of the data on a latitude-longitude map, automatically locating the data in correct geographic position.

RSIG uses OGC-WCS-compliant servers/subsetter programs on remote sites such as NASA Goddard to aggregate and subset data files at the source - sending only the specified subset of data (variables, lon-lat box, time-range). Transmission volume over the Internet to the EPA is thereby greatly reduced (by three orders-of-magnitude) compared to the common approach of ftping numerous large files.

RSIG can write the subset of data to your local disk in the following formats:

Binary External Data Representation (XDR) format (simple, efficient)
NetCDF-COARDS format
NetCDF-IOAPI format (regridding the data to a CMAQ grid)
HDF (unsubsetted satellite files)
ASCII tab-delimited spreadsheet
MCMC (used for input into HB model)
PNG images
MPG movies
KMZ movies (for display in GoogleEarth and similar applications)

Access and Status

The RSIG application is in use and evolving with new features such as additional data sources. The application can be accessed two ways:

EPA users (inside the EPA firewall) can access the RSIG home page at:

http://rtpmeta.epa.gov/portal/

Users outside the EPA can request an account on the EPA Portal at http://portal.epa.gov/

Then RSIG can be accessed from the Environmental Science Connector link on the Portal.

Java Requirements

RSIG has a Web browser-based Java applet for interactive visualization. Therefore, RSIG carries the following Java requirements:

Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 1.4 or better
Configure Java memory larger than the default
a .java.policy file saved to your Home directory. The .java.policy file is a simple text file that ensures you can save data from the RSIG applet to your computer.

The RSIG web sites listed above contain full information on setting-up Java for Linux, UNIX, Mac OS, and Windows systems.

Access to RSIG Data

In addition to the Web browser-based Java applet, RSIG has an OGC-WCS/WMS-compliant web server application to enable streaming access to RSIG's data and images. This can effectively automate access to any data that RSIG can access and deliver the data to your application in various formats.

If your application is running on an EPA computer inside the EPA firewall, then use http://rtpmeta.epa.gov/rsig/rsigserver For usage examples see http://rtpmeta.epa.gov/portal/webscripts.html For external users (outside the EPA network) use: http://badger.epa.gov/rsig/rsigserver with usage examples at: http://badger.epa.gov/rsig/webscripts.html

Sponsorship and Contacts

The RSIG application has been sponsored and managed by ORD’s National Exposure Research Lab (NERL). The Principal Investigator is Jim Szykman. The application is being developed by the EPA Environmental Modeling and Visualization Laboratory (EMVL).

Dr. Jim Szykman, szykman.jim@epa.gov, EPA ORD (919) 541-5537
Heidi Paulsen, paulsen.heidi@epa.gov, EPA NCC (919) 541-1834
For technical support contact the EPA EMVL (Lockheed Martin) developers:

Todd Plessel, plessel.todd@epa.gov, (919) 541-5500 or Matt Freeman, freeman.matt@epa.gov, (919) 541-4293.

See RSIG Data Summit Profile

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 The application then assembles the data from local files or by submitting requests over the Internet to data repositories at NASA, Sonoma Tech, etc. RSIG then presents a visualization of the data on a latitude-longitude map, automatically locating the data in correct geographic position.
-RSIG uses program code that runs on NASA and NOAA servers to select and subset large datasets at the source computer center. Transmission over the Internet to the EPA is thereby accelerated compared to conventional techniques.
+RSIG uses OGC-WCS-compliant servers/subsetter programs on remote sites such as NASA Goddard to aggregate and subset data files at the source - sending
+only the specified subset of data (variables, lon-lat box, time-range).
-RSIG can save the collected data in the following formats:
+Transmission volume over the Internet to the EPA is thereby greatly reduced (by three orders-of-magnitude) compared to the common approach of ftping
-* Binary External Data Representation (XDR) format
+numerous large files.
-* NetCDF format
-* ASCII spreadsheet
-* MPEG or PNG format files for visualized images
+RSIG can write the subset of data to your local disk in the following formats:
+* Binary External Data Representation (XDR) format (simple, efficient)
+* NetCDF-COARDS format
+* NetCDF-IOAPI format (regridding the data to a CMAQ grid)
+* HDF (unsubsetted satellite files)
+* ASCII tab-delimited spreadsheet
+* MCMC (used for input into HB model)
+* PNG images
+* MPG movies
+* KMZ movies (for display in GoogleEarth and similar applications)
 == Access and Status ==
-The RSIG application is operable but is still in the final stages of development. The application can be accessed two ways:
+The RSIG application is in use and evolving with new features such as additional data sources.
-* All workstation users connected to the EPA network can access http://rtpmeta.epa.gov/portal/rsig2D.html.
+The application can be accessed two ways:
-* Users outside the EPA can request access to the EPA Portal at portal.epa.gov. RSIG can be accessed from the Environmental Science Connector on the Portal.
+* EPA users (inside the EPA firewall) can access the RSIG home page at:
+http://rtpmeta.epa.gov/portal/
+* Users outside the EPA can request an account on the EPA Portal at http://portal.epa.gov/
+Then RSIG can be accessed from the Environmental Science Connector link
+on the Portal.
 == Java Requirements ==
-RSIG is a Web browser-based application that runs as a Java applet. Therefore, RSIG carries the following Java requirements:
+RSIG has a Web browser-based Java applet for interactive visualization.
+Therefore, RSIG carries the following Java requirements:
 * Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 1.4 or better
+* Configure Java memory larger than the default
 * a .java.policy file saved to your Home directory. The .java.policy file is a simple text file that ensures you can save data from the RSIG applet to your computer.
-The RSIG web sites listed above contain full information on installing the .java.policy file for Linux, UNIX, Mac OS, and Windows systems.
+The RSIG web sites listed above contain full information on setting-up Java for Linux, UNIX, Mac OS, and Windows systems.
 == Access to RSIG Data ==
-In addition to the Web browser-based Java applet, RSIG offers additional ways for researchers or applications to access data.
+In addition to the Web browser-based Java applet, RSIG has an OGC-WCS/WMS-compliant web server application to enable streaming access to RSIG's data and images. This can effectively automate access to any data that RSIG can access and deliver the data to your application in various
+formats.
-''Streaming access.'' Applications with specific information needs can use RSIG's CGI scripts to enable streaming access to RSIG's data. This can effectively automate access to any data that RSIG can access and deliver the data to your application in the desired format. These scripts are in the review process, but are accessible from within the EPA intranet.
-''Web server scripts.'' Assuming your application is running on an EPA computer inside the EPA firewall, then the application should access http://maple.rtpnc.epa.gov, which is the internal computer containing the web server scripts. (Tthe MODIS script is on a public NASA computer.) The scripts will eventually be hosted on external EPA computers for external/non-EPA clients. The server scripts are OGC-WCS-compliant. For more information, see http://rtpmeta.epa.gov/portal/webscripts.html.
+If your application is running on an EPA computer inside the EPA firewall, then use
+http://rtpmeta.epa.gov/rsig/rsigserver
+For usage examples see
+http://rtpmeta.epa.gov/portal/webscripts.html
+For external users (outside the EPA network) use:
+http://badger.epa.gov/rsig/rsigserver
+with usage examples at:
+http://badger.epa.gov/rsig/webscripts.html
 == Sponsorship and Contacts ==
@@ Line 45: / Line 64: @@
 * Dr. Jim Szykman, szykman.jim@epa.gov, EPA ORD (919) 541-5537
 * Heidi Paulsen, paulsen.heidi@epa.gov, EPA NCC (919) 541-1834
-* For technical information contact: Mike Uhl, uhl.mike@epa.gov, EPA EMVL (Lockheed Martin) (919) 541-4283
+* For technical support contact the EPA EMVL (Lockheed Martin) developers:
+Todd Plessel, plessel.todd@epa.gov, (919) 541-5500 or
+Matt Freeman, freeman.matt@epa.gov, (919) 541-4293.
 [[RSIG|See RSIG Data Summit Profile]]