RESOURCE MANAGEMNET APPLICATIONS OF A WEB-BASED GEO-REFERENCED DIGITAL IMAGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The use of digital imagery is fast increasing for resource management applications. This is mostly due to new and advanced technologies to integrate digital imagery with land related data in a digital mapping environment or in a Geographic Information System (GIS). To support clients of digital imagery, the Crown Registry and Geographic Base (CRGB) of British Columbia Ministry of Forests and Range, Integrated Land Management Bureau (ILMB), Canada has developed Digital Image Services (DIS) program. The purpose of this program is to support and maintain a web-based system to provide a single common repository of raster imagery in the Province of British Columbia. The imagery is accessible to the public and BC government's clients via Internet to support the economic development and better management of the resources in the Province. DIS will address data management issues related to raster data and image warehousing, distribution, and maintenance of a very large volume of geo-referenced raster based imagery. The imagery included are but not limited to scanned aerial photos, digital camera data, orthophotos, satellite imagery, stereo models, and Digital Elevation Model (DEM). DIS has established a corporate, OGC compliant data access facility called the Image Discovery Tool (IDT), allowing BC government and public users to access land related digital image and raster products. DIS design objective is to operate on the Internet using standard browser technology. It is interoperable, utilizes standard computing hardware, is extensible, based on Open GIS Consortium (OGC) standards, is ISO compliant and in compliant with BC Government Land Resource Data Warehouse (LRDW). The scope of this paper is to describe system requirements, development issues, problems encountered and resource management applications.