Geo-referenced image-based systems for urban information management: Fid-Bau Portal

Geo-referenced image-based systems for urban information management

Cassettari, Seppe

AbstractThe use of aerial photographs in the UK has increased significantly since the mid 1980s. At the same time, the growth in Geographical Information Systems (CIS) has promoted the need for the broader use of digital aerial photographs that can be integrated with map-based data. Digital photogrammetric solutions remain expensive and require a high level of training to use. Consequently, the Geographic Data Archiving System (GEO-DAS) project set out to create an image-management system that provides the photo interpreter with a digital equivalent to the traditional paper print and film overlay. The objective was to give the user a large geographical coverage in the form of partially corrected, geo-referenced images, forming a seamless database that could be stored on a low-cost computer platform, but yet generating a high-quality image. The potential for using digital aerial photographs as a basic source of spatial data within the built-up environment is enormous, particularly where they are also part of an integrated suite of software that could include GIS, mapping, databases, and word processing or desktop publishing, run in a multi-tasking environment. However, the aerial photograph provides only part of the information necessary to create a complete understanding of an urban area. Other types of data, including multimedia data, must be taken into consideration. This raises questions about the purpose to which urban information systems are to be employed, and how the various datasets are to be structured in order to achieve a widely applicable information resource. A second project has commenced using GEO-DAS as the spatial kernel to a more comprehensive urban information system.