National Spatial Data Infrastructure

DIMENSIONS
Demand and supply definition of data availability has undergone a tremendous change with improved high end technology in both geospatial software and hardware arena. Moreover, expectations from the high resolution data have made the solution provider hungrier for real time solutions. So the push and pull between the data provider and data user has evolved changing dimensions demanding new solutions.

Data: The soul of research
The integrity of any research endeavour is dependent on the integrity of data. Despite the central importance of data to research, the definition of what might be considered data is multi-faceted. By and large data can be defined as measurements, observations or any other primary product of an act of research. Such product provides a factual basis for interference, conclusions and publications. On them depends the integrity of research and its usefulness to the society.

Growing availability of high resolution data
The current scenario is certainly making geospatial users hungry for more data with the availability of sub-metre resolution multi-spectral imagery from satellite coupled with internet based services like Google Earth and Microsoft Virtual Earth.

Hyperspectral remote sensing data enhances data extraction
Hyperspectral image analysis has matured in the last two decades. Hyperspectral remote sensing is defined by a contiguous statement of spectral bands. It has potential for more accurate and detailed information extraction than possible with any other type of remotely sensed data. Further, the third generation imaging instruments are facilitating in unveiling that information which till recent past was difficult to assess. (Table 1)

Growing demand
Today, GIS finds its place everywhere. Studies have revealed that there is a benefit: cost ratio for spatial data usage of approximately 4:1. Benefits are distributed across the broad spectrum of economic activities ranging from the operation of electricity, gas and water utilities to projects involving agriculture, mining and environmental management. Certainly growth in the use of spatial technologies has secured acceptance for geospatial technology as an effective decision-making tool even by government agencies. They have realised that this technology can provide the much-needed tool to address the ever-increasing demand for data availability. But what are available in India today are only maps with 1:50,000 or 1: 25,000 scale, while the scale demanded by the industry is 1:1000 with vision for 1: 1.

Public-private partnership – world scenario
The geospatial arena in the US and Europe are setting examples of supplying data through public private alliances, which is still in a distant lane in this part of Asia. Need for such alliances is based on the need to capitalise on the potential offered through the growing commercial use of satellite images in civil domain. Though in the US, the initial deterrents existed and are still a part, the initial suggestions regarding this were well documented in the policy in 1979, followed by Land Remote Sensing Policy Act of 1992 which clearly stated that commercialisation of remote sensing would be a goal of the US government. The formation of Infoterra in 2001 marked the beginning of public –private partnership in Europe. Launch of TerraXSAR is a successful example of the public-private alliance in Germany, between German Aerospace Centre (DLR) and Astrium Gmbh . In UK Surrey Satellite Technology (SSTL) has not only built GIOVE-1 but have also designed and built remote sensing satellites for other countries including Algeria, China, Nigeria, turkey and UK.

In Asia, it is largely the state machinery that is the custodian not alone of satellite data, but also of remote sensing satellite data design, fabrication, launch and data dissemination. The crave for entering into state dominated data suppliers is making industry trying all pulls and pressures and changing the dimension of nature and availability of data. What deters everyone in the government or custodians of data are maybe the fear for their profits alone, but certainly if the agenda is for empowering users, the solutions definitely need to be without the ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’.