After an extensive competitive analysis, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) selected Esri's Image Management software platform to equip its five Regional Remote Sensing Service Centres (RRSSCs) with ArcGIS Server and its Image extension. The RRSSCs in Jodhpur, Dehradun, Kharagpur, Nagpur, and Bangalore, use Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite and other imagery to create thematic maps and GIS databases that provide valuable societal applications to various government agencies throughout India.

ISRO implements major programs including those related to natural resources, disaster management, environmental oversight, and groundwater and watershed management.

With India's success in remote-sensing technology through the IRS constellation, several new imagery-based and GIS-centric projects of national relevance are gaining visibility and importance. ISRO is presently implementing major programs related to natural resources, disaster management, environmental oversight, and groundwater and watershed management.

The remote-sensing centers are establishing a distributed architecture of server-based solutions designed to be the foundation for publishing, hosting, and serving images and data. Over time, RRSSCs have collected large volumes of map data and integrated them with developmental attribute data. The centers plan to combine and assimilate all the data with new-generation IRS high-resolution images and serve the data and application sets across the government sector.

The RRSSCs needed a GIS solution that met their needs and was scalable to meet growing demands for services from a large number of users for a variety of advanced applications. They selected Esri's proven technology and superior solutions after several rounds of technical presentations, demonstrations, and discussions. RRSSC and NIIT GIS Limited (Esri India), Esri's distributor in India, have concluded a comprehensive training session, and RRSSC users have started developing the solution.

Dr. Yvn Krishnamurthy, director of the RRSSCs, says, "ISRO users have been using Esri products for a variety of applications, and many national programs have been based on GIS solutions. IRS imagery has been the source of thematic mapping inputs and provides end-to-end solutions under the umbrella of the National Natural Resources Management System. ArcGIS Server with the Image extension is a robust and integrated product and has capabilities that can meet our application needs of serving images and thematic maps to a variety of users."

Dr. Mukund Rao, president and chief operating officer at Esri India, notes, "ISRO has been pioneering the use of IRS imagery and advancing GIS solutions for a long time. We are proud to be associated with them on this prestigious, first-of-its-kind national project to serve image- and map-based solutions in a GIS portal architecture."

ArcGIS Server helps users connect people with the information they need via Web mapping applications and GIS services. It is built on a modern, service-oriented architecture. The ArcGIS Server Image extension makes it possible to take raw or preprocessed imagery and immediately deliver it as a Web service. It enables organizations to exploit the rich information content available in imagery and quickly access large volumes of imagery. This is far superior to traditional options that required significant efforts by users to locate and make file-based imagery available.

Says Lawrie Jordan, Esri's director of imagery enterprise solutions, "We provide powerful new tools that enable things to happen in near real time—like delivering and displaying imagery, roaming around the imagery, zooming in to the imagery, and doing on-the-fly mosaicking and orthorectification of the imagery."

Esri India envisions that this new software deployment and implementation will serve as a key reference within all Indian government agencies, especially those that disseminate and/or consume imagery and imagery-related data.

More Information

For more information, contact Narinder Thapar, Esri India (e-mail: narinder.thapar@niit-tech.com, Web: www.esriindia.com).