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In the January/February 2014 edition of Geoconnexion UK I authored ‘Where next for Landmap?‘ highlighting the many achievements over the past two decades of this Academic Spatial Data Infrastructure (A-SDI) such as:â©
- The development of the Optical, Thermal, Features, Radar and Elevation data collections, with data sourced from a wide range of data providers in the geospatial community such as European Space Agency (ESA), Infoterra, Bluesky, RapidEye, The GeoInformation Group and Getmappingâ©
- The creation of Open Educational Resources (OER) authored by academics and the commercial sector to facilitate the use of spatial datasets in the latest image processing and GIS software’sâ©
Landmap was recognised for these achievements by the European community when voted runner-up for the Best Service Challenge in the Copernicus Masters 2013 Awards which recognises innovative solutions for business and society based on the use of Earth Observation data1. â©
Community collaborationâ©
In December 2013 Jisc2 funding ceased for Landmap at Mimas3 and the goal for 2014 was to identify other platforms/services for hosting Landmap data collections and e-learning resources. The story over the past twelve months has been one of collaboration among the geospatial community to ensure that these resources remain available to new and current users. It has involved the re-negotiation of data licensing with the original suppliers; work with the NEODC4 (the Natural Environment Research Council-designated data centre for Earth Observation), and the Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society (RSPSoc)5. â©
NEODC hosts data collectionsâ©
The role of the NEODC is to assist UK Earth Observation (EO) science researchers to locate, access and interpret EO data. Therefore, NEODC agreed that its data centre was the most obvious new home for the Landmap data collections. In the spring of 2014, a significant amount of work went into the transfer of the Landmap Earth Observation Collection from Mimas to NEODC. Here, the cataloguing of the data was completed in the summer of 2014. The data are now fully catalogued and available via ftp and web browser download at www.neodc.nerc.ac.uk. â©
RSPSoc hosts Learning Zoneâ©
The other key content was the Open Educational Resources (OER) which included courses in Image Processing, Radar Imaging, Classification Methods, Scripting and Geospatial Standards. These materials are now hosted by RSPSoc as agreed by the Education and Training Committee of the Society, please visit www.learningzone.rspsoc.org.uk â©
Future growthâ©
Remote sensing is a future growth area for the UK as identified in the Government Report: ‘Space Innovation & Growth Strategy 2014-2030: Space Growth Action Plan’6. It is therefore crucial that data and e-learning resources continue to be made accessible to train the next generation of users through essential services and organisation such as NEODC and RSPSoc. Thanks to NEODC and RSPSoc, an excellent destination for Landmap resources has been established. â©
1 www.copernicus-masters.com â¨2 www.jisc.ac.uk â¨3 www.mimas.ac.uk â¨4 www.neodc.nerc.ac.uk â¨5 www.rspsoc.org.uk â¨6 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/298362/igs-action-plan.pdf â©
Gail Millin-Chalabi is Lecturer in Remote Sensing in the School of Environment, Education and Development at The University of Manchester http://www.seed.manchester.ac.uk/subjects/geography/
