Global Surface Database

The goal of this application is to create and maintain a database of the surface coverage of the land mass of the Earth at a resolution of square meters with samples acquired a few times per days. This database would be able to answer questions like:

• What is the expected quality and yield of this coming year's French wine? This estimate is to be based on the size of the fields being cultivated for grapes, the healthiness of the vines, how they are being fertilized and irrigated, and so on.

• What is the likelihood of food riots in Mongolia this winter? In addition to crop health, need to determine the levels of water reservoirs, the quality of the water, how much fertilizer is being applied, and so on.

• Which forested areas are most susceptible to fires? How dry are the trees, and so on.

• How is energy use distributed in a city? How does usage vary with time of day, changes in weather, and so on?

To answer questions of this type, we propose a database of the surface coverage of the Earth. The land area of the Earth is meter. Dividing the land area in to meter grids, yields grid points.

We assume that each grid point is represented by a sample consisting of a pixel images, where each pixel is contains intensity information (8 levels) at each of eight different frequencies. (Each pixel corresponds to a single square centimeter.) The image associated with each grid point consists of bits. Further assume that the data can be compressed by a factor of ; therefore, in compressed form, the data associated with each grid point will be bits.

• Satellite down link characteristics.
• Data processing requirements.
• Database Queries.