Remote Sensing Information Gateway (RSIG)

The Remote Sensing Information Gateway (RSIG) offers a new way for users to get the multi-terabyte, environmental datasets they want via an interactive, Web browser-based application. A file download and parsing process that now takes months will be reduced via RSIG to minutes.

Running RSIG in Your Web Browser

Follow these directions to download the Java policy file, which is required to run the RSIG applet.
Run the RSIG applet.

About RSIG
RSIG Updated with New Features
RSIG's Availability
RSIG's Key Features
RSIG Quick Start Guide
RSIG's Architecture
RSIG Video Demonstration

About RSIG

RSIG also allows users to integrate their selected datasets into a unified visualization. The user can tap into a wide range of key environmental models and data, such as NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) model output, National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) biomass burning data, and ground station measurements from AIRNow and EPA's Air Quality System (AQS).

RSIG will render each dataset, and then overlay them on a map of the selected region, automatically aligning information from various spatial and temporal scales into a unified visualization.

Currently, RSIG focuses on atmospheric data, but it can be extended to support other types of geospatial data.

The benefit to users and consumers of environmental data is fast acquisition of only the data they want to see and in a standard format they can save to their desktop PC.

RSIG Updated with New Features

January 24, 2011: Added a color topo map background.

May 12, 2010: EMVL released a new version of RSIG. Among the new features and developments:

New data: MOZAIC European-based global commercial aircraft flight measured ozone, CO, NO data MOZAIC (currently under restricted access pending an agreement between EPA and European scientists).

CALIPSO data is spatially aggregated and uses a new NASA-designed colormap resulting in a much clearer depiction of the data. Note this aggregating is only done during visualization. During regridding and saving the data is at the original full resolution.

New data: GOES-GASP Geostationary US-coverage satellite 4km Aerosol Optical Depth data.GOES-GASP

Comparison (difference, absolute difference, percent difference, ratio, after regridding) of Ozone, AOD, PM25 from MODIS, FAQSD, GASP, MOZAIC, Airnow and AQS to CMAQ.

Intersection of CALIPSO and MOZAIC 4D path in CMAQ grid. I.e., extract CMAQ data for each lon-lat-elevation-time of the other data.

New data: AQS ground station measured data: SO2, Temperature and Relative Humidity.

New data: Access to newest version (April 2010 collection 5.1) MODIS L2 data. (Icelandic volcano plume shown.)

RSIG's Availability

One of RSIG's key innovations is its data delivery using conventional Internet and Web network connections. However, additional data traffic during peak network usage may degrade the overall system responsiveness or a remote host's system may be unavailable or unresponsive. The RSIG applet will display messages signaling data unavailability in such cases.

RSIG's Key Features

In this screenshot, the Remote Sensing Information Gateway (RSIG) overlays multiple datasets into a single visualization that you can save as an animation or individual image files.

One access point to many data sources. The RSIG provides a single Web site that serves as a selective access point to many kinds of data.
Streams only the needed data. The RSIG accesses large numbers of files from diverse sources and streams the user-selected subset of data back to the user's desktop. Streaming works in the same way as streaming audio works on the Web: the data goes directly to the client computer's memory and is discarded unless the user saves it to a file.
Aggregates separate data files into a single stream. RSIG aggregates the multiple files of a given data type into a single stream, reducing the download burden and simplifying data analysis.
Built-in visualization. RSIG can immediately integrate multiple selected datasets into a single MPEG animation. For example, EPA AIRNow data can be layered over NASA's MODIS satellite data, or a user can compare CMAQ predicted outputs and actual ground sensor data. The user can also save the animation or individual images to their computer.
Saves data to standard formats. RSIG integrates incoming proprietary dataset formats into standard formats the user can save on their computer. A user can save the data or visualization--or both--to their local computer in such standard formats as portable binary, ASCII, NetCDF IOAPI and COARDS, GeoTIFF, MPEG and KMZ. The user can then export the selected datasets from RSIG into other applications--such as GIS tools--for further analysis
Fast. RSIG accomplishes all of this far faster than a lone user could with currently available means. For example, RSIG can capture a week of MODIS AOD data in a few minutes, compared to two months using conventional web-form ordering/ftp approaches.

RSIG Quick Start Guide

This 2-page guide introduces the RSIG interface, explains the Save options, and provides parameters for sample runs so you can see RSIG in action: RSIG Quick Start Guide (PDF, 332 KB) (updated 18 April 2008)

RSIG's Architecture

RSIG's architecture is flexible and extensible, allowing it to serve many types of data.

RSIG Key Features and Architecture (PDF, 0.8 MB) (updated 10 June 2008)
RSIG Key Features and Applications (PDF, 2.4 MB) (updated 23 June 2008)

RSIG Video Demonstration

This 26-second screen capture shows RSIG retrieving various datasets describing the passage of Hurricane Katrina through the Gulf region. Five days of satellite, wind, and cloud data clearly show Katrina's path as it makes landfall. Atmospheric researchers can use RSIG to easily view and retrieve all datasets related to a specific event, making it possible for them to analyze the data much closer to real-time than has been possible before. Right-click on the link to download or view the animation:

RSIG Video Demonstration (QuickTime, 7.6 MB, 300x240). Requires the QuickTime Player plug-in.
RSIG Video Demonstration (Windows Media, 3.4 MB, 300x240). Requires Windows Media Player, which is included with the Windows operating system. No plug-in is needed if you are using a Windows system.