Korean Journal of Remote Sensing, Vol.26, No.3, 2010, pp.361~371 Open Source Remote Sensing of ORFEO Toolbox and Its Connection to Database of PostGIS with NIX File Importing Kiwon Lee† and Sanggoo Kang Dept. of Information Systems Engineering, Hansung University Abstract : In recent, interests regarding open source software for geo-spatial processing are increasing. Open source remote sensing (OSRS) is regarded as one of the progressing and advanced fields in remote sensing. Nevertheless, analyses or application cases regarding OSRS are not enough for general uses or references. In this study, three kinds of OSRS software in consideration of international popularity, types of functionalities, and development environments are taken into account: OSSIM, Opticks, and ORFEO Toolbox (OTB). First, functional comparison with respect to these is carried out on the level of the preliminary survey. According to this investigation, OTB is chosen as the most applicable OSRS software in this study. Running on OTB, NIX format importing module and database connecting module are implemented for widely general uses and further application. As for an example case, airborne image of NIX format is used to region growing segmentation algorithm in OTB, and then the results are stored and retrieved in PostGIS database to test implemented modules. Conclusively, local customization and algorithm development using OSRS software are necessary to build on-demand applications from the developers’ viewpoint. Key Words : NIX format, Open Source Remote Sensing (OSRS), ORFEO, PostGIS, Segmentation. 1. Introduction information, or processors, as well as various kinds of mashup applications of Google Maps API Since the mid-2000s, open source geo-spatial (Application Programming Interface) in Purvis et processing software has been regarded as one of al.(2006), Park and Lee (2008) and Park and Lee important progresses in the geo-spatial communities (2009). from both users’ side and developers’ side, such as As for general information and references of open OSGeo foundation or FOSS4G (Free and Open source geo-spatial software, there are useful Source Software for Geo-spatial) group. Although overviews and articles such as Hall and Leahy open source projects have started from a couple of (2008), Benthall (2009) or Markus (2009). Moreover, decade, they are affected by new computing researches regarding uses of open source in a specific paradigm towards openness and sharing of data, geo-based application domain are also on the Received June 23, 2010; Revised June 24, 2010; Accepted June 25, 2010. †Corresponding Author: Kiwon Lee ([email protected]) –361– Korean Journal of Remote Sensing, Vol.26, No.3, 2010 activating stage such as Steiniger and Bocher (2009), covered with all features for these. Steiniger and Hay (2009), and Daoyi et al. (2010). The purposes of this work are brief comparison Nonetheless, these works are focused on open regarding development environment and function sources for generic GIS dealing with the geo-based lists; using one of them, new implementations for objects by vector data models, so that there are rare Korean geo-spatial image standard format named cases for geo-processing open sources for remote NIX (National Image Exchange) and open source sensing. Thus, the main theme in this work is on open geo-database management of PostGIS/PostgreSQL source remote sensing (OSRS) software covering are carried out for practical uses for actual satellite image processing. applications of segmentation and its results to data Normally, open source software for geo-spatial base connection. processing provides dual modes: binary executables for users and full source codes, APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) or development libraries for 2. Brief Comparison of Open Source algorithm developers and programmers. While, it is Remote Sensing Software noted that open source is not same terms with free software, and its opposite is proprietary software, not OSSIM which stands for Open Source Software commercial software. In general, most users who Image Map is an open source software system for have interests in OSRS software are inclined to remote sensing, image processing including compare and assess functionalities of OSRS software photogrammetric functions and GIS. Since the mid- with ones of proprietary remote sensing software. But 1990s, it has been developed as an open source individual OSRS software has its specialty and software project, being funded by several US motivation to fit its purposes, so that simple government agencies in the intelligence and defence comparison limited to its providing functionalities community. Opticks is open-source software may be a trivial detail, especially from application offerings to include new extensions that perform programmers’ or algorithm developers’ viewpoints. hyper-spectral, multispectral and image spectroscopy In this study, three kinds of OSRS software analysis by US-based Ball Aerospace and satisfied with certain conditions are considered. As Technologies Corp. released in 2007. It supports for the conditions, these considerations are used for traditional imagery and multi-spectral data as well as basic criteria: providing possibly full functionalities SAR, hyper-spectral, and motion imagery. Its including pre-processing and post-processing expansion includes tools to convert imagery from modules, supporting low level sources to capable of radiance to reflectance, as well as tools to load and re-compiling or development library or APIs, and no display signatures, specifically wavelength versus cost for license to modify or edit. After a preliminary reflectance. To help grow the practical use of satellite investigation on those conditions, three products are imagery, ORFEO Toolbox (OTB), which stands for selected in this work: OSSIM, Opticks, and ORFEO Optical and Radar Federated Earth Observation, is Toolbox (OTB). These three OSRS software are OSRS software developed by CNES in France, valuable to implement a certain remote sensing started from the mid 2000s. OTB is to enable the user application, and enough to provide unique to process satellite images from different sources functionalities or algorithms, but this work is not including satellite and image provider with different –362– Open Source Remote Sensing of ORFEO Toolbox and Its Connection to Database of PostGIS with NIX File Importing levels of pre-processing to post-processing, with classes and extensions and dependency with other Radar data processing. open libraries in OSSIM, Opticks, and OTB. This Table 1 is the summary of development implies that cross- access between them is possible environment of these three OSRS software. While, as since these three open sources are closely related. In for users-side, user interfaces of these OSRS software the cases of dependency with other open sources of are shown in Fig. 1. Interfaces in OSSIM are OTB, GDAL (Geospatial Data Abstraction Library) composed of three parts: Imagelinker in Fig. 1(A), is a translator library for raster geospatial data formats iview and ossimplant. Opticks provides an integrated that is released under an X/MIT style Open Source user interface with menus for all functions in Fig. license by the Open Source Geospatial Foundation. 1(B). In OTB, dual access modes are provided: ITK(Insight ToolKit) is for the library for medical or Monteverdi application in Fig. 1(C) and interfaces for other special image processors including registration modular function. and segmentation, and OpenGL and boost are 3D Fig. 2 represents source components including core graphical rendering API and graphical presentation, Table 1. Development environment of OSSIM, Opticks, and OTB Environment OSSIM Opticks OTB Operating System Windows, Linux, Mac, Solaris Windows, Solaris Windows, Linux, Mac, Unix Programming Language C++, Python C++, Python, IDL C++, Python, IDL/ENVI, MatLab, Java URL www.ossim.org Opticks.org otb.cnes.fr Fig. 1. OSRS software user interfaces: (A) Imagelinker interfaces for basic processing in OSSIM, (B) Integrated user interface of Opticks, and (C) Integrated interface of Monteverdi application in OTB. –363– Korean Journal of Remote Sensing, Vol.26, No.3, 2010 Fig. 2. Open source components and dependencies with other libraries in OSSIM, Opticks, and ORFEO toolbox (OTB). respectively. More, FLTK, LibSVM, and OpenJPEG Table 2, and Fig. 2, OTB is chosen as open source to are the libraries for graphical user interface, newly implement and test in this work, with the supervised classification of Support Vector Machine reasons of multi-platform supporting, modularity of algorithm, and Jpeg2000 format, respectively. user interfaces, and physical connecting with geo- Further, libKML is for Google vector data format spatial database, besides full functionalities including supporting. And 6S is used for radiometric pre-processing and post-processing. OTB is a processing. OSSIM is for sensor modelling, DEM somewhat complex system and needs to be validated modeling and map projections in OTB. Monteverdi both at a computing engineering level and at in OTB is for uses of GUI to build applications or functionality level. It is known that about 3000 C++ uses the applications. Table 2 is the comparative list classes are already available in the current version of for function types of OSSIM, Opticks, and OTB. This OTB for most of the usual operations on remote comparison work is basically by tentative results sensing images. Besides integrated user interface based on users guide