Satellite Imagery to Shell Desktops

ER Mapper (Australia) has rolled out a new software solution for Shell exploration and production that makes Shell's twelve terabyte archive of satellite imagery available to users throughout the world. The solution was built by ER Mapper's enterprise services team and features the Image Web Server product, which uses patented image compression and serving technologies to provide a fast and responsive system, even when serving very large images to many users.

Using a web browser, users simply zoom to a particular location to see the list of images available for that area. They can then ask for information about the images, examine them, compare them with others, and if desired, bring them directly into desktop applications like ER Mapper's image processing product, Microsoft Word or ESRI's ArcGIS product.

The solution provides all Shell's potential imagery users, regardless of their background or knowledge of image processing, with a centralised, easy-to-access repository of images. Users include remote sensing, GIS, and CAD specialists who needed to use the imagery in their desktop applications, as well as non-specialist staff who might want to do something as simple as embedding some local imagery into a document or presentation.