COLLADA Computing for Geophysical Applications

The COLLADATM open industry XML standard for 3D Graphics Exchange is applied for representation, combination and analysis of geophysical information from disparate sources in 4-Dimensions. COLLADA Computing provides a common linear framework for representing and associating COLLADA spatial-temporal objects from the atmospheric, oceanic, space and geologic domains. Once translated into COLLADA objects, disparate data can be combined and utilized to create cross-domain products regardless of the original coordinate system or data geometry, and can be viewed with any Virtual Globe that supports the COLLADA industry standard. COLLADA Computing algorithms will be developed in the JAVA language to support mathematical and topological operations on these COLLADA spatial objects on multiple compute platforms and operating systems. Linear approximations are applied within spatial tolerance limits for geometric position to enhance compute edfficiency. Using primarily the Affine Transformation, COLLADA Computing on extracts of very large datasets may be sufficient to create many derived products for initial review and analysis. The Phase 1 COLLADA Computing prototype will be demonstrated using Google Earth. Compatibility is also anticipated with the NASA World Wind JAVA SDK when an open source COLLADA geometry engine is added to that capability.

For applications using Google Earth, the planned COLLADA Computing modules are independent of the Google API and therefore are not subject to license restrictions imposed by Google. Similarly, a COLLADA Computing engine could be set up to run independently of NASA World Wind, such that any interface or transaction is carried by the COLLADA 3D Objects themselves and supported by an open source COLLADA plugin. Such a plugin does not presently exist but is being discussed in the NASA World Wind forums. These techniques collectively define a 4-Dimensional Geospatial Information System capability that exceeds the features of commercial GIS packages at this time, namely 3D animation. Applications are available in the atmospheric, oceanographic, space and geological domains, but cross-domain applications will also emerge as they are enabled. The COLLADA Computing approach will also be useful in secondary and undergraduate educational settings.

Object Oriented software for 4-Dimensional COLLADA Computing methods and techniques are developed for cross-disciplinary combination and analysis of atmospheric, oceanic, space and geologic datasets. COLLADA Computing will be useful for creation and analysis of NASA data assets available through portals such as the GSFC Giovanni Science Data Bridge. Products of COLLADA Computing will also be compatible with the WxAzygyREG Transparent Interface for interactive manipulation of 4-Dimensional geophysical content in Virtual Globes such as Google Earth (NASA SBIR 2008-1 S6.04-9159, U.S. Patent Application No. 12/585,025, now in Phase III with NOAA funding). Compatibility is anticipated for the open source NASA World Wind JAVA SDK.

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