1. Capacity Building for the Agriculture Service eStation Presentation
SADC THEMA
Agriculture Service
Capacity Building for the Agriculture Service
eStation Presentation
By: Thembani Moitlhobogi
System Engineer
AMESD SADC THEMA

2. SADC Regional Training, Pretoria 2011
A Brief History
History
Beginnings at European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC, Ispra, Italy)‏
- First version developed at JRC: central repository for satellite data (low resolution) on Africa, and their time series processing.
- JRC setup an African-Caribbean-Pacific Observatory. One mandate is to write environmental reports → A component is added to the eStation to allow a group of expert to exploit eStation data and collaborate in the same report (wiki-like)‏
eStation stands for Environmental Station
SADC Regional Training, Pretoria

3. SADC Regional Training, Pretoria 2011
A Brief History
→ a strong involvement of African partners is desired
→ the system was designed to support user's contribution:
regional configuration
User's are welcome to share their experience and knowledge: community building:
SADC Regional Training, Pretoria

4. Architecture overview
Data synchronisation
The eStation is made of two PCs: PS stores data and makes processings on those data. EMMA is a web server hosting visualisation applications and collaborative report assistant application. EMMA has also a synchronised version of PS data and database
Data storage & DB
Redundant data & DB
SADC Regional Training,Pretoria

5. SADC Regional Training, Pretoria 2011
Users' involvement
Users can design their own processing chain and put them into production, distribute their own processing
Software component modularity allows building users' specific processing
- use provided software components to build up your own products
- get data from various sources (Eumetcast, ftp, web services), including systems hosted in our premises (ex. Smb, ntfs...)‏
The eStation is made of software “bricks” allowing you to build new processing chains.
The idea is to allow expanding the capacity of the system to fulfill each institution needs.
Another important idea is to build a community where experience, production, tips and tricks and data can be exchanged
SADC Regional Training, Pretoria

6. AMESD station components
An AMESD station is made of
An EumetCast receiving station (tellicast): data acquisition via EumetCast → see MFI training
eStation's Processing Station (PS)‏
Export data format to geotif to a self organized archive (acquired data)‏
Automatically perform processing (generated data). User's can add new processing on purpose
Grant access to the data (acquired and generated) through LAN
eStation's Environmental Mapping and Monitoring for Africa (EMMA): optimize team work for writing environmental report
Display data as maps with team's predefined options
Export/import maps, import other illustration in user's portfolio
Web-browser based application to design and write reports
SADC Regional Training, Pretoria

7. Technical specification of the eStation
eStation on 2 identical PCs (PS and EMMA), each with
DELL MT Optiplex 780
Intel dual core, 2.93 GHz
RAM: 4GB DDR3
HD1: 1TB (data)‏
HD2: 160Gb (system)‏
Display: DELL E '' widescreen
OS: Linux Ubuntu 8.04
Ethernet switch Netgear FS 608 (8 ports)‏
UPS: DELL UPS 1000W
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8. Architecture overview
Basic ideas
All open source, only freeware
The eStation is a system not a software: it does not replace GIS desktop software
Adapted to AMESD needs: recognize data formats (DevCoCast, MSG), get data from EumetCast, automatic installation for AMESD PCs
Users can apply customisation: region of interest and write their own specific processing chains
Update mechanism (dissemination by EumetCast)‏
Most daily maintenance can be done through a graphical interface
Mostly scripts based: all codes are readable (bash, python, xml)‏
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9. SADC Regional Training, Pretoria 2011
PS System View
SADC Regional Training, Pretoria

10. SADC Regional Training, Pretoria 2011
EMMA System View
EMMA
EMMA: reads data stores on PS, display them as maps, ready to insert into reporter
Reporter: web browser based tool, to design and write reports. Multiple simultaneous authors (wiki like), maintain many styles of reports, archive issues.
reporter
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11. PS Automation EumetCast, FTP, web services New data ? No, scan again
yes
scheduler
Get data
Get layer
eStation input directory
Data collected?
derived layer
triggers
Import to geotiff, rename, organize
Processings scripts
ingest layer
Data storage
Compute new data
SADC Regional Training, Pretoria

12. SADC Regional Training, Pretoria 2011
PS Automation
Data flow example: SPOT/VEGETATION NDVI
Africa NDVI is made every 10 days at VITO/Belgium
Send by EumetCast (vgt4africa_S10_NDVI.zip)‏
PS get it, extract the zip file, transform hdf files into geotiff with internal compression, rename files _NDVI.tif and _SM.tif
Update statistics about those files: annual average, dekad average, min, max, std, and others
All data (acquired and computed) stored on the eStation and shared (SMB and EMMA)‏
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13. SADC Regional Training, Pretoria 2011
PS Data
\\ \data\processing
SADC Regional Training, Pretoria

14. SADC Regional Training, Pretoria 2011
PS Data
SADC THEMA data examples:
SADC_THEMA_NDVI_ _SADC_V1.bz2
Contents:-
SADC_THEMA_NDVI_ _SADC_V1.tif
SADC_THEMA_NDVI_ _meta.txt
THEMA_NDVI_ _SADC_quicklook.png
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15. PS Install Chain Config
Chain configuration to be sent to administrators by /ftp
Configuration package to be installed on PS to enable the eStation to receive get SADC_THEMA* products from the acquisition machine and also to visualize on EMMA.
Format: SADC_THEMA_NDVIdiffavg.deb
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16. SADC Regional Training,Pretoria 2011
EMMA Visualisation
SADC Regional Training,Pretoria