Susan Giegerich & Gunter Schreier German Remote Sensing Data Center at DLR Volker Liebig & Thomas Ruwwe DARA, German Space AgencyA service especially designed to meet the requirements of users of earth observation remote sensing data in developing countries
What information is available?
CILS is an electronic information service providing access to such
metainformation as:
A free advertising service
Registered users have the opportunity to provide information about
their own institutions, programs, projects and expertise, advertise their
own calendar events, or call attention to their own data inventories. CILS
will see to it that this information is promptly made available worldwide
on the Internet.
Not only that, users are able to regularly update and modify this information
from their own workplace, anytime, using either WWW browsers or email.
A free subscription service
Users can stay up-to-date by informing CILS at what regular intervals
they would like to be automatically notified about new information added
to CILS' database. This might include anything from addresses of institutions
in Asia and the Pacific, to information about erosion projects worldwide,
or new satellite data products featuring Namibia.
Notification of the availability of subscribed information will be
sent automatically by email or-for selected users by telefax.
What equipment is needed?
For best service, preferably a World Wide Web connection and an email
address, but an email address and a telefax connection would also be adequate.
What is the technical background?
The CEOS Information Locator System is bases on WWW technology and
add-ons developed for the European Commission's Centre for Earth Observation
(CEO) project, specifically the G7 Global Environmental Information Locator
Syslern (GELOS) (http://enrm.ceo.org).
CILS features information interoperability by supporting the z39,50
protocol, and has built-in gateways to a number of CEOS information systems.
The information itself is stored in a simple structured database, The structure
can be customized according to needs and system requirements.
The various ClLS servers, installed worldwide, feature a distributed,
synchronized information exchange, If a user has opted to submit information,
it is independently copied and shared with all other CILS servers.
to be continued
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