Using Web services for atmospheric correction of remote sensing data

We present the technical implementation details for a prototype central atmospheric correction parameter server called NOMAD (Networked On-line Mapping of Atmospheric Data). Using a Web service, aerosol optical depth (AOD) values are transmitted via the network to a Web service aware atmospheric correction application. Information about the date and location of the image are extracted automatically from the image, allowing a best estimate of AOD at 500 nm to be retrieved from the central server database. A Web service approach was adopted to allow easy cross platform development in multiple software languages. Using the Web Services Definition Language (WSDL) description of the atmospheric correction parameter server Web service, application developers can easily make their atmospheric correction applications "Web aware". On the server side, researchers maintaining the central database are free to concentrate on providing the best quality data available.