Utilizing Grid Computing to Support Near Real-Time Geospatial Applications

The increasing utilization of geospatial information to facilitate emergency decisions requires a Geographic Information System (GIS) to process large amounts of geospatial data in a timely fashion. Real-time GIS applications require sub-second response time to analytical operations on large and highly dynamic datasets for timely decisions. Leveraging idle workstations is a feasible method to meet the processing challenge. Grid computing, a new computing infrastructure, provides a potential solution to harness idle workstations and other resources in a flexible manner. This paper describes our research on using grid computing to support near real-time geospatial applications with near real-time routing as an example. A grid with 2, 4, 8, 22 CPU cores are used to test the grid performance. It is demonstrated that the grid-enabled geospatial applications can enhance the computing efficiency by harnessing distributed computing resources.