Service oriented support for heterogeneous software tools in environmental modelling and visualisation

Abstract

Natural resources management policies often entail a complex environmental decision-making process. This process can be greatly enhanced if it is based on an exploratory-envisioning system such as the Spatial Information Exploration and Visualisation Environment (SIEVE). This system integrates Geographical Information Systems, collaborative virtual environments, and other Spatial Data Infrastructures with highly interactive game-engine software. By leveraging these technologies, the system increases the potential for every participant, regardless of his level of involvement to have a better understanding of the issues at hand and to make better informed decisions. In a like manner, current scientific research has taken advantage of e-science platforms that share resources and enhance distributed simulation, analysis and visualization. Many of these infrastructures use one or more collaborative software paradigms like Grid Computing, High Level Architecture (HLA) and Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), which together provide an optimal environment for heterogeneous and distant, real-time collaboration. While significant progress has been made using these collaborative platforms, frequently there is no particular software suite that fulfils all requirements for an entire organization or case study. In these cases, an end-user must cope manually with a collection of tools and its exporting/importing capabilities to obtain the output needed for a particular purpose. This paper proposes a modular, real-time collaborative framework based upon user and tool-wrapping interfaces that are compliant not only with the aforementioned exploratory virtual environment, but also with web service-based Grid and HLA technology guidelines. The framework architecture is divided as follows: • Visualization Layer Services: composed of modules that offer the end visualization outcome, which depends on performance/quality of detail required to visualize the same data provided by the next layer. This layer includes Web Client services, Virtual Collaborative Environment interface services and high definition rendering services. • Management/Orchestration Layer Services: process services that link and sequence services according to existing and potentially new visualization requirements. These automated services further delegate specialized functions such as management, security, batch processing and similar features. This layer includes a Workflow Manager, a Simulation Real Time Infrastructure Manager, a Render Manager and a Grid Middleware Manager. • Data Layer Services: data sources that can be composited to feed spatial and non-spatial information requirements that the orchestration layer needs to fulfil its lifecycle. • Communication Services: encapsulating CityGML information using Web Services protocols (Web Service Description Language -WSDL, Simple Object Access Protocol -SOAP, and Universal Description Discovery and Integration -UDDI), data is transferred from all layers through Wrappers/Interfaces that are implemented by standard contracts on each module. In this manner, this framework orchestrates the use of heterogeneous software tools which collectively support distributed visual spatial analysis and complex environmental decision-making processes. A proof-of-concept prototype will be presented to illustrate a combination of representative commercial and open source software used in the area of spatial visualization, distributed computing and complex environmental simulation.