Web Services in Earth Observation

This thesis deals with the following question: "How can an Earth observation archive and the corresponding services be developed and made accessible using Web services and internationally accepted Web service standards?" To answer this question first some prominent Web service specifications together with Geography Mark-up Language are covered. The latter constitutes an important tool, heavily connected to geospatial Web services. Furthermore, the European Space Agency´s Service Support Environment is introduced which constitutes a central access point and a neutral and open service-enabling environment for geospatial Web services. Thereafter the main contribution of the thesis is presented. It covers the introduction of an approach to developing an Earth observation archive and its corresponding services utilising Web service technology. This approach is presented by means of the development of the Kompsat European Regional Archive, which was developed at the Austrian Research Centers Seibersdorf in cooperation with the Korean Aerospace Research Institute. Here, images of the Korean Kompsat-1 satellite form the basis of the archive and the services.