The main goal of the project is to research techniques aimed at improving the accessibility of Russian satellite remote sensing data. Developments in GIS and WWW technologies are providing new tools for finding and retrieving data over computer networks. However, further research is required to establish how best to exploit these new tools in the field of satellite Earth observation in the NIS and then to feedback the findings into the further development of the generic technologies.

The specific objectives of the project are to investigate issues concerning
1) the structure and generation of Russian satellite information resources (including database generation, archiving, metadata generation and catalogue creation;
2) catalogue access and data delivery over the internet;
3) integrating Russian satellite data information resources with the European INFEO and global network of Earth Observation information systems.

Potential end-users of the satellite data are included in the proposed consortium in order to ensure that the research is well directed and addresses the issues of concern to data users. Some support is also given for providing education and training material for combining Earth observation and information systems for environmental monitoring.