Change Detection Server (CDS)

The Change Detection Server (CDS) is an advanced near-real-time image processing and exploitation system that automatically captures mosaics, georeferences, projects, compresses, and stores imagery; automatically performs image comparisons between different collections over the same area; then presents the imagery and detected change cues for analysis over a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) web-application called the Change Detection Application (CDA).  

The CDS can be configured as a complete deployable hardware and software system or as a software only installation on COTS commodity hardware.  The deployable system is currently configured for two standard 19” Hardigg Cases and includes two CPU modules with up to 16 cores per module, internal RAID storage, and an integrated keyboard/display unit.  The installed software includes Microsoft Windows 2003 Server, OSSIM (open Source Software Image Map), a customized version of Observera’s SMART (Sensor Model-based Autonomous Registration Tool), the CDS Image Importer, ERDAS Image Web Server, ERDAS ER Mapper, and the CDA.

The CDS is built upon Observera’s SMART (Sensor Model-based Automated Registration Tool), open source image libraries and ERDAS’s image compression and image serving software.  The CDS is configured to take advantage of multiple-processing architectures via coarse-grained parallel processing in order to achieve high-levels of image throughput.

To date the CDS has been used with 19 different collection platforms and many different imagery and metadata formats.  The CDS can be customized to meet your specific change detection needs, often in a matter of weeks.

Change Detection Application

The Change Detection Application (CDA) is designed to easily allow an analyst to compare a recent image with a previous one. The CDA has two geographically linked displays that allow interactive roaming and zooming of both images simultaneously, as well as manual adjustment of the co-registration, brightness and contrast, and RGB level controls (color imagery).  The CDA also provides a capability for the operator to annotate items of interest with target symbols.  The annotations can be used to automatically generate spot reports that contain a before and after snapshot of the area around each item, an overview image and geographic coordinates of each item. Automatic change detection algorithms generate a cueing overlay in order to speed analysis and focus users on areas of change.