D4.1.1 Development Guidelines for Data Integration and Processing - Version 1

This document is the first deliverable planned within the scope of Work Package 4 (WP4), an important component of IQmulus, whose target is the development of the services for functional and domain-specific processing of spatial data. The role of this deliverable reflects the role of Task 4.1 within WP4: the task activities are meant to monitor, coordinate, and harmonize the activities carried out within the scope of the other tasks in the work package, and the deliverables expected within Task 4.1 will regularly report on these aspects. This first deliverable (D4.1.1) contributes to the harmonized development of the processing services in two ways: on one side, it provides an integrated picture of the partners' views on cutting-edge methods for data processing as perceived at the early stage of IQmulus, and on the other side it sets initial guidelines on the prioritization of services and their development strategy. Both the survey of existing methods and the prioritization reflect the WP4-oriented analysis of the user requirements and, as such, complement the other crucial documents delivered in the first six months of activities of IQmulus within the scope of WP1 and WP2. The partners involved in WP4 have different backgrounds and expertise: remote sensing, computer vision, and computer graphics to cite the major areas of interest. The terminology used in the various domains is slightly different and the approaches to data processing as well: the survey therefore represents an interesting and varied coverage of methods for spatial data processing, integration, and analysis, which are discussed with respect to several aspects, such as data hetereogeneity, representation model, computational complexity, and robustness. The state-of-the-art analysis complements D1.1 (WP1) by a more in-depth discussion on the algorithmic aspects of the various methods, and it is complemented by D2.1 (WP2), which will provide a more systematized comparison of existing software and/or libraries for geo-spatial data processing. Concerning the actual guidance to service development, the strategy adopted is the following. First of all, the development guidance should cover technical issues such as: selection of the development environment, definition of the structure for documenting processing history, adoption of the validation framework, maintenance of a prioritized list of services to be developed. Among these aspects, D4.1.1 focuses on the prioritized list of services (basic and functional) that will be needed to provide concrete examples of processing output on selected user stories and their data. In the next version (due M12), the deliverable will be updated with the inclusion of data processing documentation and more details on technical issues. This deliverable will work as a "living" document, and it will be continuously updated, in order to adapt to the evolution of the other WPs. During the first year, in particular, we expect that input from WP2 on the architecture of the IQmulus infrastructure will substantially influence the development guidelines of WP4, affecting especially the data partioning strategies according to the options offered by the infrastructure (first draft due M12). As agreed with the contributing partners, Giuseppe Patanè, as Task 4.1 Leader, and Michela Spagnuolo, as Work Package 4 Leader, will pursue in collaboration with the involved partners the submission of a revised version of this deliverable as a book wrapping up the contributions of the partners to the topics of WP4.