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India launched a geoportal which enables the user to easily access information on basic natural resources in the geospatial domain, particularly the Indian images and thematic information in multiple spatial resolutions. The “Bhuvan” whose beta version was launched by Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Prithviraj Chavan in New Delhi at a function organized by Astronautical Society of India, showcases Indian images by the superimposition of the Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite imageries on 3D globe. Several leading Scientists including Member Planning Commission, Dr. K Kasturirangan, Dr. G Madhavan Nair who is also the Chairman, ISRO/ Secretary, Department of Space, Secretary, DST, Dr. T. Ramasami, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Dr Shailesh Nayak, former Chairman of ISRO, Prof. UR Rao, DG IMD, Dr. Ajit Tyagi witnessed the moment which opened the door to graphic visualization of digital geospatial India.

Bhuvan which can be accessed at http://bhuvan.nrsc.gov.in, displays satellite images of varying resolution of India’s surface, allowing users to visually see things like cities and important places of interest looking perpendicularly down or at an oblique angle, with different perspectives and can navigate through 3D viewing environment. The degree of resolution showcased is based on the points of interest and popularity, but most of the Indian terrain is covered up to at least 6 meters of resolution with the least spatial resolution being 55 meters from AWifs Sensor.

Basic features of Bhuvan:

>> Access, explore and visualise 2D and 3D image data along with rich thematic information on Soil, wasteland, water resources etc.

>> Visualise multi-resolution, multi-sensor, multi-temporal image data

>> Superpose administrative boundaries of choice on images as required

>> Visualisation of AWS (Automatic Weather Stations) data/information in a graphic view and use tabular weather data of user choice

>> Fly to locations (Flies from the current location directly to the selected location)

>> Heads-Up Display (HUD) navigation controls (Tilt slider, north indicator, opacity, compass ring, zoom slider)

>> Navigation using the 3D view Pop-up menu (Fly-in, Fly out, jump in, jump around, view point)

>> 3D Fly through (3D view to fly to locations, objects in the terrain, and navigate freely using the mouse or keyboard)

>> Drawing 2D objects (Text labels, polylines, polygons, rectangles, 2D arrows, circles, ellipse)

>> Drawing 3D Objects (placing of expressive 3D models, 3D polygons, boxes)

>> Snapshot creation (copies the 3D view to a floating window and allows to save to a external file)

>> Measurement tools (Horizontal distance, aerial distance, vertical distance, measure area)

>> Shadow Analysis (it sets the sun position based on the given time creating shadows and effects the lighting on the terrain)

>> There would be many more value added functions and facilities which will be added into the package from time to time.

>> Particular interest of ISRO/DOS would be to provide such functionalities to common man so that he/she adopts participatory approach with scientists to solve simple problems easily and interactively.

Advanced functionalities to be provided in future versions

>>> Urban Design Tools (to build roads, junctions and traffic lights in an urban setting)

>>> Contour map ( Displays a colorized terrain map and contour lines)

>>> Terrain profile ( Displays the terrain elevation profile along a path)

>>> Draw tools (Creates simples markers, free hand lines, urban designs)

>>> Navigation map (to jump to and view locations in the 3D India)

Source: PIB

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