Frequently asked questions
What is SpatialCloud?
SpatialCloud is a geospatial services company providing enterprise-ready web-based tools to warehouse, process, publish, and visualize geodata using cloud infrastructure.
What are SpatialCloud’s services?
Our primary focus is imagery. Our goal is to you give you access to new high-resolution imagery as quickly as possible and do that on a global scale. Our first data product is a seamless 1m coverage of the USA (USA NAIP) provided as WMTS (web mapping tiled service). What makes our services different is that it’s a pay as go service that doesn't restrict you as a developer to on-sale data to your own customers. We charge you for use, but we also provide you log data on how much your customers consumed so that you can re-sell it if that is your interest. The only thing we ask you not to do is just copy our data to setup your own service. We think that once you see how much data that involves and what it costs to park that data elsewhere, you will see the value of using SpatialCloud.com.
SpatialCloud’s core services are intended for two classes of user. Developers looking for better/unrestricted image layers to use in their GeoWeb applications and image content providers who want to outsource the distribution of their data. SpatialCloud services are built on Amazon Web Services. They are super-scalable. They are inexpensive. More are planned.
What will SpatialCloud’s services actually do? How will they benefit me?
SpatialCloud content allows you to deploy that “satellite” view made famous by Google Maps and others, within your own corporate application, your public real estate website, or just on your desktop. Combined with vector data such as Open Street Maps (OSM) from providers such as CloudMade and with FOSS tools such Openlayers you can deploy large-scale applications with integrated maps using the Data-As-A-Service (DAAS) model.
Who do you expect will use SpatialCloud’s services?
The intended market for SpatialCloud is the developer writing geospatial applications that need high-quality, reliable aerial imagery using standard web services. Possible applications of SpatialCloud’s services are unlimited. End-users include governments, corporations, not-for-profit organizations, and individuals who have an interest in distributing mapping data to any number of clients. In-house developers or consultants can utilize SpatialCloud resources to make these applications a reality. Imagery and geospatial data providers are able to immediately store and distribute their high-value imagery to clients inside their organization or throughout the world. All of this is possible without the developer or end-user having to incur substantial costs for the computers, networking, and storage devices needed to house this data and provide these reliable services.
Why would I use SpatialCloud for my 2D/3D mapping applications instead of Google Maps, Google Earth, or Bing Maps?
The initial product release, SpatialCloud USA (NAIP) and World (Landsat), are TMS (tiled mapping services) that works in the same fashion as Google Maps and Bing Maps image tiles but is built according to the OpenGIS WMTS spec rather than a proprietary one. However, SpatialCloud USA (NAIP) and World (Landsat), are purely aerial image products and not intended to be a replacement for other map layers. They are meant to be used in conjunction with other web services providing additional layers, such as OSM data from CloudMade.
What differentiates the SpatialCloud USA (NAIP) and World (Landsat) data from other API services they are metered systems. You pay only for what you use. This allows use of this product from a single individual to a public website without any upfront costs, in fact no changes are needed as you add users to your secure MapStream. In addition, because it is a metered system, SpatialCloud is not concerned about the where and how of its deployment. There are no seat licenses. In addition, SpatialCloud assumes that SpatialCloud content will be resold.
Couldn't I just use Amazon Web Services and bypass SpatialCloud services?
Yes, SpatialCloud is based on a number of AWS services and for some projects and it might make sense to just use something like S3 on your own. However, SpatialCloud provides services such as methods to control and log access to your data, and later systems to process new data, that will make your life easier. As developers you want to concentrate on your application not on the data or, at least, not all of the data.
Who is backing this project?
SpatialCloud was initiated by
Aerial Services, Inc., a geospatial company providing aerial photography, mapping, and GIS solutions since 1967. Aerial Services wants to bring all data providers and developers together to give the world high-quality and high-value geospatial data without strings attached in a reliable, scalable, inexpensive, and data management-free manner. SpatialCloud will make this happen.
Who is working on this project?
Mark Korver is the chief technology guru. He is the former CEO of Alchemedia, Inc. (Tokyo, Japan) and while there worked on large-scale GeoWeb projects and Java-based 3D globes. Mike Tully, President & CEO tries to stay out of the way. Joshua McNary, Marketing Manager, tries to make sense of all this to a busy world. We have a small core of other highly-skilled programmers working together to make these services the best the world has ever seen.
Where are you located?
All over the world, connecting virtually. The major players in the team are located in Cedar Falls, Iowa; Green Bay, Wisconsin; Toyko, Japan; Barcelona, Spain; and Paris, France. Our main office is in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
How is SpatialCloud going to make money? Will services be expensive?
SpatialCloud’s first product release, the SpatialCloud USA (NAIP) data and World (Landsat) imagery product is based on
Amazon S3’s DevPay system. DevPay is a system that allows anybody to sell content hosted on Amazon’s S3 in a secure way. Fundamentally, DevPay allows SpatialCloud to add its own margin on top of what Amazon charges for S3 services. Because of this, payments from you to SpatialCloud are handled entirely by Amazon Payments which is the payment processor for Amazon DevPay. For instance, you buy SpatialCloud USA (NAIP) data product from Amazon, meaning you agree to be billed for usage at the end of the month, then register that information to SpatialCloud. This then allows you to create your own secure SpatialCloud MapStreams to allow access to the USA (NAIP) product. SpatialCloud never sees your credit card information or other financial information.
SpatialCloud is targeted at both developers looking for image data and for content suppliers with image data. Content suppliers can upload data to SpatialCloud and allow other registered users access (for a fee or not) to this data via the above secure DevPay mechanism.
SpatialCloud gets paid a small (very) amount for every byte of data your applications consume. The billing model is the same as Amazon’s S3 on which SpatialCloud is built. As users of your applications use/view this data, a fee is incurred. If no use occurs, no fees are charged. If you upload you own data to SpatialCloud for processing and distribution (to public or private; global or local user groups), then you will incur fees for data preparation, storage, and distribution. Developers and resellers will have a view into their costs via administrative tools provided by SpatialCloud and are free to administer the on-sale of data to others as they choose. SpatialCloud does not plan to restrict the on-sale of data coming off our platform for SpatialCloud branded data. This means that you are free to charge your users for services you receive from SpatialCloud as you wish. SpatialCloud (through Amazon) will bill you in aggregate for services, but we will provide you information on what you are charged at a MapStream level.
What is the pTolemy3D viewer?
pTolemy3D is SpatialCloud’s contribution to the OS community. Much of SpatialCloud is built on FOSS geospatial tools such as GDAL/OGR, PROJ4, and MapServer. pTolemy3D is an cross-platform open-source viewer and tools which simplifies access to 3D geospatial data in a browser. The Viewer is a Java applet with an Javascript API allowing AJAX style application development. You can learn more about this independent project at
http://www.pTolemy3D.org. But in short, you can “roll your own” 3D earth.
Why are you making pTolemy3D open/free?
pTolemy3D is open/free because it is strategic to SpatialCloud’s business model. As a content provider, rather than a software vendor, SpatialCloud benefits from FOSS geospatial tools both for its internal use and also for use by its customers. SpatialCloud is sponsoring pTolemy3D with the hope it will mature and grow in popularity just like
OpenLayers which is now the 2D FOSS standard for client viewers.
Do I have to use pTolemy3D to utilize SpatialCloud’s services?
No. All 2D SpatialCloud services will work without using pTolemy3D. pTolemy3D allows you as a developer to create a richer 3D experience with your applications.
Who do I contact if I want more information?
If you would like to learn more about SpatialCloud you may contact
Joshua McNary, Marketing Manager.
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