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= Welcome to rasdaman! =

This is the website of the rasdaman project.
Rasdaman ("''__ras__ter __da__ta __man__ager''") is an '''array database system''' (also called "raster database system"). It allows to retrieve and maintain '''multi-dimensional [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Array arrays]''' of unlimited size stored in standard relational databases through an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sql SQL]-style query language. The information category "array" appears - as '''sensor, image, or statistics data''' - in manifold [wiki:ApplicationDomains applications], such as '''earth sciences, space sciences, life sciences, engineering, and multimedia'''. Rasdaman allows to quickly set up array-intensive [wiki:Features services] which are [wiki:WhyRasdaman distinguished] by their flexibility, speed, and scalability.

The petascope plug-in to rasdaman, which is part of the distribution, offers '''[http://www.opengeospatial.org OGC] standards based services''' on multi-dimensional '''geo raster data'''.
Petascope implements all specifications contained in the OGC Web Coverage Service (WCS) standards suite for gridded [http://www.opengeospatial.org/ogc/glossary/c coverages], i.e., raster data: [http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards/wcs Web Coverage Service] (WCS) for '''simple data subsetting'''. rasdaman will be the WCS 2.0 reference implementation; [http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards/wcps Web Coverage Processing Service] (WCPS) which defines a '''language for the extraction, processing, and analysis of raster data''' (see also this [http://www.ogcnetwork.net/wcps WCPS info page]); petascope is the WCPS reference implementation; [http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards/wcps WCS Transaction Extension] (WCS-T) for '''updating raster data''' offered by a WCS-conformant service.

Soon a [http://www.gdal.org/ GDAL] rasdaman driver, [http://mapserver.org/ MapServer] integration, and [http://postgis.refractions.net/ PostGIS] integration will be available, see [wiki:Planning our planning].

[http://www.earthlook.org EarthLook] is a demonstration site showcasing rasdaman and petascope in a variety of 1-D to 4-D geo use cases.

== News ==

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      <dt>September 6-9, 2010</dt><dd>-- Rasdaman will be presented at the [http://2010.foss4g.org Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial Conference] (FOSSGIS) 2010 in Barcelona.</dd>
      <dt>August 2, 2010</dt><dd>-- A first version of the GDAL driver has been completed and tested. Now we will proceed making it available.</dd>
      <dt>[wiki:News more news...]</dt><dd></dd>
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== Download, Installation, Documentation  ==

Go to the [http://www.rasdaman.org/wiki/Download Download page] for instructions. The installation steps are described on the [http://www.rasdaman.org/wiki/Install Install page]. There is ample [http://www.rasdaman.org/wiki/Documentation documentation], including query and programming examples.

== Support ==

The [http://www.jacobs-university.de/lsis Large-Scale Scientific Information Services research group] at [http://www.jacobs-university.de Jacobs University Bremen] is the core development team. Feel free to contact us!

A dedicated research spin-off company, [http://www.rasdaman.com rasdaman GmbH], provides software enhancements, expert consultancy, participation in projects, and joint ventures on a commercial basis to foster widespread use of rasdaman. 

== PS: Greetings to all [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rastafari_movement rastafarians]! ''wha'ppen, man?'' ==