An investigation into file formats for the use and delivery of large format images

The Scan and Shaft Project working group on file formats was tasked to evaluate the new breed of wavelet compression-based file formats for use with the scanned maps and field slips scanned by the project, but also for the wide range of other large format image files held in BGS e.g. remote sensing imagery, scanned aerial photography and geological photographs. Four main requirements were specified. The format must be compatible with GIS environments in use in BGS and needs to support georeferencing; the format must be compatible with existing plotting and printing processes and software in BGS or alternatively, provide an efficient mechanism for potting with the range of BGS plotters and printers; the format must allow the efficient delivery of the images from hierarchical file servers and using web based interface and finally the software to create the files must be capable of batch processing for automated conversion of large numbers of files.