Key Concepts
NIMA Digital Data is distributed as very large data sets, usually on CD-ROMor magnetic tape. Typically, a user's area of interest is just a small pieceof the distribution media. NIMAMUSE provides mechanisms to extract rasterand vector data in manageable "patches" from a user-defined area from withinthe distribution media. This user-defined "patch" is a rectangle (or rectangles)that represent your area of interest.
It is a prerequisite that the major NIMAMUSE applications -- Fusion, PerspectiveScene and Line of Sight -- read digital map data that has first been processedand staged by NIMAMUSE vector and raster data extraction mechanisms. Thesemechanisms are two applications in NIMAMUSE named the Raster Importer(rast_imp) and the Vector Importer (vpf_imp). These two programs arewhat you use when you need to access and prepare NIMA Digital Data.
These Access and Prepare mechanisms can also output directly to many rasterand vector commercial formats for further processing using software otherthan NIMAMUSE.
Reasons to Access & Prepare NIMA DigitalData
To Extract Your Area of Interest for Further Processing using NIMAMUSE.To use the NIMAMUSE applications Fusion, Perspective Scene, or Line of Sight,you are required to extract your NIMA vector and raster data using VectorImporter and Raster Importer.
To Extract Your Area of Interest for immediate display using NIMAMUSE.You can display NIMA digital data on your computer monitor using Fusion.Keep in mind that extracting data using the Raster Importer and Vector Importerreads the NIMA digital data from the input CD-ROM and writes the data toyour system's hard drive. Be cautioned that importing too much data willfill up your hard drive. If your intent is to just browse over the NIMA digitaldata, an appropriate browser will be a better choice that Fusion. The NIMAMUSECD-ROM has browser software for Vector Product Format (VPF) data, a browserfor ADRG, and a family of browsers for Raster Product Format (RPF). Thesebrowsers read directly from the CD-ROM. See theMiscellaneous NIMA Applications page (MNA.DOC)of the NIMAMUSE documentation to find these browsers and for instructionson how to use them.
To Extract Your Area of Interest for Further Processing using softwareother than NIMAMUSE. You can output NIMA digital data in many commercialformats using the Vector Importer and the Raster Importer. This makes NIMAdigital data available to be used by many commercial software packages.
How to Access & Prepare NIMA Digital Data
As mentioned before, there are two separate applications in NIMAMUSE thatallow you to access and preselect specific and well-defined areas of NIMAdigital data: the Raster Importer (rast_imp) and the Vector Importer(vpf_imp).
Raster Importer
The Raster Importer (rast_imp) inputs NIMA Raster Data products and outputsselected patches in NIMAMUSE Raster Format or commercial formats. The RasterImporter can also input several international raster formats.
To operate the Raster Importer, you need to (1) identify one of the seventypes of NIMA (or on of the four international types) raster data you areimporting (see the above diagram) , (2) select one of four methods of geographicarea definition, and (3) select an output format.
Once your choices have been made, the Raster Importer will create your newdigital image, ask you to name it, then save it to your disk drive as afile.
Vector Importer
The Vector Importer (vpf_imp) inputs NIMA Vector Data products in VectorProduct Format (VPF) and outputs features in selected patches in NIMAMUSEVector Format or commercial formats.
To operate the Vector Importer, you need to (1) identify one of the ninetypes of NIMA VPF vector data you are importing (see the above diagram),(2) pre-set the output format, (3) select the VPF Library, VPF Coverage andVPF Feature Class you are interested in, and (4) identify the geographicextents from which your vector data will be selected. (5) You also make choiceson the symbology (color, line weight) of your features, and (6) choose afilename on your disk where your selected features will be saved. Steps 3,4and 6 are typically repeated to import additional Feature Classes and Coveragesover the same geographic extents.
Related NIMAMUSE Documents
Raster Importer RAST_IMP.DOC
Raster Importer Users Guide RAST_UG.DOC
Vector Importer VPF_IMP.DOC
Vector Importer Users Guide VPFI_UG.DOC
Fusion FUSION.DOC
Fusion Users Guide FUS_UG.DOC
Build Your Own Map BYOM.DOC
Run Specialty Applications RSA.DOC
NIMAMUSE 2.1 Documentation INTRO.DOC