As 3D and 4D representations of environmental data take root in other communities, we can expect an increased realization that the requirements for data representation and interchange are quite similar to those the M&S community has experienced for years. Communities that must rely on environmental data, such as GIS, C4I, and entertainment, among others, can greatly benefit from the lessons learned in the M&S field. Representation of environmental data is fundamentally the same, regardless of how such data is applied in different fields, or used in different applications.
This realization played an important role in the design and development of SEDRIS. Part of this is heavily reflected in the deliberate de-coupling between the Data Representation Model, the Data Coding Specification, the Spatial Reference Model, the Interface Specification, and the Transmittal Format. Such de-coupling has a number of design and maintenance benefits. It also allows the individual component technologies to evolve at different rates, and as needed. At the same time SEDRIS treats environmental data without regard to its scope, resolution, or domain of use. So, whether it is used in the M&S domain or some other field, does not change anything in or about SEDRIS.
The combination of these characteristics makes SEDRIS easily suitable for use in practically all application domains that must deal with environmental data.
The GIS and C4I fields, for example, are increasingly requiring the use of 3D and 4D data for visualization, analysis, and evaluation in support of decision-making tasks. The complex, multi-dimensional, and inter-related nature of the data sets that have to come together to rapidly produce meaningful information for the user, not only require sophisticated software applications for analyzing the data quickly, but also require powerful and integrated representational schemas that facilitate processing and interchange of data semantics.
SEDRIS is designed to meet these needs. It is implemented as a fully integrated data representation model, and enables the expression of very complex environmental data relationships. At the same time, it treats the various environment domains (ocean, terrain, atmosphere, and space) equally, while allowing their complete integration. And it has always remained sensitive to the practical needs of end-applications that use such data.