Spatio-temporal indexing of the Quikscat wind data

Global wind data are increasingly used in many applications and research fields, mainly because it provides global coverage of ocean winds with an unprecedented view, and data are available at a sufficiently large spatial scale and high temporal resolution. Global wind data provided by QuikSCAT is highly variable and needs a completely adapted index to enhance the retrieval process of the desired data. A novel indexing method has been developed, named Q-full-tree, integrating two existing structures: Q-tree, as the spatial index, and LV-tree, as the temporal index. Also, a particularized bulk load process for the QuikSCAT data has been designed. Q-full-tree remains completely accessible all wind data from the QuikSCAT since the satellite was launched, at any granularity, any spatial query, and any time interval.