I work for a company that conducts modeling and analysis work on large 3D CAD and GIS datasets. For each project we work on, we can have hundreds of individual .las
files (LiDAR point cloud data) that combine to cover the entire spatial area we wish to work on at one time. We find it is very difficult to track what data has been delivered and determine when complete spatial coverage for an area of interest is complete.
I have investigated various Product Lifecycle Management and Product Data Management softwares, but I found these are mostly meant for physically manufactured products and not necessarily suited for data products. I have also investigated various project management softwares, but these seem to track data about costs and schedules and do not track that raw data that is necessary for conducting analysis.
I realize this question is very broad and it is meant to be. I am unaware of any potential solutions to the data management problem and I am hoping others may be able to provide some insight.
To Recap: Our workflow requires several different types of data from various sources covering various spatial (geographic) extents. Are there software packages/systems out there for managing raw data collection and determining when the next step of a workflow is ready to proceed based on the types and amount of data currently available?
Thanks in advance for your help. I'm finding it difficult to describe what is need in a simple way as I have not found any examples of this problem elsewhere, so please ask questions to help clarify the issue.