NEWS RELEASE July 1, 2001 TerraFly Project High-Performance Database Research Center School of Computer Science Florida International University

Contact: Martha Gutierrez Phone: (305) 348-6262 or (305) 348-1706 | Fax: (305) 348-1705 | E-mail: Address: 11200 SW 8th Street, Miami, FL 33199

The High-Performance Database Research Center (HPDRC) at Florida International University has announced that the front end of its TerraFly project will be hosted by the NAP (Network Access Point) of the Americas. The NAP of the Americas is a state-of-the-art facility providing interconnection among global carriers, ISPs, and others. The carrier-neutral NAP of the Americas is one of the most significant telecommunications projects in the Western Hemisphere, as it will connect fiber networks in Latin America, Europe, and Africa to those in the United States. It is only the fifth Tier-1 NAP in the Western Hemisphere.

The HPDRC has also announced its participation in AmericasPATH (AMPATH), a project that aims to further the availability of high-speed commodity Internet, Internet-2, and high-speed research Internet facilities in Latin America. Created by a partnership between Florida International University and Global Crossing, AMPATH uses Global Crossing's terrestrial and submarine fiber-optical network to connect Latin American users to Internet-2 and Next Generation Internet networks around the globe. Participating research centers have the opportunity to contribute to the research and development of applications that advance Internet technologies.

TerraFly, the project to be hosted by the NAP of the Americas, is a new Internet-based technology that makes it possible for users to "fly over" vast land areas using only an ordinary Web browser. By using high-resolution imagery collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and other sources, users can experience an overhead view of almost any location in the United States at a one-meter resolution-without the expense of standard GIS application software. The project, which is funded by NASA, the National Science Foundation, and IBM, can be accessed on the Web at http://www.terrafly.com.