geointel/docs/STORAGE_ARCHITECTURE.md

GeoIntel Kempen — Storage Architecture v1.0

GeoIntel stores metadata in PostgreSQL/PostGIS and binary/geospatial files on filesystem storage or object storage.

Principles

• Database stores metadata, relationships and vector geometries.
• Filesystem/object storage stores original rasters, derived rasters, tiles, masks, reports and model artifacts.
• Every stored file must have a dataset/export/model record in the database.
• Never store large raster binary data directly in regular application tables in V1.

Root storage layout

storage/
  uploads/
    {project_id}/
      rasters/
      vectors/
      lidar/
  rasters/
    derived/
      {project_id}/{dataset_id}/
  tiles/
    {project_id}/{dataset_id}/{tile_set_id}/
  masks/
    {project_id}/{analysis_run_id}/
  previews/
    {project_id}/{dataset_id}/
  exports/
    {project_id}/
      geojson/
      csv/
      reports/
      coco/
      yolo/
  models/
    detection/
    segmentation/
    training-runs/
  cache/
    grb/
    osm/
    sentinel/
    dhmv/
  operator-data/
    geographic-scopes/
      belgium-north-sea/
        adminvector_4326.zip
        adminvector/
          adminvector_4326.gpkg
        belgium_land_boundary.geojson
        belgium_regions.geojson
        belgium_provinces.geojson
        belgium_municipalities.geojson
        ngi_maritime_zone.geojson
        marine_legal_scopes.geojson
        marine_spatial_plan_2026.geojson
        manifest.json

The Belgium/North Sea directory is written only by the explicit provision_belgium_north_sea_scope.py operator. The manifest binds every artifact to SHA256, source URL, edition/validity and feature count. Persistence still runs through the ordinary Dataset upload API; operator artifacts are evidence and replay inputs, not an alternate database.

Upload policy

When a file is uploaded:

1. Save original file unchanged.
2. Compute checksum.
3. Extract metadata.
4. Create dataset record.
5. Create preview if applicable.

Required file metadata:

path
original_filename
mime_type
size_bytes
checksum_sha256
created_at
storage_backend

Derived data policy

Derived files must record:

• source dataset id(s)
• analysis run id or processing job id
• processing parameters
• software component version
• created_at

Segmentation mask artifacts

Sprint 9 stores segmentation masks as filesystem artifacts and segmentation polygons as authoritative PostGIS records.

Default mask path convention:

storage/masks/{project_id}/{analysis_run_id}/tile_{tile_index}/mask_{segmentation_id}.png

Optional run manifest convention:

storage/masks/{project_id}/{analysis_run_id}/manifest.json

Mask files are provenance/debug artifacts. QA, map display and GeoJSON output must use persisted segmentations.geometry rather than mask files.

Cleanup policy

Do not delete originals automatically. Derived outputs may be cleaned through explicit cache management.

Official temporal source artifacts

Statbel population staging stores immutable official source ZIPs below the selected operator output root:

<population-output>/
  raw/{year}/OPENDATA_SECTOREN_{year}[_NEW].zip
  raw/{year}/sh_statbel_statistical_sectors_31370_{year}0101.geojson.zip
  {scope}_statbel_population_{year}.geojson
  {scope}_statbel_population_{year}.preflight.json

The preflight manifest records official URLs, archive/member size and SHA-256, schema fingerprints, EPSG:31370 and situation-date evidence, bounded topology repairs, national/scope join accounting, unlocated ZZZZ totals, baseline change evidence and the final derived-snapshot checksum. The upload operator revalidates all retained files against that manifest. Raw ZIPs and manifests are provenance artifacts; queryable population geometry remains an ordinary Dataset/DatasetVersion plus PostGIS vector_features through the canonical persistence services. Temporary standalone preflight output does not create a database record and may be removed explicitly after operator review.

Governed release-decision evidence is separate from the source artifacts:

storage/operator-evidence/statbel-population-refresh/{scope}/{year}/
  staged-plan.json
  review-evidence.json
  applied-evidence.json

The staged plan binds the current official catalog identity to every retained source/snapshot/preflight hash and accounting summary. Review evidence binds a named approval to that exact plan. Applied evidence binds both approvals to the resulting Dataset id. These JSON files are operator audit artifacts, not database lifecycle entities. A plan/review path outside the configured evidence root or a retained archive outside the population output root is rejected. No evidence file authorizes deletion or in-place replacement.

Waterinfo raw station layers, timeseries responses and checksum manifests live under storage/operator-data/waterinfo/<scope>/. These are immutable source evidence; queryable annual Point snapshots are normal Dataset/vector_feature records. Bounded orthophotos are normal raster Dataset files. Their WMS URL, product/layer, request/spatial hash, temporal validity and limitations are held in source/provenance metadata. Browser PNG rendering is derived on request and does not replace the stored GeoTIFF.

The orthophoto release preflight writes no source file, raster or database row. Its JSON stdout is not staging authorization. Governed release evidence is retained separately per scope, official edition and exact selection hash:

storage/operator-evidence/orthophoto-release/{scope}/{YYYY.NN}/{selection-hash}/
  official-wms-response.tif
  orthophoto_{YYYY.NN}_{selection-hash}.tif
  review-preview.png
  staged-manifest.json
  staged-plan.json
  review-evidence.json
  applied-evidence.json

The manifest binds the one bounded source response, normalized three-band EPSG:31370 GeoTIFF and PNG preview. The plan also binds WMS/WCS/catalog and flight-day preflight identities; review binds a named approval; applied evidence binds both to the immutable Dataset id and checksum. Paths outside this root, changed files and changed provider/local state fail closed. Only the normalized GeoTIFF enters ordinary Dataset storage through DatasetService. Existing release evidence and most_recent_at_* raster metadata are never rewritten. An exact apply retry validates and returns the original applied evidence rather than replacing it.

DHMV II DTM/DSM outputs are also normal raster Dataset files. The provider WCS returns multipart coverage data; GeoIntel retains response and extracted coverage SHA256 values in provenance, then stores one normalized, compressed, Area-clipped GeoTIFF with its ordinary Dataset/DatasetVersion checksum. Source metadata records the 1 m native product, 5 m default analysis grid, EPSG:31370, -9999 nodata, TAW and acquisition period 2013-2015. Colour-relief PNGs are derived browser views and are never authoritative. No raster binary is stored in PostgreSQL and no DHMV file is treated as water depth or volume.

provision_regional_dhmv.py creates no separate evidence hierarchy and no monolithic regional raster. Each municipality/product result remains one ordinary Area-linked raster Dataset plus DatasetVersion. The retained provenance already includes every bounded WCS tile URL and aggregate response, coverage and normalized-output checksum. A repeat operator run resolves the same request identity and reuses the immutable file.

VMM flood-hazard scenario outputs follow the same raster Dataset policy. The bounded acquisition service stores one normalized, compressed, Area-clipped GeoTIFF per scenario/request identity. provision_regional_flood_hazards.py does not create a parallel storage layout: every municipality/scenario result is an ordinary Dataset and DatasetVersion with WCS request hashes, tile request URLs, response/coverage/normalized checksums, EPSG:31370 bounds, scenario metadata and explicit unsupported-volume flags. Repeat runs reuse matching ready Datasets through the acquisition service cache.

The regional Map workspace does not create another authoritative raster or copy pixels into PostgreSQL. Its partition-selection endpoints read only the municipal GeoTIFF windows intersecting a bounded selection, mosaic those windows in memory at the governed analysis resolution and return metrics plus the complete contributing dataset_ids. The 12-million-cell limit applies to the combined window. Persisted files, checksums and DatasetVersions remain the only authoritative artifacts.

BWK/Natura 2000 evidence lives under storage/operator-evidence/bwk-natura2000-2025/mol/. The raw/ directory contains immutable WFS pages; the adjacent manifest records their URLs, checksums, boundary checksum, page/feature counts, clipping diagnostics and official class totals. The final GeoJSON is the retained source artifact while datasets and vector_features remain the canonical queryable PostGIS state.

Definitive agricultural-use parcel evidence lives under:

storage/operator-evidence/agricultural-use-parcels/{scope}/{year}/
  agpa_{year}_*_public.zip
  agricultural_use_parcels_{year}_{scope}.geojson
  agricultural_use_parcels_{year}_crop_codes.json
  agricultural_use_parcels_{year}_{scope}.manifest.json

The official ZIP is immutable source evidence and is never removed by normal cache cleanup. The extracted GeoPackage is temporary to avoid retaining a second full source copy. The normalized GeoJSON is the canonical upload artifact; Dataset and vector_feature rows remain the queryable PostGIS state. The manifest binds source, crop-code list and upload artifact checksums. A checksum conflict with an existing annual Dataset fails closed.

Future definitive-release decision evidence is stored separately from those source artifacts:

storage/operator-evidence/alz-agriculture-refresh/{scope}/{year}/
  staged-plan.json
  review-evidence.json
  applied-evidence.json

The staged plan binds the official publication-page SHA-256 and definitive archive identity to the retained archive, normalized GeoJSON, schema/CRS, crop-code list, scope accounting and previous-edition delta. Review evidence binds a named decision to the exact plan hash. Applied evidence binds both to the resulting immutable Dataset id. Evidence paths outside this root and source artifacts outside agricultural-use-parcels are rejected; these files authorize neither deletion nor in-place Dataset replacement.

Buildings and Addresses Register snapshot evidence lives under:

storage/operator-evidence/buildings-addresses-register/{area-key}/{observed-date}/
  raw/
    buildings_page_*.json
    building_units_page_*.json
    addresses_page_*.json
  buildings_addresses_register.geojson
  buildings_addresses_register.manifest.json

Raw pages contain the unmodified official response and are retained only as checksummed operator evidence. They can contain address labels and must never be served as a map/API artifact. The normalized GeoJSON deliberately contains one polygon per register building with lifecycle state, aggregate relation counts and classified GRB reconciliation only. It enters PostGIS exclusively through DatasetService and ordinary vector_features; the operator never writes database rows directly. The manifest binds all raw pages, the normalized artifact, exact Area boundary and every GRB partition used for reconciliation. The Area key is deterministic (mol, geel, and so on). Reuse also requires the same Area label, observation date and boundary checksum, preventing one municipality's evidence from being imported under another Area.

Offline demo export artifacts can be inspected and cleaned with:

python scripts/cleanup_demo_artifacts.py
python scripts/cleanup_demo_artifacts.py --keep-latest 10 --export-type project_report_html
python scripts/cleanup_demo_artifacts.py --keep-latest 10 --max-delete 100 --apply
docker compose exec -T backend python scripts/cleanup_demo_artifacts.py

The script is dry-run by default, targets only the explicit GeoIntel Demo - Building QA project unless an exact --project-name is provided, keeps the newest export artifacts per matching project and refuses to delete files outside STORAGE_ROOT. It cleans exports records/files only; it does not remove original uploads, vector features, QA/QC rows, projects, areas, tiles, rasters or masks. --max-delete defaults to 25 and blocks oversized apply runs until the operator increases the cap after reviewing dry-run output. Repeat --export-type to restrict cleanup to selected artifact kinds.

Live runtime validation for this maintenance path is available as a dry-run smoke:

bash scripts/verify_demo_cleanup_dry_run.sh
CLEANUP_MODE=container CLEANUP_CONTAINER=geointel bash scripts/verify_demo_cleanup_dry_run.sh

The smoke never passes --apply. It fails if the cleanup summary is not a dry-run, if any export/file deletion is reported, or if the dry-run candidate fields are missing.

Governed cross-domain raster and soil evidence

MercatorNet thematic products use the ordinary raster Dataset and immutable DatasetVersion paths under STORAGE_ROOT. source_metadata records product, coverage, native resolution/unit, render range, reference year and request bounds. provenance_metadata records every tiled WCS URL, transfer checksum, normalized checksum, exact Area id and validation result. No new storage table or provider-side path is introduced.

The DOV Mol soil operator retains evidence under:

storage/operator-evidence/dov-soil-map/mol/
  raw/dov_soil_map_page_*.json
  dov_soil_map_mol.geojson
  dov_soil_map_mol.manifest.json

Only the normalized, exactly clipped GeoJSON enters DatasetService and vector_features. The manifest binds the persisted artifact, Mol boundary, source page URLs/checksums, feature completeness, class-area summaries and historical limitations. Raw source responses remain operator evidence.

The regional operator keeps the same source semantics but partitions its evidence by approved municipality before assembling one snapshot:

storage/operator-evidence/dov-soil-map/regional/
  kempen-transport-region/partitions/<nis_code>/
    raw/dov_soil_map_page_*.json.gz
    dov_soil_map.geojson
    manifest.json
  snapshots/kempen-transport-region/
    dov_soil_map.geojson
    manifest.json

The snapshot manifest binds all 28 partition checksums, the official scope artifact, feature completeness and area summaries by generalized legend, texture and historical drainage class. Only the combined GeoJSON enters the canonical DatasetService/vector-feature path.

Model storage

Model artifacts live under:

storage/models/

Database model registry records:

model_id
name
task_type
framework
path
classes_json
version
created_at
metrics_json

Exports

Every export is reproducible and linked to project/analysis.

Export record fields:

id
project_id
analysis_run_id
export_type
path
format
created_at
parameters_json

Local development default

Use local filesystem paths. Keep MinIO/object storage as future extension.

Regional BWK/Natura 2000 evidence

The regional state-2025 operator stores immutable evidence under:

storage/operator-evidence/bwk-natura2000-2025/regional/
  kempen-transport-region/partitions/{nis_code}/
    raw/*.json.gz
    bwk_natura2000_2025.geojson
    manifest.json
  snapshots/kempen-transport-region/
    bwk_natura2000_2025.geojson
    manifest.json

Partition reuse requires the same source version, municipality identity, boundary checksum, normalized output checksum and all raw evidence checksums. Snapshot reuse additionally binds the ordered set of 28 partition output checksums. Only the assembled snapshot enters DatasetService/PostGIS; raw WFS responses and partition files remain operator evidence on persistent storage.