[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 26 (Tuesday, February 9, 1999)] [Notices] [Pages 6378-6379] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 99-3050] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Geological Survey Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC); Public Review of the Remote Sensing Swath Data Content Standard
Action
Notice; Request for comments.
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Summary
The FGDC is conducting a public review of the Remote Sensing Swath Data Content Standard. The purpose of this public review is to provide software vendors, data users and producers with an opportunity to comment on this standard in order to ensure that it meets their needs. Participants in the public review are encouraged to provide comments that address specific issues/changes/additions that may result in revisions to the draft Remote Sensing Swath Data Content Standard. All participants who make comments during the public review period will receive an acknowledgment of the receipt of their comment. After comments have been considered, participants will receive notification of how their comments were addressed. After the formal adoption of the standard by the FGDC, the revised standard and a summary analysis of the changes will be made available.
Dates
Comments must be received on or before May 20, 1999.
CONTACT and ADDRESSES: The draft standard is posted at Internet address: www.fgdc.gov/standards/documents/standards/swath__data/ Requests for written copies of the standard should be addressed to ``Remote Sensing Swath Data Content Standard'', FGDC Secretariat (attn: Jennifer Fox), U.S. Geological Survey, 590 National Center, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, Virginia, 20192; or facsimile 703-648- 4270; or Internet at gdc@usgs.gov. Reviewer's comments may be sent to the FGDC via Internet mail to: edc-swathdatawww.fgdc.gov. Reviewer comments may also be sent to the FGDC Secretariat at the above address. Please send one hardcopy version of the comments and a soft copy version, preferably on a 3.5x3.5 diskette in WordPerfect 5.0 or 6.0/6.1 format. For answers to general questions related to this standard, please contact the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Standards Working Group Imagery subgroup, Benjamin Kobler, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Mail Code 423, Greenbelt, MD 20771. Phone: 301-614-5231. Electronic mail: ben.kobler@gsfc.nasa.gov.
www.fgdc.gov/standards/documents/standards/swath__data/Supplementary Information
Following is the complete proposal for the ``Remote Sensing Swath Data Content Standard.''
Project Title: Remote Sensing Swath Data Content Standard. Submitting Organization: Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Standards Working Group Imagery subgroup.
Objectives
The primary objective of this standard is to define the minimum content for remote sensing swath data (hereinafter called the swath data model). Such a content standard will provide a solid basis upon which to develop interoperable data formats for this common form of remote sensing data. The standard has the following goals: 1. To provide a common conceptual framework for encoding swath and swath-like data, 2. To encourage interuse of swath and swath-like data through implementation of transfer standards within the conceptual framework, 3. To involve non-federal organizations in the development of this standard, thus encouraging broad applications.
Scope
The standard defines the minimal content requirements for a remote sensing swath and the relationships among its individual components. It also discusses the treatment of optional supporting information within the swath model. Under the Federal Geographic Data Committee Standards Reference Model (FGDC 1997b), this standard is classified as a Data Content Standard. Data content standards provide semantic definitions of a set of objects and of the relationships among them. This standard defines a concept called a swath that provides a means for associating certain kinds of remote sensing data with their geolocation. To that end, it defines those items of information content that are necessary for the realization of the swath concept. As a content standard, it does not specify encoding. Encoding may be specified at some future time by a separate standard or standards. The standard specifies only the information that varies with time or from pixel to pixel. Information that is constant for all data points, such as the axes about which platform roll, pitch, and yaw are measured or the orientation of individual instruments relative to the platform, would be specified elsewhere, for example, in a content standard for remote sensing metadata.
1.3 Applicability
The swath data standard for remote sensing supports the development of the NSDI by providing a common framework for the organization of a wide range of remotely sensed data. The standard will be particularly useful for data from scanning, profiling, staring, or push-broom type remote sensing instruments, whether they be ground based, shipboard airborne, or spaceborne.
1.4 Related Standards
The Remote Sensing Swath Data Content Standard integrates with existing standards as much as possible. This standard is an outgrowth of standards work done for the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS), part of the Earth Observing System, under NASA's Mission to Planet Earth. As such, it draws heavily on the NASA EOSDIS concepts and data model for remote sensing swath data (HAIS 1995), which were, themselves, developed from existing standards wherever possible. The NASA model specifies the minimal content requirements for a swath and the relationships among its individual components. The EOSDIS project has developed an encoding mechanism and a set of software tools (HTS 1996, 1997) based on that model. Although those tools are related to this content standard, the standard itself in no way depends upon them. In fact, it is the tools that rely on the existing EOSDIS data model. The Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), an international information exchange body, has endorsed the development of data models for remotely sensed swath data, through the Data Subgroup of its Working Group on Information Systems and Services (WGISS). The Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS) addresses the transfer of geospatial data among computer systems (FIPS 1994). The Raster Profile of SDTS, because it can be used to transfer remote sensing data, is remotely related to the proposed swath standard. However, the SDTS Raster Profile is a transfer standard, while the proposed swath standard is a content standard. So, while the SDTS Raster Profile could probably be adapted to transfer remote sensing swath data, there is no overlap between the standards, because they deal with different aspects of the data standardization described by the FGDC Standards Reference Model. No other current FGDC, national, or international standard addresses this facet of sharing remote sensing swath data.
1.5 Standards Development Procedures
This standard has been developed by the Imagery subgroup of FGDC's Standards Working Group. This group consists of members from NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of Illinois, the University of Wisconsin, and the OpenGIS Consortium. An initial working draft, discussed by Di and Carlisle (1998), was reviewed by the full membership of the Imagery Subgroup. The draft was then revised, where appropriate, in accordance with these comments, and the author of the comments either notified that the comments had been incorporated or provided an explanation of why they had not been. The revised draft was then submitted to the Imagery Subgroup, and as there were no further changes recommended, on the Standards Working Group. The development of this standard is guided by the FGDC Standards Reference Model (FGDC 1997). The Standards Reference Model, developed by the Standards Working Group of the FGDC, provides guidance to FGDC subcommittees and working groups for the standards development process. It also defines the expectations for FGDC standards, describes different types of geospatial standards, and documents the FGDC standards process.
1.6 Maintenance Authority
The Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) Program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) maintains this standard for the Federal Geographic Data Committee. Address questions concerning this standard to: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 505, Greenbelt, MD 20771.
Dated: January 28, 1999. Richard E. Witmer, Chief, National Mapping Division, Geological Survey. [FR Doc. 99-3050 Filed 2-8-99; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4310-Y7-M