Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC); Public Review of the Remote Sensing Swath Data Content Standard

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: http://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 [email protected].

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: [email protected].

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.

[[Page 6379]]

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]

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