[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 152 (Thursday, August 7, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42590-42592]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-20840]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Geological Survey


Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC); Public Comment on the 
Proposal to Develop the ``Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS) Part 5: 
Raster Profile With Basic Image Interchange Format (BIIF) Extension'' 
as a Federal Geographic Data Committee Standard

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The FGDC is soliciting public comments on the proposal to 
develop a ``Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS) Part 5: Raster 
Profile with Basic Image Interchange Format (BIIF) Extension.'' If the 
proposal is approved, the standard will be developed following the FGDC 
standards development and approval process. If the standard is adopted 
by the FGDC, it must be followed by all Federal agencies when 
appropriate for the transferring of raster data directly or indirectly, 
through grants, partnerships, or contracts.
    In its assigned leadership role for developing the National Spatial 
Data Infrastructure (NSDI), the FGDC recognizes that the standards must 
also meet the needs and recognize the views of State and local 
governments, academia, industry, and the public. The purpose of this 
notice is to solicit such views. The FGDC invites the community to 
review the proposal and comment on the objectives, scope, approach, and 
usability of the proposed standard; identify existing related 
standards; and

[[Page 42591]]

indicate their interest in participating in the development of the 
standard.
    Project Title: Development of Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS) 
Part 5: Raster Profile with Basic Image Interchange Format (BIIF) 
Extension.
    Proposal Date: March 24, 1997, Revised June 4, 1997.
    Submitting Organization: FGDC Subcommittee on Base Cartographic 
Data (SBCD).
    Point Of Contact: John Crowe, USGS/NMD Raster Data Standards 
Coordinator, (703)648-5596, [email protected].
    Objective: The objective of this project is to develop a profile of 
SDTS, through the convergence of the Draft FIPS Part 5 Raster Profile 
of SDTS and the ISO/IEC Committee Draft 12087-5 Basic Image Interchange 
Format (BIIF) raster transmission standards. This Raster Profile with 
BIIF Extension, will expand the applicability of the SDTS raster 
profile to broaden the utility of the SDTS transfer format, providing a 
vehicle to enhance data sharing and to reduce redundant data 
production.
    Scope: The SDTS Part 5 Raster Profile with BIIF Extension contains 
specifications of a profile for use with geo-referenced two dimensional 
raster data, and excludes vector data and three dimensional and higher 
dimension raster data. It is intended to provide a common transfer 
format to be used for interchange of raster image and raster grid data 
among all members of the data producer and user community. This profile 
is intended to replace the existing Draft FIPS SDTS Part 5 Raster 
Profile. The SDTS Part 5 Raster Profile with BIIF Extension falls into 
the ``Transfer Standard'' type as defined by the FGDC Standards working 
Group (SWG) Standards Reference Model.
    Justification/benefits: This profile will provide a common transfer 
format, independent of technology, to enhance data sharing for raster 
data. The inclusion of a BIIF extension in this SDTS profile provides 
an extended data format providing a container for raster, symbol, and 
text, along with a mechanism for including image-related support data. 
This profile will apply directly to two dimensional digital elevation 
data (X-Y with Z as an attribute) and digital orthoimagery, two key 
components of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure framework. It 
will enhance data useability by providing a foundation for 
interoperability in the interchange of raster data among diverse 
applications.
    The inclusion of BIIF capabilities in SDTS Part 5 provides the 
benefit of an extended data format. This satisfies the following 
requirements:
    1. Provides convergence of civil and military raster standards.
    2. Provides a means whereby diverse applications can share imagery 
and associated information.
    3. Allows applications to exchange comprehensive information, 
allowing users to select only those data items that correspond to their 
needs and capabilities.
    4. Minimizes pre and post processing of data.
    5. Minimizes formatting overhead, particularly for applications 
exchanging a small amount of data over bandwidth-limited systems.
    6. Provides Transportable File Structure (TFS) as a mechanism to 
exchange PIKS image and image-related objects.
    7. Provides extensibility to accommodate future data, including 
objects.
    Approach: Starting with the existing Draft FIPS Part 5 Raster 
Profile of SDTS and the most current version of BIIF, build an SDTS 
profile which provides the best of both standards for transferring two 
dimensional raster data while maintaining backward compatibility to 
existing raster profiles. The BIIF extension will be integrated with 
the existing Draft FIPS Part 5 Raster Profile of SDTS as an optional 
encoding of image data to include both raster grid and raster image 
data. The final product will be a profile which maintains the archival 
capabilities and focus of SDTS with optional extensions to allow 
inclusion of the imagery transmission focus of the BIIF. The BIIF 
extension provides a container for raster, symbol and text as well as a 
mechanism for inclusion of image related support data. The expanded 
capability of the new SDTS Part 5: Raster Profile with BIIF extension 
will broaden the applicability of the SDTS. The FGDC will provide the 
vehicle for wide participation and input from across the raster data 
user and producer communities.
    Related Standards: Related standards which were used as reference 
in building the new SDTS Part 5: Raster Profile with BIIF Extension 
include the following. These standards will retain this relationship 
and may be used as reference, although they will be unaffected by the 
adoption of the proposed SDTS Part 5: Raster Profile with BIIF 
Extension.

ISO/IEC 12087-5--Information Technology Computer Graphics and Image 
Processing, Image Processing and Interchange Functional Specification 
Part 5: Basic Image Interchange Format. Committee Draft 23 November, 
1996 STANAG 7074/AGeoP-3A--Digital Geographic Information Exchange 
Standard (DIGEST)
DMA Technical Manual 8358.1 Datums, Ellipsoids, Grids, and Grid 
Reference Systems
FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata June 1994 
GeoTIFF Draft Specification [ftp://mtritter.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/tiff/
geotiff/, or ftp://ftpmcmc.cr.usgs.gov/release/geotiff/jpl mirror/]
JIEO/JITC Circular 9008--National Imagery Transmission Format Standards 
(NITFS) Certification Test and Evaluation Program Plan, 30 June 1993
STANAG 4545--NATO Secondary Imagery Format [Edition Study Draft 0.9]

    The following standard, and profile, were used as reference for 
building the new profile. The SDTS Part 5: Raster Profile with BIIF 
Extension is intended to replace the current Draft Part 5: Raster 
Profile of the FIPS 173 SDTS Standards.

FIPS PUB 173--Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS) 28 August 1992
Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS)--Part 5, Raster Profile (Draft)

    Both of the following Draft FGDC Standards currently point to the 
FIPS 173 Draft Part 5: Raster Profile of SDTS. If the proposed SDTS 
Part 5: Raster Profile with BIIF Extension is adopted, both will be 
modified to point to the new profile.

FGDC Draft Data Content Standards for Digital Orthoimagery (January 
1997)
FGDC Draft Data Content Standards for Digital Elevation Data (January 
1997)

    Schedule: The SBCD will review the draft SDTS Part 5 with BIIF 
Extension in June of 1997. The SBCD will then submit the draft to the 
FGDC Standards Working Group (SWG) in July 1997. It is hoped that the 
SWG will review the draft, with the goal of determining its suitability 
for public review, in an expedient fashion. Once approved, the standard 
will be in public review for a minimum of three months.
    Resources: The Raster Convergence Working Group has provided 
development resources for the preparation of the initial draft standard 
and will provide resources to assist in the adjudication of comments 
from the public review and approval process. The SBCD will provide 
additional resources to promulgate this standard through the FGDC 
standards development process.
    Potential Participants: The primary participants in the development 
of the profile include NIMA and the USGS.

[[Page 42592]]

Other contributors include the Joint Interoperability Test Command 
(JITC), the BIIF editorship, Geomatics Canada, the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Geodetic Data Center 
(NGDC), and the Digital Geographic Information Working Group, which 
represents the Digital Geographic Information Exchange Standard 
(DIGEST) under the auspices of NATO. The membership of the SBCD will 
provide a broad sponsorship for this standard. The public review and 
comment period will include an aggressive program of outreach to ensure 
a broad level of participation from the geospatial data community. Any 
of the contributing bodies mentioned above may be called on to 
participate in the adjudication of public review comments and the 
redrafting of the standard. There is also potential to include 
representatives of the commercial/private sector, State and local 
governments, as well as the academic community in the continuing 
development of this standard.
    Target Authorization Body: The FGDC Steering Committee is the 
initial target authorization body for this standard. Once endorsed by 
the FGDC the intent is to seek ANSI endorsement of this standard.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before September 1, 1997.

CONTACT AND ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted via Internet mail or 
by submitting an electronic copy on diskette. Send comments via 
Internet to: www.fgdc.gov">gdc-raster@www.fgdc.gov. Comments e-mailed as attachments 
must be in ASCII format
    A soft copy version may be submitted on a 3.5 x 3.5 diskette in 
WordPerfect 5.0 or 6.0/6.1 format, along with one hardcopy version of 
the comments, to the FGDC Secretariat (attn: Jennifer Fox) at U.S. 
Geological Survey, 590 National Center, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, 
Reston, Virginia 20192.

    Dated: July 29, 1997.
Richard E. Witmer,
Chief, National Mapping Division.
[FR Doc. 97-20840 Filed 8-6-97; 8:45 am]
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