[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 107 (Thursday, June 4, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30510-30511]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-14804]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Geological Survey


Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC); Public Review of the 
``Spatial Data Transfer Standard, Part 5: Raster Profile and 
Extensions''

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The FGDC is sponsoring a public review of the draft ``Spatial 
Data Transfer Standard, Part 5: Raster Profile and Extensions''.
    The FGDC recognizes that standards must 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 view. The 
FGDC invites the community to review, test, and evaluate the proposed 
standard. Comments are encouraged about the content, completeness, 
applicability, and usability of the proposed standard.
    The FGDC anticipates that the proposed standard will be adopted as 
Federal Geographic Data Committee standard after updating or revision. 
The standard may be forwarded to voluntary standards bodies for 
adoption if interest warrants such actions.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 20, 1998.

CONTACT and ADDRESSES: Requests for written copies of the standard 
should be addressed to ``Spatial Data Transfer Standard, Part 5: Raster 
Profile and Extensions'', FGDC Secretariat (attn: Jennifer Fox), U.S. 
Geological Survey, 590 National Center, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, 
Reston, Virginia, 20192; telephone 703-648-5514; facsimile 703-648-
5755; or Internet at [email protected]. The standard may be downloaded from 
this Internet address: ftp://www.fgdc.gov/Standards/Documents/
Standards/SDTS__Pt5/.
    Reviewer's comments may be sent to the FGDC via Internet mail to: 
www.fgdc.gov">gdc-sdtsras@www.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.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS) 
defines a general mechanism for the transfer of geographically 
referenced spatial data and its supporting metadata, i.e., attributes, 
data quality reports, coordinate reference systems, security 
information, etc. The overriding principle that SDTS promotes is that 
the spatial data transfer should be self-documenting. The data set in 
SDTS should contain all of the information that is needed to assess and 
(or) use the data for any appropriate GIS application. The SDTS base 
specification (Parts 1, 2 and 3) is implemented via profiles of SDTS. A 
SDTS profile, in general terms, may be defined as a limited subset of 
the standard, designed for use with a specific type of data model, 
i.e., topological vector, point, grid, image, etc. Specific choices are 
made for encoding possibilities not addressed, left optional, or left 
with numerous choices within the SDTS base specification. A profile may 
also specify extensions to the base standard to address changing 
technologies, and to take advantage of other industry standards. For 
raster image data, there are numerous standards, with various 
properties, restrictions, and degrees of implementation. The SDTS 
Raster Profile and Extensions (SRPE) permits the use of two common 
industry standards for image data: Basic Image Interchange Format 
(BIIF) and Tagged Image File Format (TIFF). The BIIF defines a general 
mechanism for the transfer of image data and any support data, i.e. 
image parameters, visualization parameters, compression parameters, 
text annotations, symbols, etc. BIIF is an ANSI/ISO standard and is in 
wide the use in the commercial military community (formerly NITF). TIFF 
is a general purpose image file format that is used widely for simple 
image applications.
    For answers to questions related to the content of the standard 
please contact the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) 
Subcommittee on Base Cartographic Data, attn. Mark Demulder, U.S. 
Geological Survey, 511 National Center, Reston, VA 20192.


[[Page 30511]]


    Dated: May 14, 1998.
Richard E. Witmer,
Chief, National Mapping Division, U.S. Geological Survey.
[FR Doc. 98-14804 Filed 6-3-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-Y7-M