[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]
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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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