[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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