[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 38 (Friday, February 25, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10099-10100]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-4503]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Geological Survey


Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC); Public Review of the 
Shoreline Metadata Profile

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The FGDC is conducting a public review of the Shoreline 
Metadata Profile. The purpose of this public review is to provide 
software vendors and data users and producers 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 Shoreline Metadata Profile. All participants 
who submit comments during the review period will receive 
acknowledgement of the receipt of their comment. After comments have 
been evaluated, participants will receive notification of how their 
comments were addressed. After formal endorsement of the standard by 
the FGDC, the standard and a summary analysis of the changes will be 
made available to the public.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 31, 2000.

CONTACT AND ADDRESSES: The draft standard may be downloaded via 
Internet address http://www.fgdc.gov/standards/status/sub5__6.html.
    Request for printed copies of the standard should be addressed to 
``Shoreline Metadata Standard,'' FGDC Secretariat (attn: Jennifer Fox), 
U.S. Geological Survey, 590 National Center, 12201 Sunrise Valley 
Drive, Reston, Virginia 20192 or facsimile 703-648-5755 or Internet at 
[email protected].
    Reviewer's comments may be sent to FGDC via Internet mail to [email protected]. Reviewer's comments may also be sent to the 
FGDC Secretariat at the above address. Please send one hardcopy version 
of the comments and a softcopy version on 3.5-inch diskette in 
WordPerfect, Microsoft Word, or Rich Text Format. Reviewers are 
strongly urged to use the template for sending comments that may be 
downloaded from Internet address http://www.fgdc.gov/standards/directives/dir2d.html

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Following is the Introduction to the 
Shoreline Metadata Standard, submitted by the FGDC Bathymetric 
Subcommittee:

Introduction

    In recent times, accurate delineation of the shoreline and the 
development of a shoreline standard have become important due to 
international and legal issues. With emerging technologies such as 
digital cartography, geographic information systems (GIS), Computer 
Aided Design and Drafting (CADD), digital data products, electronic 
charts, and the World Wide Web, temporal and spatial accuracy is very 
important when producing maps. The purpose of the ``Shoreline Metadata 
Profile'' is to address the complexities of shoreline data while 
serving the community of users involved with geospatial data 
``activities'' that intersect the U.S. Shoreline.

Objective

    This Shoreline Metadata Profile is the first in a series of 
standards that will define a Shoreline Data Content Standard. The 
metadata profile is to be used as an extension or profile to the 
existing Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM). The 
glossary and bibliography are informative annexes that will provide a 
basis for understanding the shoreline and related issues. Because the 
CSDGM only allows for the documentation of generic geospatial data, the 
Bathymetric Subcommittee felt it was necessary to develop a metadata 
profile that addressed shoreline data and data that intersects with the 
shoreline. The objective of the metadata profile is to capture the 
critical processes and conditions that revolve around creating and 
collecting shoreline data. The metadata produced using this standard 
will be important for clearinghouse activities to locate potential data 
sets and to indicate the fitness for use and accuracy of a given data 
set. This Standard is intended to serve the community of users who are 
involved with geospatial data ``activities'' that intersect the U.S. 
Shoreline. The purpose is to clarify (standardize) some of the 
complexities of shoreline data by developing a metadata profile, 
bibliography and glossary, which will be an extension or profile of the 
FGDC CSDGM.

[[Page 10100]]

Scope

    The Shoreline Metadata Profile provides the format and content for 
describing data sets related to shoreline and other coastal data sets. 
The metadata complies with the FGDC Content Standards for Digital 
Geospatial Standard. It provides additional terms and data elements 
required to support metadata for shoreline and coastal data sets.
    The profile is primarily oriented toward providing the elements 
necessary for documenting shoreline data and reaching a common 
understanding of the shoreline for national mapping purposes and other 
geospatial and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications. 
Shoreline data are important for coastal zone management, environmental 
monitoring, resource developments, legal land jurisdictional issues, 
ocean and meteorological modeling, engineering, construction, planning, 
and many other uses. A published standard by a responsible agency will 
provide the affected community with a basis from which to assess the 
quality and utility of their shoreline data. Shoreline is an integral 
component of the geospatial data framework.
    The shoreline glossary provides the working vocabulary for 
shoreline topics and thesaurus for the metadata standard. Every 
reference in the glossary has at least one reference to the 
bibliography. Additional explanatory material about the use of the 
term, common or known misuses of the term, and confounding or 
clarifying descriptions are included in the glossary. The glossary is 
structured so that users understand relationships among terms.

Applicability

    This standard is to be used for reporting the availability of 
shoreline and coastal data sets in the National Spatial Data 
Infrastructure (NSDI) clearinghouse. It is also directly applicable to 
all data sets that intersect with the shoreline. It will be used to 
support reporting the collection, transformation, accuracy, and fitness 
for use of various shoreline data sets.

Related Standards

    A crosscutting standards review and data model developed by FGDC in 
1995 indicated that most of the FGDC thematic subcommittees and working 
groups have an entity relationship to shoreline data. FGDC endorsed 
standards that include reference to the shoreline are the Cadastral 
Data Content Standard (FGDC-STD-003) and Classification of Wetlands and 
Deep Water Habitats (FGDC-STD-004). The Tri Service Spatial Data 
Standard and feature reference model contains a relationship to 
shoreline. The National Imagery and Mapping Agency has also recently 
published a geospatial systems data model for shoreline data.

Standard Development Procedures

    The location and attributes of the shoreline are valuable to the 
diverse user community. Mapping of the shoreline has produced a high 
volume of important information.
    The determination of the shoreline is the responsibility of the 
Federal Government. Agencies such as the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) survey internal U.S. shorelines, 
while the Department of Defense (DoD) and National Imagery and Mapping 
Agency (NIMA) address external Shoreline surveying.
    The primary organizations involved in the development of this 
standard are members of the shoreline engineering, coastal zone 
management, flood insurance, and resource management community. Federal 
agencies involved include NOAA, U.S. Geological Survey, Minerals 
Management Service, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Department of 
State, Department of Justice, U.S. Bureau of the Census, U.S. Coast 
Guard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and NIMA. There has also been 
participation from private surveying contractors, the real estate 
industry, the insurance industry, various state and local government 
agencies, and private landowners.
    In summer 1997, a notice of a workshop on shoreline data and a 
standards proposal were published in the Federal Register. The notice 
was then posted on several GIS, mapping, and coastal zone management 
related list servers and web sites. Based on the comments received and 
the level of interest, the workshop was expanded to include more 
participants than originally expected. The participants came together 
for the workshop in Charleston, South Carolina on November 3-5, 1997. 
An Internet site was established, and action items were initiated. This 
standard is the result of the work of participants.
    The metadata requirements were expanded at a Shoreline Bathymetric 
Subcommittee meeting in Silver Spring, Maryland on February 5-6, 1998. 
This meeting focused on: what metadata is, how shoreline managers and 
technical staff could use it, and how to identify the unique 
characteristics of shoreline data.
    In the winter of 1998, the FGDC Standards Working Group approved 
the Shoreline Metadata Profile proposal. The draft was developed by the 
Bathymetric Subcommittee Metadata Working Group over the next year and 
presented to the SWG in June of 1999.

Maintenance of Standard

    The U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), NOAA Coastal 
Services Center will maintain the Shoreline Metadata Profile, Glossary 
and Bibliography for the Federal Geographic Data Committee. Address 
questions concerning the content of this standard to David Stein, 
Secretary, FGDC Bathymetric Subcommittee at NOAA Coastal Services 
Center; 2234 South Hobson Avenue, Charleston, SC 29405-2413 or by E-
mail: [email protected]

    Dated: February 17, 2000.
Donald T. Lauer,
Acting Associate Division Chief for Operations.
[FR Doc. 00-4503 Filed 2-24-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-Y7-M