The FGDC and the Geographic Names Data Theme of the NSDI July 25, 2002 Bruce McKenzie & Alison Kiernan FGDC Directorate

Issues Affecting Nations, Communities & Citizens - Happen in Places Emergency Response Wild Fire Management

Spatial Data Is Critical to Business and Government nGovernment information is a valuable national resource - OMB A-130 – (minimize the cost and maximize the usefulness of the information) nEstimated 80% of government data has a spatial component nMuch statistical data relates to location and has a spatial component nCan’t effectively do E-Gov without G-Gov nGeography serves as the common thread to address diverse issues

Genesis of the FGDC Federal Interagency Coordinating Committee on Digital Cartographic (FICCDC) created under OMB directive in1983 FGDC created by OMB in 1990 (Circular A-16) to coordinate geospatial activities across federal government Committee representation: - grown to 17 Cabinet and Executive Level Agencies - added 40 Stakeholder groups since issuance of E.O in 1994

History of A-16 & Related E.O. 1840’s First Coordination Proposal 1906 EO US Geographic Board 1919 EO Federal Board of Surveys & Maps 1942 EO Bureau of Budget Lead 1953 Circular A-16 issued 1967 A-16 Revised 1973 OMB Report Federal Mapping Task Force on Mapping, Charting, Geodesy and Surveying 1983 Federal Interagency Coordinating Committee on Digital Cartography OMB Memorandum M A-16 Revised 1994 EO Proposed Revision of A-16

1906 Executive Order “The official title of the United States Board on Geographic Names is changed to UNITED STATES GEOGRAPHIC BOARD. In addition to its present duties, advisory powers are hereby granted to this Board concerning the preparation of maps compiled, or to be compiled, in the various bureaus and offices of the Government, with a special view to the avoidance of unnecessary duplications of work; and for the unification and improvement of the scales of maps, of the symbols and conventions used upon them, and of the methods of representing relief. Hereafter all such projects as are of importance shall be submitted to this Board for advice before being undertaken.” Theodore Roosevelt The White House August 10, 1906

The Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) 17 Cabinet and Executive Level Agencies Co-chaired by DOI & OMB Coordination of “Federal surveying, mapping, and related spatial data” Federal leadership for NSDI (E.O ) Includes participation of many Stakeholders from state, local and tribal governments, private sector and academia

FGDC Federal Agencies n USDA n Commerce n Defense n NIMA n USACE n Energy n HUD n Interior n Justice n State n Transportation n EPA n FEMA n Library of Congress n NARA n NASA n NSF n TVA n HHS

Stakeholder Groups 31 State Geographic Information Councils GeoData Alliance International City/County Mgmt Assoc. (ICMA) Intertribal GIS Council National Association of Counties National League of Cities National States Geographic Information Council OpenGIS Consortium University Consortium for Geographic Information Science

What is the NSDI? “...the technology, policies, standards, and human resources necessary to acquire, process, store, distribute, and improve the utilization of geospatial data. ”

NSDI Vision Many organizations / people working towards a common goal: building a geographic information resource for the 21 st Century Current and accurate geographic information is readily available locally, nationally, and internationally Improve public and private sector application and use of geospatial data for better decision making

Genesis of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure 1990, OMB Circular A-16 called for the “development of a national digital spatial information resource.” 1992, National Academy of Sciences Mapping Science Committee issued a report giving this “spatial information resource” a name -- the NSDI. 1993, VP Gore conducts National Performance Review and identifies the NSDI as one of the key initiatives to be accomplished. 1994, Presidential Executive Order 12906, called for the FGDC to lead the development of the NSDI, and to seek the involvement of the non-federal sector.

Participating in the NSDI “Think Nationally -- Act Locally” n Continuum of Participation and Collaboration

NSDI Components Metadata GEOdata Clearinghouse (catalog) Framework Standards Partnerships

NSDI Components Metadata Explanation or textual description of data resources

NSDI Components Clearinghouse (catalog) Provide access and catalogue ability

NSDI Components Metadata Clearinghouse (catalog)

NSDI Components Framework Provides consistent base for spatial location Framework Data Themes Imagery Elevation Cadastral Transportation Governmental Units Geodetic Hydrography

Other Thematic Data Elevation Geodetic Control Imagery Government Units Hydrography Transportation Cadastral Framework/Core Data Access, Sharing, Interoperability and Relationships to Build Once, Use Many Times Social Economic Biological Landcover Demographic Flood Zones Source KY Office of Geographic Information

NSDI Components GEOdata Geographic data needed for community decision-making

NSDI Components Standards Standards for data and technology interoperability

NSDI Components Partnerships Relationships for collaboration, sharing and policy deliberations

NSDI Components Metadata GEOdata Clearinghouse (catalog) Framework Standards Partnerships

Revised Circular A-16 Guaranteeing a Coordinated National Spatial Data Infrastructure

Why revise Circular A-16 in 2002? Address changes in technology and the ways data can be disseminated and shared Further define and promote the vision for NSDI Maximize Federal investment in spatial data assets Ensure NSDI is relevant to Homeland Security and emergency preparedness

What are the significant changes ? Links spatial data assets to the budget and performance Increases the leadership role of OMB Defines 34 NSDI data layers Designates lead agencies for data layers; holds agencies accountable Recognizes activities of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA)

Geographic Names This dataset contains data or information on geographic place names deemed official for Federal use by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names as pursuant to Public Law Geographic Names information includes both the official place name (current, historical, and aliases) and locative direct (i.e., geographic coordinates) and indirect (i.e., State and County where place is located) geospatial identifiers and categorized as populated places, schools, reservoirs, parks, streams, valleys, and ridges.

Major New FGDC Activity Electronic Government - Geospatial One Stop –Framework Data Standards Development and Implementation –Fulfill and maintain an operational inventory of Framework data –Publish metadata of planned acquisition of Framework data –Prototype and deploy data access and web mapping services for Framework –Establish a comprehensive Federal portal to the Framework resources

What is the Geospatial One-Stop Portal? Middleware that integrates access to distributed community data services Community-wide access point for all participating data and map services Employs standard software interfaces to connect to catalog, map, and feature services set up by providers Generic user interface that could be adapted by other communities

Portal Concepts Clients WFSWMSWCSCatGaz GNIS Internet Geospatial One-Stop Portal User InterfaceWidgets AnalysisSymbolsHelp Web Browser (Thin Client)Applications (Thick Client) Services Provider Organizations Data

Features of a Common Portal Framework data services via: –OGC Web Feature Service (WFS) using common schemas –OGC Web Map Service using Style Layer Descriptors for symbolization –OGC Web Coverage Service for continuous data –Data download as archived files (ftp/http) Supportive Services –Gazetteer Service for placenames as specialized WFS –Catalog Services (Clearinghouse) for integrated data and service discovery

GNIS-Powered Gazetteer Service GNIS (Oracle) geonames Web server form handler User Web browser HTML POST SQL CGI-style programs Web Feature Service SQL XML POST Portal Software Returns structured lists of places, coordinates, and attributes for use as pick lists, to drive “you are here” maps, etc. NOW THEN

Names Gazetteer Use in Portal 1.User needs data for specific places. 2.User selects State and Feature Type in Portal. 3.Portal makes XML request to GNIS server. 4.Portal receives XML for selected places & converts to a pick list of names (w/ hidden coordinates). 5.With the coordinate results, user can narrow the Portal data search.

FGDC/GNIS Collaboration Current GNIS interface only displays query results in HTML. Geo 1 Stop Portal will require structured Gazetteer search results as XML, allowing for integration with other web services. XML (Extended Markup Language) is used to format and transfer data in an easy & consistent way. FGDC will work with GNIS staff to learn to process requests and return with XML to comply with OGC Web Feature Services