Presented to: Federal Architects By: Kim W. Barnette, Ph.D. Aeronautical Information Management Federal Aviation Administration Date: April 11, 2007 Federal Aviation Administration Geospatial Workshop Geospatial Best Practices for Architects Lessons learned – Metadata

2 Federal Aviation Administration Aeronautical Information Management April 11, Outline Background on aeronautical data domain Need for defining metadata Process employed Design overview Lessons learned –Things that worked –Things that didn’t work References

3 Federal Aviation Administration Aeronautical Information Management April 11, Aeronautical Information FAA responsible for releasing National Airspace System (NAS) data to our international partners, distributors and automation systems Aerodromes Airspace NAVAIDS & Fixes EnRoute Airspace Airport/Runway Procedures Terminal Route Routes Procedures Organizations & Services Fix Service

4 Federal Aviation Administration Aeronautical Information Management April 11, Airports Concept Aerodrome and Heliport AICM: AD_HP AIXM: Defines the airport or heliport and provides general information. Runway AICM: RWY AIXM: A runway at an airport. Runway Direction AICM: RWY_DIRECTION AIXM: Defines runway direction, approach lighting and thresholds. Taxiway AICM: TWY AIXM: Fixed path used by aircraft to travel to and from a runway. Obstacle at Airport AICM: AD_HP_OBSTACLE AIXM: Obstacle at an airport Airport Timesheet AICM: TIMESHEET AIXM: Operating hours of the airport Apron AICM: APRON AIXM: Locations where aircraft park and passengers enter and exit the aircraft. Continuous Usage Limitation AICM: AD_HP_USAGE AIXM: Rules describing flights and aircraft that can operate at the airport or heliport.

5 Federal Aviation Administration Aeronautical Information Management April 11, Services Concept Working Hours Weekdays 8 to 5 PM Organization AICM: ORG_AUTH AIXM: Organization authority Address AICM: ORG_AUTH_ADDRESS UNIT_ADDRESS AIXM:, Address of an organization or unit. Unit AICM: UNIT AIXM: Unit within an organization Service AICM: SERVICE AIXM: A service provided by a unit. Association AICM: ORG_AUTH_ASSOC UNIT_ASSOC AIXM:, A parent-child relationship between units or organizations. Frequency AICM: FREQUENCY AIXM: Frequency(ies) on which the service is provided Timesheet AICM: Timetable AIXM:, Operating hours for a frequency or service FAA Center Flight Services ATC

6 Federal Aviation Administration Aeronautical Information Management April 11, Data is integrated with other data and loaded into aircraft autopilots and air traffic control systems Attention: Taxiway P closed!

7 Federal Aviation Administration Aeronautical Information Management April 11, Data is also used to produce charts and aeronautical publications

8 Federal Aviation Administration Aeronautical Information Management April 11, Data is distributed to the general public via graphical maps on FAA websites

9 Federal Aviation Administration Aeronautical Information Management April 11, The importance of data about data Underlying mission to keep the skies and flying public safe!!! Critical for data to be timely and accurate Essential for data specialists to know: –Who is responsible for the data –What is the source of the data –When is the data effective –Where is the data source –How was the data captured METADATA is the who, what, when, where and how

10 Federal Aviation Administration Aeronautical Information Management April 11, Process Employed Our approach to defining a metadata profile included: –Research What data is being exchanged? What is the standard for exchanging data about data? –Interview How have other organizations used metadata? What do the data users want to know about the data? –Document What is the best way to convey and describe the metadata profile? Developed UML (universal modelling language) class diagrams of proposed models of the metadata profile

11 Federal Aviation Administration Aeronautical Information Management April 11, Linkage to ISO19115 : 2003 Geographic Information-Metadata The structure of the aeronautical metadata profile is based on ISO19115 –The International Standardization Organization has defined a comprehensive metadata standard, ISO 19115: 2003 Geographic Information-Metadata. Not intended to be a substitution for ISO –ISO was developed by Technical Committee ISO/TC 211, Geographic information/Geomatics to define general-purpose metadata in the field of geographic information. Nor does it completely conform to ISO19115 –ISO19115 is applicable to the cataloguing of datasets, clearinghouse activities, and the full description of datasets, rather than for recurrent messages such as FAA data messages.

12 Federal Aviation Administration Aeronautical Information Management April 11, Design Overview Aeronautical data contains information on one or more features including the properties of and relationships between those features EnRoute Airspace Airport/Runway Procedures Terminal Route Fix Service In most instances, the metadata for each of these features will differ

13 Federal Aviation Administration Aeronautical Information Management April 11, The AIXM Metadata Profile The profile includes six models: –Metadata for the AIXM message –Metadata for an AIXM feature –Metadata for an AIXM feature timeslice A timeslice allows for temporality – able to exchange data on features described at different points in time –Constraint information –Citation and Responsible Party information –Data Quality information AIXM – aeronautical information exchange model – international data exchange standard

14 Federal Aviation Administration Aeronautical Information Management April 11, Lessons Learned Define a metadata model for each feature within the data exchange message and a metadata model for the entire message. Distinguish our data exchange activities from those discussed in the literature. –Our methodology differs from that discussed in the several papers on metadata standards and mapping efforts that were part of our literature review. –Most of those papers described data domains that were more homogeneous in nature and generally had only one data source.

15 Federal Aviation Administration Aeronautical Information Management April 11, Lessons Learned Conduct monthly reviews of the metadata profile with aeronautical information data users and release timely updates –What do they want to know about the data? How will they use the data and the metadata? E.g., we are going to update the metadata profile to include an element indicating the certification level of the information source, i.e., if the supplier is ISO compliant

16 Federal Aviation Administration Aeronautical Information Management April 11, References Metadata Profile white paper available at Validating the model using tools such as MetaModel Integration Bridge Contact Kim Barnette, The CNA Corporation, supporting the Aeronautical Information Management Group –

17 Federal Aviation Administration Aeronautical Information Management April 11, Background Slides UML (universal modeling language) class diagrams for each model in the metadata profile –The model will be updated to include a few more suggestions from aeronautical information subject matter experts

18 Federal Aviation Administration Aeronautical Information Management April 11, Future Updates to Metadata Profile Move dataIntegrity from Feature to FeatureTimeSlice –It is a numerical value indicating the integrity of the generated TimeSlice. A past timeSlice may have one integrity and a future timeSlice may be at another integrity. Under Citation – add Process Compliancy - DO200A –Use to indicate the certification level of the information source, i.e., if the supplier is certified under DO200A criteria, or CHAIN or ISO compliant Update FeatureTimeSlice – include positional resolution –Need to be able to store the horizontal resolution (latitude/longitude) and vertical resolution.

19 Federal Aviation Administration Aeronautical Information Management April 11, Metadata to include about the AIXM message

20 Federal Aviation Administration Aeronautical Information Management April 11, Constraint Information Metadata

21 Federal Aviation Administration Aeronautical Information Management April 11, Metadata to include about an AIXM feature

22 Federal Aviation Administration Aeronautical Information Management April 11, Metadata to include about an AIXM feature timeslice

23 Federal Aviation Administration Aeronautical Information Management April 11, Citation and Responsible Party Information Metadata

24 Federal Aviation Administration Aeronautical Information Management April 11, Data Quality Information Metadata