1. U.S. National Spatial Data Infrastructure
Douglas Nebert
FGDC/GSDI Secretariat

2. Foundation of US NSDI
NSDI established as initiative under the interagency coordinating committee, the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC)
FGDC has 17 member federal organizations, official liaison with 35 state councils, and other sectoral organizations
Executive Order (1994) compelled federal government participation in NSDI

3. Objectives of the Infrastructure
To promote use and re-use of spatial data for multiple purposes by government and citizens
To encourage participation of self-disciplined providers or data and services
To establish baseline services that support community discovery and access to geo-information (directory of services, semantic registry, search gateways, gazetteer, reference software implementation)

4. Participation in NSDI through FGDC
US Federal Government agencies (17)
35 state geo-information councils
National States Geographic Info Council
National Association of Counties
National League of Cities
Universities (UCGIS)
Vendor community: OpenGIS Consortium

5. How do members promote NSDI?
Standards development: standards for common data themes are built by the professional community and are reviewed in the FGDC or ANSI INCITS
Publicity: FGDC members will attend and host exhibit booths at professional conferences at State and National levels offering technical and information support
FGDC has a quarterly newsletter in electronic and paper form for several thousand subscribers

6. How do members promote NSDI?
Educational Outreach: The FGDC supports the development of educational materials and curricula for better understanding of NSDI principles and standards
FGDC Working Groups: provide a forum for discussion of current and suggested practices and design of integrated solutions
Cooperative Agreement Program: many small grants to increase awareness and implementation of a common infrastructure (not for data development)

7. Organization of FGDC . . . Secretariat Staff Steering Committee
Coordination
Group
Secretariat
Staff
Standards
Clearinghouse
Metadata
Framework
Working Groups
Transportation
Water
Elevation
Orthoimagery
Cadastre
Geodetic
Governmental Units
Geology
Vegetation
. . .
Thematic Subcommittees

8. Legal Framework
FGDC constituted through the Executive Branch, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-67 for interagency coordination on geographic information
Only federal members permitted to vote on adoption of FGDC standards and policies, but process open to all
FGDC encourages standards and specification development in ISO, ANSI, and OGC by all NSDI participants

9. Roles and Responsibilities
FGDC Secretariat: staff of ~15, provides forum for policies and standards that integrate into a coherent NSDI
Steering Committee: staffed by agency managers, meets 2-3 times per year, approval of policies and FGDC Standards
Coordination Group: chairs of all WGs and Thematic Subcommittees and agency reps, meets monthly
WG and TS members: volunteer domain experts

10. NSDI Funding
Annual allocation to FGDC Secretariat of approximately $3.6M
Cooperative Agreements Program allots between $1-2M per year from this for sustainable NSDI-building projects
FGDC budget covers Secretariat expenses, interagency projects, and common-use infrastructure maintenance
FGDC member organizations invest at least as much in SDI operations

11. Standards
OMB Circular 119 requires governmental bodies to work first through international and national standards bodies before developing government-specific standards
FGDC participates in US National Standards for geomatics (ANSI INCITS-L1) and as part of US delegation to ISO TC 211
Data content standards and the Metadata Standard were developed through FGDC – will be migrating this process under ANSI
19 Approved FGDC Standards so far, 8 in review

12. NSDI and Standards Advocacy
OpenGIS
Consortium, W3C
Software interfaces
(Implementation
Specifications)
Regional
SDI Coordination
Endorsed practices and specifications
NSDI
Other
NSDIs
ISO TC 211
Foundations for
implementation.
(Abstract standards)
National
Standards
Content standards,
Authority for data

13. Intellectual Property Rights/Pricing
NSDI founded on principle of “freedom of discovery” to promote awareness and access to all geo-information
Encourage the publication of ALL metadata for data for free or for a fee with the metadata declaring access characteristics and asserter property rights
Federal agencies must make all non-sensitive data available only at the cost of dissemination, but no standard fee schedule exists (per OMB A-130)

14. Educational Aspects
FGDC has published educational materials and reference implementations of software to promote competence in NSDI concepts
FGDC underwrites local, regional, and national training opportunities through a cadre of on-call trainers
Research grants provided to University Consortium for Geo Information Sciences (UCGIS) for NSDI curricula and evaluation

15. Content: Core Data
Core data are known as Framework and represent the most commonly used data in base mapping, collected by various agencies:
Elevation
Hydrography (Surface Water)
Governmental Units (Boundaries)
Orthoimagery
Transportation (multi-modal)
Cadastre
Geodetic Control

16. Framework Data Federal agency leads defined for each theme
Standardization of Framework representation non-existent until this year
Multi-sectoral participation in ANSI-sponsored standards development teams for Framework underway to define Core representation
Coordination of Framework data service providers to be formalized within each community

17. Content: Other Data
US NSDI encourages the documentation, publication, and service of all types of geo- information
Abundant environmental, imagery, and other non-Framework data are documented and available through Clearinghouse
Data content standards for non-Framework data are encouraged to promote exchange

18. Semantic Interoperability
Past FGDC Data Content Standards were not done using consistent modeling and implementation guidance, but provided, at best, semantic guidance on content
Framework Data Content Standards now under development will include common core UML models, documentation, applying a feature cataloguing methodology, identifier systems, and define a single reference application schema for each theme to promote exchange

19. Semantic Resources
Because geographic data is so diverse in its discipline and usage, the development of a common set of Theme Keywords to be used across all disciplines has been a problem
ISO Categories provides one high level classification of generic data
International cooperation is sought to identify and endorse a single set of thematic keywords with codes for common use!

20. Data Documentation
FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM) published in 1994 and revised in 1998, US contribution to ISO metadata standardization effort
Over 130 government, commercial, and academic data catalogs exist in the US with hundreds of thousands of data sets described using CSDGM
US will transition to adopting ISO Metadata
20% of metadata points to direct data access

21. Software Support
Provide reference implementation software to promote adoption of common standards:
Collaborate with UN to maintain and metadata collection publication, and map service software to support ISO and OGC specifications
Host and share metadata search “gateway” software
Operate global catalog service registry
Deploy public-domain Catalog Z39.50 server software

22. Clearinghouse Design
The Clearinghouse in its distributed form includes a registry of servers, several WWW-to-Z39.50 gateways, and many Z39.50 servers
A primary goal of Clearinghouse is the ability to find spatial information and services throughout the entire community, not just one site at a time

23. Clearinghouse: Discovery and Access Services
FGDC coordinates a network of six official search Gateways for accessing international content held in Z39.50 (ISO 23950) “GEO” Profile collections (includes non-FGDC metadata)

24. Clearinghouse: Discovery and Access Services
FGDC operates the GSDI Clearinghouse global directory of servers to help selection of servers to target a full, distributed query
NSDI/GSDI Discovery portals use searchable metadata fields, including spatial and temporal, and full text

25. Clearinghouse Architecture
Metadata are created
Each site has services: Catalog, Web Mapping, Web Feature Services
There are multiple sites with collections of data
Sites register their catalog and other services with a Registry
Web user accesses the Gateway with a query
Gateway consults registry to locate service handles
Gateway distributes query to catalogs
Catalogs return current metadata and service information
User accesses services through Gateway
Applications can use Registry and remote services, too
register 4
Service
registry
cat
Gateway
application
server 6
Application 10 7 5 8 9
User
data
meta
services
wms
cat
wfs 3
wms
cat
wfs
services 2
meta
data 1
data

26. Status of NSDI Clearinghouse
270 Metadata Catalog Services registered with FGDC/GSDI
245 Active
25 Inactive
181 based in the US, 89 outside the US
30 countries are represented
Six domestic Gateways established
One registry of all metadata catalog services in operation for search support, updated hourly

29. Implementing Common Interfaces
The NSDI Clearinghouse applies a number of standards and specifications to function
FGDC Metadata Content Standard (soon ISO 19115)
OGC Catalog Service 1.0 WWW Profile (ISO23950)
OGC Web Map Server 1.0 and 1.1 specification
Investigating integration of others
OGC Web Feature Service (Draft)
OGC Geography Markup Language (GML 3.0 draft)
OGC Web Coverage Service 1.0 (Draft)
ISO TC 211 (Draft) Rules for Application Schema, Encoding, Feature Cataloguing Methodology

30. Application User Metadata Metadata DB/Index Data Catalog Service
contains UI UI
Metadata UI UI
managed
through
managed
through
are derived
for each
managed
through
Metadata
DB/Index
Data Catalog
Service
Service
Registry/
Catalog
Metadata
enter/update
is exposed
to the Internet
through a
are
loaded
to or
stored in
synchronize
API
queries for content
may be
coupled
to or
integrated
with
may reference
instances
queries for relevant
services
are
derived
from
API
is exposed
to the Internet
through a
Catalog
Client
may send
data to
GEOdata
Access
Service
feeds
server info to
Spatial
Data
Data/File
Management
System
makes
maps
from
stored in
distributes to
and collates
from multiple
Web Mapping
Service
draws
layers
from
API
enhances
query
with
API
managed
through
Gazetteer
API
Gateway UI
enhances
query
with
Geoprocessing
Service
This diagram uses no formal modeling conventions but shows the interactions of common data objects and functions present in the extended Clearinghouse vision as implemented in the US NSDI and the Canada CEONet.
Read relationships between objects using the directionality implied by the arrows, e.g. “Metadata are derived from Spatial Data.”
Not all relationship types are necessarily shown, but fundamental ones should be present.
Gray/White text in boxes indicates a planned or prototyped functionality.
Dashed lines indicate a conditional or planned interaction.
Actors have not yet been defined to perform specific activities in the context of the diagram.
Green API and UI symbols indicate potential or actual opportunities for software interface specifications and user interaction, respectively.
provides
application
access
through
API
Thesaurus
Symbols 1 2 3
current
planned
Software/Service
1. builds query screens for
2. submits queries/requests to
3. returns search responses
API UI
Information
interacts with
API UI
Interface
Application
User
now:
planned.:
Function

31. E-government: Geospatial One-Stop
OMB has established 24 e-government initiatives across the U.S. Government to seek savings of scale by formalizing re-usable G2G services
Geospatial One-Stop accelerates implementation of the NSDI by:
Rapid development of Framework schema/standards
Reiterating asset management in Clearinghouse
Establishing G2G needs-based access via the Clearinghouse
Implementing high-grade federal map and data services online for Framework themes

32. Geospatial One-Stop Tasks
Develop rigorous data content standards for Framework data themes using a common structured modeling language
Document Framework holdings in Clearinghouse
Document planned Framework data collection in Clearinghouse
Implement Framework data services
Implement a common access portal

33. Geospatial One-Stop Workplan
Requirements Gathering and Analysis: defining business and transactional drivers with data
Data Standards Development Process: Create abstract and implementation specifications for common data themes (Framework)
Portal Development: Support discovery of and access to distributed data and services by web client users and other applications (E-gov)

34. Calls for requirements
Draft process diagram
of Geospatial OneStop
revised 01Mar02
Who?
To whom?
When?
How?
Call for business
requirements of
portal
Portal Team
Review
State and
E-Gov User
Requirements
Target 22+
e-gov initiatives
and other e-gov
Face-to-face
Town Hall
Discussions
Document
existing and
planned data
Service and
Data
Clearinghouse
register
Develop
consolidated
use cases
Initial Portal
Functional
Design
Prototype
specific
G2G functions
Establish
portal interface
to services
Augment
portal
functionality
refine
Prepare
Questions,
Organize
Extract data
requirements
Prototype
map/data
services
Finalize
map/data
services
refine
Requirements Team
e.g. transportation
Under ANSI
INCITS L1
Standards Teams
Compose/
convene
7 MATs
Write draft
std docs
Extract common
data
requirements
Construct
Draft Model
Construct
Draft
Standard
Vote at
ANSI INCITS L1
Vote at
ANSI
FGDC
Endorsement
revise
Calls for requirements
and participation
revise
Public
Review
Public
Review
time (not to scale)

35. 1. Data Standards Development for One-Stop
Develop business cases in a participatory process to define the intersection of functional requirements that lead to data
Identify primary stakeholders, federal and otherwise
Define a data content model adequate to support the intersection of needs
Model using a common modeling language (UML)
Develop full standard document to include model
Publish as Framework Core Data Content Standard by ANSI, endorsed by FGDC
Define a specific implementation schema in OGC Geography Markup Language (GML) that can be used for data access and validation
Implement conformant services for Framework data

36. The Proposed Framework Standards
Define a well-known package of GIS data that can be exchanged without negotiation for immediate use
More robust packages can be defined and exchanged by the same approach, but one must support Core at a minimum
Do not replace more comprehensive FGDC standards, but is a subset of their content
Do not define the internal data models used in mission critical systems, only a package for import and export

37. Common Elements of Framework
Feature types (classes) included
Unique feature identifier system
Basic attributes
Controlled vocabulary, codes, authorities
Valid at a range of scales and resolutions
Multiple representations of same features possible

38. Standards Participant Types
Subscriber: interested in listening only to progress of the design group
Contributor: interested in offering model input, background information to be considered in design
Reviewer: interested in reviewing various drafts of the Standard when ready
Modeling Advisory Team: Vested members assisting modelers, writing and editing the Standard

39. Participation Model MAT Constituents Subscribers Reviewers
Contributors

40. FGDC Support to MATs
FGDC Staff will hire a facilitator/process manager to oversee each standards development process meeting and outcomes
FGDC Staff will hire a UML modeling expert to support development of content models for all Framework themes
OGC members will assist in the development of consistent UML models and GML schemas

41. Generalized Modeling Approach
Universe of Discourse
(each of 7 communities)
Conceptual
Model
Feature Model in UML
expert intervention
Application
Schema
Conceptual Model using
ISO 19118/19103 objects in UML
UML-XML encoding transform
Common Community Data
Transfer in XML-Schema (GML)
Data Exchange
Schema
XML validation
Encoded Feature Data in XML

42. Interoperability based on a common data model for data exchange
Content
Model
import
export
Mission
System 1
API
API
Mission
System 2
Core
Framework
Encoding
export
import
API
Mission
System 3

43. 2. Document Framework Holdings in Clearinghouse
Identify agency holdings (only original or value-added) of Framework data themes
When standards are approved and organization has Web services online to serve the data, must ‘flag’ data and register the services
Use existing or new Clearinghouse nodes to host and serve the metadata

44. Task 2 Objectives To document available reusable Framework data themes
To reduce duplication of effort in data collection and processing for common themes
To assist public and G2G discovery of government geodata resources

45. 3. Document planned Framework data collection in Clearinghouse
Revitalizing the former annual A-16 call for data requirements, establish a common system within Clearinghouse to advertise data collection plans and data requirements
System valid for all levels of government and commercial interests can participate

46. Task 3 Objectives
To publish and share data collection plans and requirements across the government
To seek economies of scale through shared data development/collection opportunities
To reduce redundant base data collection and promote reuse

47. 4. Implement Framework data services at all participating organizations
Project will include a Web Service prototyping phase to demonstrate service capabilities and interactions
Participant organizations will be expected to develop and operate high reliability OGC Web Services for their Framework data prior to Portal construction

48. Task 4 Objectives
To establish reliable Framework data and map services for G2G and public transactions
To promote sharing and reuse of live and downloadable geospatial data using standards-based interfaces

49. 5. Implement a common access portal
Design a common access interface to provide One-Stop services to (G2G) government and public users
Builds on and accesses the Web Services established by participating organizations
Portal middleware is standards-based and can be adapted for different users

50. Task 5 Objectives
Provide one point of access to Geospatial OneStop community data
Support public and G2G transactions on common geospatial data resources
Support basic user and application user access to online Framework data

51. 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

52. Geospatial One-Stop Portal
Portal Concept
Web Browser (Thin Client)
Applications (Thick Client)
Internet
Geospatial One-Stop Portal
User Interface
Widgets
Analysis
Symbols
Help
@FGDC
GNIS
Clients
WFS
WMS
WCS
Cat
Gaz
Internet
Services
Provider Organizations
Data

53. Framework Interoperability Pilot for Transportation
OpenGIS Consortium (OGC) will assist in modeling process to define proper UML that conforms to ISO rules and can be implemented as GML
Engage OGC members in implementing Web Feature Services to extend multiple available data systems (U.S. and Canada)
Demonstrate a Web client that can display and query multiple Framework data sources based on a common data model
Approach to be followed for other themes

54. OGC Web Feature Service
WFS
Mission
System A
Web Feature
Browser/
Client Application
GML
(XML)
translation
utilities
Native Format
Mission
System B
WFS P B
private
schema
public
schema
transformation
rules

55. 2002-03 Plans for Clearinghouse
Develop and implement compatible Web-based OGC catalog services for data and service discovery
Investigate harvester, push, and indexing technology for construction of dynamic national indexes of spatial metadata and services
Provide baseline infrastructure for the discovery of all types of data and services within the scope of Geospatial One-Stop

56. Harvester/Crawler for Metadata
Catalog
service
Internet
metadata
entries
Catalog
index
service
Internet
data
Catalog
index
service
Spatial
Search
Engine
XML
Catalog
index
service
Catalog
index
service
Catalog
index
service
index
crawler
website
website
Now: Each site must have a metadata service
Future: a common index of distributed metadata could be built

57. Douglas Nebert U.S. Federal Geographic Data Committee
GSDI Secretariat