Selected US Federal Government
Efforts in Coastal and Marine Geospatial
Data Standards and Access
Tony LaVoi
NOAA Coastal Services Center
Digital Atlas Workshop
University College Cork
July 26, 2006
Presentation Goal and Outline
Objective: Workshop attendees will have an understanding of selected existing
and planned coastal and marine geospatial data sharing systems within the US
federal government
Existing Systems
– NOAA Coastal Services Center Overview and IMS Template
– National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) and Federal Geographic Data
Committee (FGDC)
– Geospatial One-Stop Data Portal
– National Ocean Service (NOS) Data Explorer
Planned Systems
– Ocean Action Plan Ocean Mapping Priorities
• Inventory of Ocean and Coastal Mapping Programs and Datasets
• Integrated Ocean Observing Systems Data Transport Methods
NOAA Coastal Services Center
Mission
– Linking People, Information, and Technology in the
Coastal Zone
Customers and Partners = State and Local Coastal
Managers
– Regulatory agencies
– GIS and remote sensing staff
– Planners
– Scientists
– Emergency preparedness
Primary Themes
– Coastal Hazards
– Coastal Habitat
– Integrated Ocean Observing Systems
Annual Operating Plan
– Approximately 125 projects per year
– 90% have local partner who sets requirements
Agency Funding
– CSC funded through government appropriations
Primary Geospatial Products and Services
Data Development (private contract and in-house)
• Coastal topography (IfSar and Lidar)
• Coastal landcover and change (Landsat-based)
• Coastal imagery (high res satellite, digital cameras)
• Benthic and Submerged Aquatic Vegetation
• Open licensing and data distribution
Application Development (ESRI and OpenSource)
• Maintain 3-tier development architecture and testing lab
• Desktop and Internet; DSS and data distribution
Geospatial Standards
• Active in multiple standards bodies (OGC, ISO, FGDC, FEA)
• Dual role – develop and promote standards
Training
• Develop and teach full range of GIS (intro and intermediate),
Remote Sensing, GPS, and metadata courses
Grants
• Competitive grant programs to fund state-level projects (CSC
support includes both $$$ and staff support [data, coding])
CSC Web Mapping Template
• CSC maintains approximately 50 IMS sites for a wide variety of purposes
– Hurricane Tracks, Lidar Data Distribution, River Flood Modeling, Coastal Landcover
Change, Ocean Planning and Boundaries
• Decision made three years ago to move to a standard template for almost
all IMS sites (except when requirements dictate otherwise)
• Template implementation uses ESRI ArcIMS HTML viewer
– Emphasis on reusable and sharable code, new functionality is added regularly
– Reduces development time and costs + eases migration with new code releases
– Enhances user experience – learn CSC tools once, use on many sites
• Newest version in development
provides the same look & feel
and functionality but built
on MapServer code base
– OpenSource solution
– MapServer is not as feature rich or
scalable as ArcIMS
Presentation Outline
Existing Systems
– NOAA Coastal Services Center Overview and IMS Template
– National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) and
Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC)
– Geospatial One-Stop Data Portal
– National Ocean Service (NOS) Data Explorer
Planned Systems
– Ocean Action Plan Ocean Mapping Priorities
• Inventory of Ocean and Coastal Mapping Programs and Datasets
• Integrated Ocean Observing Systems Data Transport Methods
FGDC and NSDI
• Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) is a 19-member interagency
committee, organized in 1990 under OMB Circular A-16, that promotes the
coordinated use, sharing, and dissemination of geospatial data on a national basis
– FGDC funded through Dept of Interior appropriations and in-kind support from others
• In 1994, Presidential Executive Order 12906 called for the nation’s development of
the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) (US component of Global NSDI)
– Current and accurate geospatial data will be readily available to contribute locally, nationally, and
globally to economic growth, environmental quality and stability, and social progress
• NSDI Components
– Clearinghouse - need to find and access data (now GOS)
– Metadata - need to know characteristics of data
– Framework - need for common sets of data
– Standards/Technology - need to transfer/integrate data
– Partnerships - need to leverage resources
• NSDI composed of 33 data themes of national significance
– Seven Framework Themes – e.g. geodetic control; transportation; hydrography; topography
– Marine and Coastal included – e.g. maritime baseline; marine boundaries; shoreline; bathymetry
FGDC and Marine and Coastal Data
Presentation Outline
Existing Systems
– NOAA Coastal Services Center Overview and IMS Template
– National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) and Federal
Geographic Data Committee (FGDC)
– Geospatial One-Stop Data Portal
– National Ocean Service (NOS) Data Explorer
Planned Systems
– Ocean Action Plan Ocean Mapping Priorities
• Inventory of Ocean and Coastal Mapping Programs and Datasets
• Integrated Ocean Observing Systems Data Transport Methods
Geospatial One-Stop (GOS)
What is it?
– One of 24 E-GOV projects initiated to enhance federal government service
delivery (only geospatial project)
– GOS Goal – provide single point of access for all federal (and some state and
private) geospatial data sets
– All FGDC member agencies required to participate and fund project (cash and in-
kind resources) – operating budget of ~$3.0M + agency in-kind support
– Managed by one federal agency (Department of Interior) but overseen by 8-
member Board of Directors (4 Federal representatives and 4 non-Federal)
– Site organized around Communities (Data and Special Topics)
Technical Implementation
– Site developed and managed by ESRI with
Google (enhanced searching) and IBM (portlets)
– System driven by FGDC metadata records (125K)
– Components include search interface, IMS
tool, communities, geospatial marketplace,
metadata development tools
GOS – How it Works
Main Navigation Tabs
Google Search
Communities
GOS – How it Works
Result Options
View Summary
Full Metadata
Add to Map
Go to Web site
Perspectives on GOS
Positives
– Participation by all federal agencies (some more than others)
– Stable funding and support (agencies are taxed and required to
provide in-kind support)
– Dedicated GOS project office and staff
– Strong private sector involvement (ESRI, Google, IBM)
– Diverse Board of Directors Structure
Negatives
– Searching results need to be refined to prioritize „best‟ datasets
• Too much information given current searching algorithms
– Automated metadata harvesting never realized (manual process)
– Need to provide site usage (amount and profile) to partner agencies
– No data delivered via site – links to data provider
– GOS Marketplace has not met initial goals
Presentation Outline
Existing Systems
– NOAA Coastal Services Center Overview and IMS Template
– National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) and Federal
Geographic Data Committee (FGDC)
– Geospatial One-Stop Data Portal
– National Ocean Service (NOS) Data Explorer
Planned Systems
– Ocean Action Plan Ocean Mapping Priorities
• Inventory of Ocean and Coastal Mapping Programs and Datasets
• Integrated Ocean Observing Systems Data Transport Methods
NOS Data Explorer - Why Build It?
• NOAA\National Ocean Service creates
many of the key US coastal datasets
– Geodetic control
– Nautical Charts - ENCs
– Shoreline
– Bathymetry
– Marine boundaries
– Environmental Sensitivity Index
– Coastal Hazards
– Tides and Water Levels
• Prior to Data Explorer, users must
navigate multiple sites to find data
• Variety of data delivery approaches
• No single interface for previewing
composite data at one location
• Complexity of discovery and delivery
Data Explorer Basics and Roles
Data Explorer Basics
– Goal - centralized searching and delivery of datasets and metadata from
multiple NOS program offices from one Internet site
– Does not replace existing program office data access sites or require any
substantial additional work from them (do no harm + add no burden)
– Connectivity provided through open standards (OpenGIS, XML, TCP/IP, HTTP)
– Hosts 75 unique data layers and 350+ unique metadata records
– Governance – core developer team and program office representatives
– Funded via support of key program offices doing DE development (three offices)
What does the Data Explorer core site hold?
– Metadata records from program offices
– Inventory files or “footprints” for each dataset
– Inventory of “services” – how to connect to each dataset
What do the program offices maintain?
– Keep metadata and footprint inventory up to date
– Store all data and provide access via database connection,
ArcIMS, OGC service, or FTP files
Technologies and Framework
Software
– ESRI ArcIMS – Map image and data stream construction
– ESRI ArcSDE – Broker inventory and portal knowledge repository
– JSP/JSTL – Web-UI construction, system flow control and error handling
– JDBC – data source connectivity
DataExplorer
Portal
Technologies
Data Explorer
– Client: HTML,
JavaScript Consistent
Interfaces
– Application:
Java, XML Application Framework Tier
Data Access
– Database: Interface
“Adaptors”
SQL Server &
Remote Data Providers
office specific Existing
Agency Data
access Access
Interfaces
Agency Data
Geodetic
Holdings
Nautical Tides & Shore- Corals
Charts Control
Water line Repository
Data Explorer Front Page
Site Options
Data by Topics
Data Web Sites
Tools and Resources
Search for Data
Data Explorer – How it Works
Search Options
By Geography
By Keyword
Combination
Data Explorer – How it Works
Data Exploration Options
View Metadata
Visit Data Web Site
Get Data
Data Explorer – How it Works
Add additional data to same geography
Final Steps
Enter email address
DE clips datasets from all host sites
Datasets and metadata zipped into one package
Notification emailed to user when ready
Resultant zip package resides on site for 72 hours
Search parameters maintained in case needed
Perspectives on Data Explorer
Positives
– Good participation across all program offices
– True access to distributed datasets across multiple offices
– Code sharing and building networks among software
developers
– Model for NOAA-wide implementation
Negatives
– Need more ownership from program offices
– Legacy systems caused data access difficulties and required
specialized coding to implement system
– Scaling and hardening of site needed (buried during
Hurricane Katrina)
– Not enough done with marketing of site to date (25K unique
visits per month average)
Presentation Outline
Existing Systems
– NOAA Coastal Services Center Overview and IMS Template
– National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) and Federal Geographic
Data Committee (FGDC)
– Geospatial One-Stop Data Portal
– National Ocean Service (NOS) Data Explorer
Planned Systems
– Ocean Action Plan Ocean Mapping Priorities
• Inventory of Ocean and Coastal Mapping Programs and
Datasets
• Integrated Ocean Observing Systems Data Transport
Methods
Future Directions for Coastal and Marine Data Access
External Drivers for Mapping
• National Research Council Coastal Mapping and Charting
Study (2004)
– Study suggests the FGDC Marine & Coastal Spatial Data SC pursue
shoreline coordination and coastal and ocean data access
• U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy (2004-05)
– Recommendation “The Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC)
should coordinate federal ocean and coastal mapping and charting
activities with the goal of creating standardized, easily accessible
national maps”
• U.S. Ocean Action Plan (2005-06)
– Recommendation to “Coordinate Ocean and Coastal Mapping
Activities”
External Drivers for Integrated Ocean Observing Systems
• U.S. Ocean Action Plan (2005-06)
– Multiple recommendations on need to develop robust data transport
technologies and methodologies for ocean and coastal observing
systems
OAP Integrated Ocean & Coastal Mapping Inventory
• Federal Interagency Working Group on Ocean & Coastal Mapping formed
• Tasked with “development of an annual inventory of Federal, Federally-
funded, and non-Federal government ocean and coastal mapping and
charting programs, operations, and prioritized needs”
• No directed funding support from Administration
• Currently in requirements development phase
– Must be based on FGDC-compliant metadata
– Must be accessible via Geospatial One-Stop portal
– Must be easy to use and update
– Must have query capability
• Initial Thoughts on Products
– Online Web form to capture programmatic and data set level information (metadata)
– Web-based tools to search and access metadata records (both existing & planned)
– Web mapping interface to display existing data sets and planned data acquisition
IOOS Data Management and Communications
• Increased efforts in coordinating data
transport for ocean observing systems
• Opportunity to bring together common
geospatial datasets (Coastal Atlases)
with observing system data streams
• Initial focus on a suite of tools and
methodologies including OGC
Services, OpenSource tools, and COTS
software
– NetCDF
– OPeNDAP
– MapServer
– XML/GML
– ArcIMS
– Vocabularies and Ontologies
– Metadata
Presentation URLs
NOAA Coastal Services Center: www.csc.noaa.gov
Federal Geographic Data Committee: www.fgdc.gov
FGDC Marine & Coastal Spatial Data Subcommittee: www.csc.noaa.gov/mcsd
FGDC Marine Boundary Working Group: www.csc.noaa.gov/mbwg
Geospatial One-Stop: www.geodata.gov
NOS Data Explorer: www.nos.noaa.gov/dataexplorer
US Ocean Action Plan: ocean.ceq.gov/actionplan.pdf
Ocean.US Community Information Repository: www.ocean.us/cir
Coastal GeoTools ’07 Conference (March 2007): www.csc.noaa.gov/geotools
Contact Information:
Tony LaVoi
NOAA Coastal Services Center
Charleston, South Carolina
Tony.Lavoi@noaa.gov