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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1993. Toward a Coordinated Spatial Data Infrastructure for the Nation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2105.
×

TOWARD A COORDINATED SPATIAL DATA INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE NATION

Mapping Science Committee

Board on Earth Sciences and Resources

Commission on Geosciences, Environment and Resources

National Research Council

National Academy Press
Washington, D.C. 1993

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1993. Toward a Coordinated Spatial Data Infrastructure for the Nation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2105.
×

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Frank Press is president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Robert M. White is president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and of advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Frank Press and Dr. Robert M. White are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.

Support for this study by the Mapping Science Committee was provided by the Defense Mapping Agency, the United States Geological Survey, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Bureau of the Census.

Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 93-84335

International Standard Book No. 0-309-04899-0

Copies of this report are available from
National Academy Press
2101 Constitution Avenue Washington, D.C. 20418

B-149

Copyright 1993 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

First Printing, April 1993

Second Printing, April 1995

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1993. Toward a Coordinated Spatial Data Infrastructure for the Nation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2105.
×

MAPPING SCIENCE COMMITTEE

JOHN D. BOSSLER,

The Ohio State University,

Chairman

JOHN C. ANTENUCCI,a

PlanGraphics, Inc.

LAWRENCE F. AYERS,

Intergraph Corporation

BARBARA P. BUTTENFIELD,b

State University of New York, Buffalo

ROBERT LEE CHARTRAND,

Naples, Florida

DONALD F. COOKE,

Geographic Data Technology, Inc.

DAVID J. COWEN,a

University of South Carolina

JOHN E. ESTES,a

University of California, Santa Barbara

LEE C. GERHARD,b

Kansas Geological Survey

MICHAEL F. GOODCHILD,b

University of California, Santa Barbara

CLIFFORD GREVE,c

Autometrics, Inc.

GIULIO MAFFINI,

Intera-Tydac

JOHN D. MCLAUGHLIN,

University of New Brunswick

BERNARD J. NIEMANN, JR.,

University of Wisconsin, Madison

BARBARA B. PETCHENIK,

R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company (deceased, June 1992)

GERARD RUSHTON,

University of Iowa

HOWARD J. SIMKOWITZ,a

Caliper Corporation

LARRY J. SUGARBAKER,b

Washington State Department of Natural Resources

ROBERT TUFTS,

The Analytic Science Corporation

NRC Staff

THOMAS M. USSELMAN, Senior Staff Officer

JUDITH ESTEP, Administrative Secretary

a  

Term ended May 31, 1992

b  

Term began June 1, 1992

c  

Resigned December 1991 when he began job with the U.S. Geological Survey

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1993. Toward a Coordinated Spatial Data Infrastructure for the Nation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2105.
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×

BOARD ON EARTH SCIENCES AND RESOURCES

WILLIAM L. FISHER,

University of Texas at Austin,

Chairman

SAMUEL S. ADAMS, Minerals Consultant,

Lincoln, NH

MARK P. CLOOS,

University of Texas at Austin

NEVILLE G. W. COOK,

University of California, Berkeley

JOEL DARMSTADTER,

Resources for the Future

DONALD J. DEPAOLO,

University of California, Berkeley

GORDON P. EATON,

Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory

W. GARY ERNST,

Stanford University

NORMAN H. FOSTER, Independent Petroleum Geologist,

Denver

FREEMAN GILBERT,

University of California, San Diego

PERRY R. HAGENSTEIN,

Resource Issues, Inc.

HARRISON C. JAMISON, Consultant,

Sunriver, Oregon

THOMAS H. JORDAN,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

ANDREW H. KNOLL,

Harvard University

PHILIP E. LAMOREAUX,

P.E. LaMoreaux and Associates, Inc.

SUSAN LANDON,

Thomasson Partner Associates, Denver

CHARLES J. MANKIN,

Oklahoma Geological Survey

CAREL OTTE, JR.,

Unocal Corporation (retired)

FRANK M. RICHTER,

University of Chicago

Staff

JONATHAN G. PRICE, Staff Director

WILLIAM E. BENSON, Senior Program Officer

BRUCE B. HANSHAW, Staff Officer

THOMAS M. USSELMAN, Senior Program Officer

LORRAINE W. WOLF, Staff Officer

LALLY A. ANDERSON, Staff Assistant

CHARLENE ANDERSON, Administrative Secretary

JUDITH ESTEP, Administrative Secretary

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1993. Toward a Coordinated Spatial Data Infrastructure for the Nation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2105.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1993. Toward a Coordinated Spatial Data Infrastructure for the Nation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2105.
×

COMMISSION ON GEOSCIENCES, ENVIRONMENT, AND RESOURCES

M. GORDON WOLMAN,

The Johns Hopkins University,

Chairman

PATRICK R. ATKINS,

Aluminum Company of America

PETER S. EAGLESON,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

EDWARD A. FRIEMAN,

Scripps Institution of Oceanography

HELEN M. INGRAM,

University of Arizona

W. BARCLAY KAMB,

California Institute of Technology

GENE E. LIKENS,

New York Botanical Garden

SYUKURO MANABE,

NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory

JACK E. OLIVER,

Cornell University

FRANK L. PARKER,

Vanderbilt University

DUNCAN T. PATTEN,

Arizona State University

RAYMOND A. PRICE,

Queen's University at Kingston

MAXINE L. SAVITZ,

Allied Signal Aerospace Company

LARRY L. SMARR,

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

STEVEN M. STANLEY,

The Johns Hopkins University

WARREN WASHINGTON,

National Center for Atmospheric Research

EDITH BROWN WEISS,

Georgetown University Law Center

IRVIN L. WHITE,

Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories

Staff

STEPHEN RATTIEN, Executive Director

STEPHEN D. PARKER, Associate Executive Director

LORRAINE W. WOLF, Assistant Executive Director

JEANETTE SPOON, Administrative Officer

CARLITA PERRY, Administrative Associate

ROBIN LEWIS, Senior Project Assistant

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PREFACE

The Mapping Science Committee (MSC) was established in 1987 at the request of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to provide advice on their cartographic and geographic activities. During the course of its studies, the MSC was exposed to activities in several other federal agencies and recognized several generic problems involving the conduct of mapping and spatial analysis. Because of the continuing explosive growth of the technology and the accompanying modernization efforts (both within the federal and nonfederal government and elsewhere), generic problems, the redundancy of data production, the potential for application of the methodologies to other programs, and the large fiscal expenditures anticipated, the MSC expanded its scope to offer its capabilities and advice to other federal agencies that have become involved in these programs.

In response to the initial charges developed for the earlier USGS activity, the MSC issued two reports, Spatial Data Needs: The Future of the National Mapping Program (1990) and Research and Development in the National Mapping Division, USGS: Trends and Prospects (1991). In both reports, the MSC recognized the utility of its advice to the broader governmental agencies that utilize mapping or the analyses of spatially referenced digital data.

Because of this recognition, the MSC initiated this study. The question that this study addresses is: What could be done better or more efficiently if the content, accuracy, organization, and control of spatial data were different? The study examines the current national spatial data infrastructure, encompassing the roles of private institutions as well as local, state, and federal governments in using and sharing geographic

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1993. Toward a Coordinated Spatial Data Infrastructure for the Nation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2105.
×

information. In addition it identifies barriers that prevent these groups from acquiring knowledge, making decisions, or performing the duties that rely on the timely availability and easy access to an organized body of geographically referenced information. The scope of spatial data can be enormous, and spatial data can be important components of a wide variety of scientific, technical, and social disciplines and applications. The MSC focused its efforts on the generic issues of spatial data management, collection, and use, particularly regarding the data bases that drive geographic information systems and other similar methods of analyses.

In the past 2 years, the MSC met (at least once) with 18 different federal agencies to be briefed and to discuss various programs within each agency dealing with spatial data collection and use. These agencies include the following:

Department of Commerce

Bureau of the Census

National Institute of Standards and Technology

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Department of Defense

Army Corps of Engineers

Defense Mapping Agency

Department of the Interior

Bureau of Land Management

Fish and Wildlife Service

U.S. Geological Survey

Department of Agriculture

Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service

Economic Research Service

Forest Service

National Agriculture Statistical Service

Soil Conservation Service

Department of Transportation

Federal Highway Administration

Environmental Protection Agency

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1993. Toward a Coordinated Spatial Data Infrastructure for the Nation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2105.
×

At several MSC meetings, discussions of policies regarding spatial data were held with representatives of the Office of Management and Budget and its interagency committee, the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC). In addition, representatives of the MSC attended several FGDC meetings. Representatives from Bell South also participated in a meeting and discussed issues relevant to the utilities sector, and a representative from the Council of State Governments discussed the Council's State Geographic Information Activities Compendium. The MSC appreciates the participation of officials from these organizations in developing the committee's background to address the issues in this report.

The MSC, through its members, brought valuable experience relevant to state and local governmental activities, the needs of utilities, Intelligent Vehicle Highway Navigation Systems, and the role of the private sector. Members of the MSC participated in key roles at the 1991 FGDC-sponsored Geographic Information and Spatial Data Exposition held in Washington, D.C., and at other meetings of associations and societies relevant to spatial data.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1993. Toward a Coordinated Spatial Data Infrastructure for the Nation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2105.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1993. Toward a Coordinated Spatial Data Infrastructure for the Nation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2105.
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5

 

SPATIAL DATA AND THE URBAN FABRIC

 

59

   

INTRODUCTION

 

59

   

BACKGROUND

 

60

   

LAND BASE SYSTEMS COMPONENT

 

61

   

Description

 

61

   

Primary Responsibility

 

62

   

Needs

 

63

   

Models

 

63

   

Rationale for Federal Involvement

 

63

   

THE NATION'S CADASTRE

 

64

   

Introduction

 

64

   

Description

 

65

   

Primary Responsibility

 

66

   

Rationale for Federal Involvement

 

66

   

The Problems

 

66

   

Responding to the Problems

 

67

   

STREET CENTERLINE SPATIAL DATA BASE

 

68

   

Description

 

68

   

Significance and Applications

 

68

   

Current Status of Street Centerline Spatial Data Bases

 

69

   

Problems Caused by Deficiencies of Available SCSDs

 

70

   

Need for Greater Coordination or Consolidation

 

71

   

Conclusions: The Need to Ensure Access, Use, and Maintenance

 

72

   

References

 

73

6

 

SPATIAL DATA AND WETLANDS

 

74

   

INTRODUCTION

 

74

   

EVALUATION PROCESS

 

78

   

Public Interest in Wetland Protection

 

78

   

Lack of a Collective Perspective

 

79

   

Impediments

 

80

   

Wetland Information Diffusion Model

 

85

   

CONCLUSION

 

86

   

REFERENCES

 

88

7

 

SHARING OF SPATIAL DATA

 

89

   

RATIONALE FOR A DATA SHARING PROGRAM

 

89

   

Objectives

 

89

   

Examples of Data Sharing Programs

 

90

   

A PROPOSED SPATIAL DATA SHARING PROGRAM

 

94

   

Key Concepts

 

94

   

NSDI Spatial Data Sharing Program

 

98

   

Guidelines for System Implementation

 

99

   

MECHANISMS FOR IMPLEMENTING A SPATIAL DATA SHARING PROGRAM

 

104

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1993. Toward a Coordinated Spatial Data Infrastructure for the Nation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2105.
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This volume is dedicated to the memory of Barbara Bartz Petchenik (1939–1992) a friend and colleague whose inspiration contagious enthusiasm and keen  insight provided profound intellectual stimuli to the Mapping Science Committee. Barbara had been associated with the committee since its inception in 1987 and made significant contributions to all three of the committee's reports. Her bright smile and refreshing perspective will be missed by all.

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TOWARD A COORDINATED SPATIAL DATA INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE NATION

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The National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) is the means to assemble geographic information that describes the arrangement and attributes of features and phenomena on the Earth. This book advocates the need to make the NSDI more robust. The infrastructure includes the materials, technology, and people necessary to acquire, process, store, and distribute such information to meet a wide variety of needs. The NSDI is more than hardware, software, and data; it is the public foundation on which a marketplace for spatial products will evolve.

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