U.S. FGDC CONTENT STANDARD FOR DIGITAL GEOSPATIAL METADATA: EXTENSIONS FOR REMOTE SENSING METADATA

The U. S. Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata defines common geospatial metadata that allow prospective users to determine the following information about a geophysical data set: its availability, its fitness for an intended use, and the means of accessing and successfully transferring it. Because of its generality, the standard may not meet the metadata needs for specific geospatial domains. The Extensions for Remote Sensing Metadata (hereafter Remote Sensing Extensions) are to provide additional information particularly relevant to remote sensing: the geometry of the measurement process, the properties of the measuring instrument, the processing of raw readings into geospatial information, and the distinction between metadata applicable to an entire collection of data and those applicable only to component parts. For that purpose, the Remote Sensing Extensions establish the names, definitions, and permissible values for new data elements and the compound elements of which they are the components. These new elements are placed within the structure of the FGDC Metadata Content Standard, allowing the combination of the original standard and the new extensions to be treated as a single entity. These extensions are intended to support the collection and processing of geospatial metadata for data derived from remote sensing and to be useable by all levels of government and the private sector. The standard was drafted by a NASA-led team in the FGDC Imagery Subgroup with wide participation from federal agencies, universities, and private industry. Currently the standard is in the FGDC standard approval process. We welcome input and comments from the international remote sensing community for improving the draft standard.