Federal Geographic Data Committee
Subcommittee on Bathymetric and Nautical Charting Data
2001 Work Plan
The Federal Geographic Data Committee's Marine and Coastal Spatial Data
Subcommittee’s primary mission is to develop and promote that aspect of
the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) that supports the marine
navigation and coastal zone geographic information system (GIS) community.
Support will be accomplished through the development of data, metadata,
standards, and data exchange agreements. The subcommittee supports the
overall goals and missions of the FGDC by serving on several working groups
and subcommittees that have an interest in coastal and marine geographic
data issues. The Subcommittee is an active member of the Standards Working
Group, the Marine Boundary Working Group, and the FGDC Coordination Group.
The subcommittee meets formally approximately three times a year in the
Washington, D.C. area. Additionally, the subcommittee sponsors a number
of community meetings and outreach workshops throughout the country during
the year. To enhance communications, the subcommittee has a home page
on the World Wide Web at the following URL: /mcsd.
Items in the work plan will be led and funded by agencies that serve
on the subcommittee.
2001 Work Plan:
(in the format of the NSDI Strategic Plan)
Goal One: Increase the awareness and understanding of the vision,
concept, and benefits of the NSDI through outreach and education
Members of the Marine and Coastal Spatial Data Subcommittee will host,
conduct, or participate in outreach meetings and workshops with the coastal
and ocean community. These will take various forms including teaching
hands-on metadata classes targeted at this community, presenting workshops
and seminars on related activities, publishing papers on coastal data
within the NSDI, and facilitating community involvement in the NSDI.
Selected goals:
- Hold metadata workshops for coastal resource managers, including the
National Estuarine Research Reserve program and the National Marine
Sanctuary program.
- Update and re-released the subcommittee’s Web site.
- Deliver presentations at conferences and meetings on the Coastal National
Spatial Data Infrastructure.
Goal Two: Develop common solutions for discovery, access, and use
of geographic data in response to the needs of diverse communities
- Continue to support data conversion, digitizing, formatting, and data
quality efforts for coastal zone GIS data—especially shoreline and bathymetric
data.
- Continue to work on a "Shoreline Profile" for the FGDC metadata standard
to support information necessary for shoreline and related data sets
(standard is now in public review).
- Continue to develop the Hydrographic Data Content Standard for
Inland and Coastal Waterways.
- Continue to develop Part 5 of the NSDI Data Accuracy Standard:
Hydrographic Data Accuracy Standard.
- Provide technical assistance to affected agencies and offices to implement
the FGDC metadata standard.
- Support state efforts to develop coastal and ocean data within the
NSDI.
- Market the NSDI to the states with respect to coastal and ocean data.
- Push for an offshore cadastre as a framework data set through the
rewrite of OMB Circular A-16.
Goal Three: Use community-based approaches to develop and maintain
common collections of geospatial data for sound decision making
- Initiate the development of an FGDC Marine Boundary Working Group.
- Continue to develop the Ocean Planning Information System (OPIS).
OPIS provides easy access to comprehensive ocean-related data, metadata,
and other information in the Southeast.
- Complete the NOAA and USGS funded Topo/Bathy project.
Goal Four: Build Relationships among organizations to support the
continuing development of the NSDI
- Continue to maintain and add to the Email directory of over 400 GIS
experts working in the coastal zone.
- Coordinate the Coastal GeoTools conference to bring together over
400 professionals working in the field of coastal resource management
- Work with members of the private sector and academia on issues relating
to shoreline and bathymetric data.
- Work with state, county, and local organizations to develop NSDI coastal
framework data and implement standards.
- Continue to participate in interagency collaboration between the Department
of the Interior, Department of Commerce, and State Department on marine
cadastral data issues.
