OGC Requests

The membership of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC®) seeks public comment on the candidate WaterML2.0 - part 2: Ratings, Gaugings and Sections Standard.

WaterML2.0 represents an initiative within the joint WMO/OGC Hydrology Domain Working Group to address standards development and interoperability of hydrological information systems at an international level. The first part of WaterML2.0 focused on a standard information model, and an XML encoding derived from that model, for time series of hydrological observations.

The candidate WaterML2.0 - part 2: Ratings, Gaugings and Sections Standard describes an information model for exchanging rating tables, gauging observations and river sections.

In the last decade, progress in airborne and mobile laser scanning and photogrammetric methods has brought an explosion of terrain data and detailed 3D models of the built environment. The 3d models are often maintained in proprietary environments. The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) and the Web3D Consortium have both been working to address the need for interoperability, as well as the content challenges of volume, access speed, and diversity of devices. The Web3D Consortium has focused on open standards for real-time 3D visualization, including streaming, and their members developed a Geospatial Component extension for X3D. The OGC has focused on developing a service interface to provide interoperable access to 3D geospatial data servers. In 2012, a group of OGC members, building on work done in both organizations, completed the 3D Portrayal Interoperability Experiment (3DPIE) to develop and evaluate best practices for 3D portrayal services.

The membership of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC®) seeks public comment on the candidate OGC KML 2.3 Standard.

KML is an XML grammar used to encode representations of places and objects for display in an earth browser, such as a 3D virtual globe, 2D web browser application, or 2D mobile application. KML can be used to accomplish various map and Earth image functions, such as: annotate places, specify icons and labels to identify geographic locations, create different camera positions to define unique views for KML features, define image overlays to attach to map views, and define the location and orientation of textured 3D objects.

The main KML enhancements provided in version 2.3 are:

1. Addition of a new feature, KML Tour, which enables a user to specify aspects of a controlled virtual flight through a series of geographic locations, including speed, mode of flight (smooth or bounce), sound tracks and how KML features are updated throughout the tour.

2. Addition of new geometries: Track and MultiTrack. A KML Track can capture and display the path and other aspects of  a moving object over a specified period of time.

3. Enhancements to KML’s Extension Mechanism, allowing for the direct use of XML content from third-party schemas. KML 2.3 is now based on XML Schema 1.1 enabling Aauthors of KML Application Profile extensions are now able to experimentally add foreign element and attribute content interleaved among existing KML elements.

The documents for the candidate OGC KML 2.3 Standard are available for review and comment below.  Comments are due by 18 January, 2015.

The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC®) has issued a Request for Quotation/Call for Participation (RFQ/CFP) in the OGC Testbed 11 Interoperability Testbed.

Testbed 11 sponsors have documented interoperability requirements and objectives for this testbed activity. Organizations selected to participate in Testbed 11 will develop solutions based on the sponsors’ use cases, requirements and scenarios, which are described in detail in the RFQ/CFP. Participants’ solutions will implement existing OGC standards as well as new prototype interface and encoding specifications introduced or developed in Testbed 11. Prototype specifications may ultimately become OGC standards, revisions to existing OGC standards, or best practices for using OGC standards.

Testbed 11 Sponsors include:

• European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation (EUROCONTROL)
• Land Information New Zealand (LINZ)
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
• National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)
• UAE Ministry of Interior Abu Dhabi Police GIS Center for Security (UAE - ADP GIS CS)
• UK Defense Science and Technology Lab (UK-DSTL)
• US Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
• US Geological Survey (USGS)

The RFQ/CFP and information about Testbed 11 are available below. Responses are due by 5:00 pm EST on 21 November 2014.

An IP Program and Testbed 11 Q&A Webinar will be held on 30 October 2014 at 10 am EDT ( Check your local time ). Register here: https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/287254487.

For the most efficient use of this webinar, please send your questions in advance to techdesk [at] opengeospatial.org. You are also invited to follow us on twitter, Linkedin or Facebook to stay updated on the Q&A Webinar, clarifications to requirements, kickoff details, etc.

The OGC Testbed 11 Kickoff Workshop is planned for 12-14 January 2015 at George Mason University (GMU), Fairfax Campus in Northern Virginia. Additional details for the Kickoff Workshop will be provided later.

Testbed 11 focuses on spatial communication requirements that emerge when a population is displaced due to coastal inundation. Testbed participants addressing requirements in this scenario will attempt to meet these goals:

• Advance OGC Architecture with respect to REST and SOAP design patterns for synchronization of geodata across data stores, as well as storage and synchronization of geodata in GeoPackages;
• Evaluate approaches to JSON and GeoJSON encodings as well as vector data and image streaming in the OGC standards framework;
• Integration of high-resolution simulation models into geospatial infrastructures
• Advance use of Linked Data and Semantic Enabling of OGC Web Services, with a special focus on Hydrographic Data;
• Advance use of OGC Catalog Services;
• Advance use of spatially enabled Social Media data;
• Advance use of a common symbology that can be used to share common operational pictures in an international environment;
• Advance compliance tests for the OGC Web Feature Service and Catalog 3.0 Service interface standards;
• In Aviation, advance a Digital NOTAM validation service and enrichment service and advance use of Aviation Feature Schema (AFX). Also develop guidance on using geometrical constraints in the Semantics of Business Vocabulary and Rules (SBVR) (an Object Management Group standard).

Those testbed goals sort into these technology threads:

• Cross-Community Interoperability (CCI) Thread
• Urban-Climate Resilience (UCR) Thread
• Geospatial Enhancements for NIEM (Geo4NIEM)

This cutting edge technology work has enormous potential for testbed stakeholders – both the technology users and the technology providers – and for the world at large. The return on the shared investment in spatial standards is extraordinary, much like the return on the original shared investments in http and html. Technology providers gain market exposure, market intelligence, and a chance to quickly take advantage of the business opportunities that arise with the introduction of new standards and associated technical capabilities.

If you want to learn more about this opportunity, please contact  Lew Leinenweber , Director Interoperability Programs (techdesk [at] opengeospatial.org). See http://www.opengeospatial.org/ogc/programs/ip for more information about the 15 year old OGC Interoperability Program in which OGC testbeds, pilot projects and interoperability experiments are organized, planned and managed.