Open Geodata Standards

Geospatial data present unique challenges due to the complexity of the organization and storage of data concerning a broad array of spatial objects collected in different formats, with different reference systems. Geospatial data storage and transmission are complicated by the storage requirements of geospatial data (archives of multiple terabytes are common), by the need to store the location of features or imagery as well as information on their spatial reference system and associated metadata, and by the increasingly common requirement that data be accessible by multiple users from a range of different platforms. The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) has taken the lead in the development of open geo-data standards. As defined by OGC, open standards are created in an open, participatory process that is technology neutral and in which the final specification is publicly available to all parties without royalties. Open standards provide a common, publicly available framework for the storage and transmission of geospatial data that ensures data access and service interoperability while allowing for the development of distributed geospatial applications.

Successful open geodata standards are important both for data management, by ensuring ease [Page 2084]of data access and archiving, and for the design of interoperable geospatial services. Lack of well-known, open standards complicates the integration of data from multiple sources when data from different sources are stored in different, proprietary formats. Conversion of geospatial data between alternative formats is often difficult due to the large storage requirements of geospa-tial data and the processing power needed for conversion, as well as due to the complexity of geospatial data formats. Open geodata standards allow interoperability of geospatial services without the necessity of data conversion, while also encouraging the reuse of data and program components in multiple applications with standardized interfaces.

Distributed geoprocessing and Internet location-based services require the interconnection of multiple software applications and data sets. Open geodata standards provide a common framework for data access and storage, allowing developers to build seamless applications. For instance, a user could use a Web application to access vector features from a range of Web sources conforming to the Web Feature Service (WFS) standard developed by the OGC to dynamically build a vector map. Without an established standard such as the WFS, interoperability of Web services would be problematic.