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Foreword (From the original version)

This document contains a specification of the Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS), that will serve as a national spatial data transfer mechanism for the United States. As such it is designed to transfer a wide variety of data structures that are used in the spatial sciences. These sciences include cartography, geography, geology, geographic information systems and many other neighboring sciences. SDTS consists of three primary parts: the first is the SDTS logical superstructure that presents the organization and structure of the SDTS transfer mechanism; the second presents the definition of spatial features and attributes; and the third part presents the ISO 8211 data transfer implementation (i.e., encoding method).

Work on a national spatial data transfer standard was begun by the National Committee for Digital Cartographic Data Standards in 1982 to develop a comprehensive set of data exchange standards for the profession. This work was funded by the U.S. Geological Survey through a grant to the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping. In 1985, the Standards Working Group of the Federal Interagency Coordinating Committee on Digital Cartography also began work on spatial data exchange standards. During 1987, the results of these parallel efforts were merged by the Digital Cartographic Data Standards Task Force into the proposed Digital Cartographic Data Standards, published as a special issue of The American Cartographer in January 1988. Subsequent testing, modification, and refining of the results of these efforts were done by the Spatial Data Transfer Standard Technical Review Board. The end product of all of this effort is the standard presented here.

This result represents a collaborative effort by these groups to define a standard that will support work with cartographic and geographic data systems and facilitate spatial data transfer. It is designed to serve the spatial data transfer needs of the Federal agencies, especially the proposed National Spatial Data Infrastructure, and the work of State and local governmental entities, the private sector, and research organizations.

The committees and individuals who developed this standard include:

U.S. Geological Survey,

SDTS Task Force at USGS/NMD

(various members October 91 through December 97)

William Harris, Richard Hogan, Robin Fegeas, Kathy Clement

Phyllis Altheide, Charley Hickman, Kim Burns-Braidlow

Jim Stickley, Billy Tolar, John Smezraj, Janette Cascio,

Bob Lazar, JB Hanson

U.S. Geological Survey,

Spatial Data Transfer Standard Technical Review Board

(as of October 1991)

Joel Morrison, US Geological Survey, Chairman

Peter Aronson, Environmental Systems Research Institute

Alfred Brooks, Information Interchange

Beverly Davis, Bureau of the Census

Charles Drinnan, Synercom Technology

Robin Fegeas, U.S. Geological Survey

Cliff Kottman, Intergraph Corporation

Richard Liston, Soil Conservation Service

Harold Moellering, Ohio State University

Art Noma, Defense Mapping Agency

Robert Rugg, Virginia Commonwealth University

Jan van Roessel, ESRI, (formerly with EROS Data Center)

Walter Winn, National Ocean Service

J. Austin Yeager, National Ocean Service, Observer

Matthew McDermott, U.S. Geological Survey, Coordinator

U.S. Geological Survey,

Digital Cartographic Data Standards Task Force

(as of April 1988)

Voting Members

Joel Morrison, U.S. Geological Survey, Chairman

Fred Billingsley, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Robin Fegeas, U.S. Geological Survey

Pat Martin, Federal Emergency Management Agency

David Meixler, Bureau of Census

Jan van Roessel, U.S. Geological Survey

Patrick Satterfield, Defense Mapping Agency

Walter Winn, National Ocean Service

Advisory Members

Alfred Brooks, Information Interchange

Nicholas Chrisman, University of Washington

Harold Moellering, Ohio State University

Timothy Nyerges, University of Washington

Robert Rugg, Virginia Commonwealth University

Gale TeSelle, Soil Conservation Service

James Upperman, National Bureau of Standards

Federal Interagency Coordinating Committee for Digital Cartography,

Standards Working Group

(as of April 1987)

Gale TeSelle, Chairman, Soil Conservation Service

Joe Knott, Debra Knoll, David Meixler, Bureau of the Census

Fred Billingsley, National Air and Space Administration

Michael Roivas, Mark Bootz, Art Noma, Patrick Satterfield,

Defense Mapping Agency

David Thompson, Federal Aviation Administration

Pat Martin, Federal Emergency Management Agency

Robin Fegeas, Van van Roessel, Eric Anderson, Robert Rugg,

U.S. Geological Survey

Lawrence Fritz, Walter Winn,

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Fred Tamm-Daniels, Tennessee Valley Authority

American Congress on Surveying and Mapping,

National Committee for Digital Cartographic Data Standards

(as of April 1987)

Steering Committee

Harold Moellering, Ohio State University, Chairman

Lawrence Fritz, National Ocean Service, Vice Chairman

Dennis Franklin, Defense Mapping Agency

Robert W. Marx, Bureau of the Census

Jerome E. Dobson, Oak Ridge National Laboratories

Dean Edson, E-Quad Associates

Jack Dangermond, Environmental Systems Research Institute

John Davis, Kansas Geological Survey

Paula Hagan, Private Consultant

A. R. Boyle, University of Saskatchewan

Timothy Nyerges, University of Washington

Dean Merchant, Ohio State University

Hugh Calkins, State University of New York, Buffalo

Working Group I, Data Organization

Timothy Nyerges, University of Washington, Chairman

Bill Liles, Xerox Special Information Services, Vice Chairman

A. R. Boyle, University of Saskatchewan

Hugh Calkins, State University of New York, Buffalo

Fred Billingsley, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Robin Fegeas, U.S. Geological Survey

David Pendleton, National Ocean Survey

Clif McVay, Defense Mapping Agency

Jan van Roessel, EROS Data Center

Alfred Brooks, Information Interchange

Working Group II, Data Set Quality

Nicholas Chrisman, University of Washington, Chairman

Charles Poeppelmeier, Defense Mapping Agency, Vice Chairman

Dean Merchant, Ohio State University

John Davis, Kansas Geological Survey

George Rosenfield, Private Consultant

George Johnson, National Ocean Service

Wallace Crisco, Bureau of Land Management

Gunther Greulich, Survey Engineers of Boston

John Stout, Geological Consultant

David Meixler, Bureau of Census

Frank Beck, U.S. Geological Survey

Working Group III, Cartographic Features

Warren Schmidt, Digital Mapping Unlimited, Chairman

Robert Rugg, Virginia Commonwealth University, Vice Chairman

Roger Payne, U.S. Geological Survey

Walter Winn, National Ocean Service

Beth Driver, Maxim Technologies, Inc.

Fred Tamm-Daniels, Tennessee Valley Authority

Mary Clawson, Naval Ocean Research and Development Activity

Benny Klock, Defense Mapping Agency

Erich Frey, National Ocean Service

Mark Monmonier, Syracuse University