The Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) endorsed the Geographic Information Framework
Data Standard in May 2008.
The Geographic Information Framework Data Standard establishes
common requirements for data exchange for seven themes of geospatial
data identified as framework data themes in OMB
Circular A-16, Revised. Framework data themes are critical to the
National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), as they are fundamental to
many different Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications. The
seven NSDI Framework data themes are:
- Cadastral data
- Digital orthoimagery
- Elevation
- Geodetic control
- Governmental Unit Boundaries
- Hydrography
- Transportation
The Geographic Information Framework Data Standard specifies a
minimal level of data content for each theme, which data producers,
consumers, and vendors are expected to use for the interchange of
framework data, including through Web services. The standard includes a
base document and parts that correspond to the NSDI Framework data
themes. The transportation part includes subparts that correspond to
different modes of transportation: airport facilities; rail; roads;
transit; and waterways.
Each part includes an integrated application schema expressed in Unified Modeling Language (UML), which
was developed through the Object
Management Group (OMG). The application schema specifies, as
appropriate, the feature types, attribute types, attribute domain,
feature relationships, spatial representation, data organization, and
metadata that define the information content of a data set. XML
Metadata Interchange (XMI), another specification developed by OMG,
is used to exchange UML models between various modeling software
packages.
The Geographic Information Framework Data Standard does not specify
a single structure for the interchange of data. However, XMI data can
be converted into Geography Markup Language (GML). GML was
developed by the Open
Geospatial Consortium and approved as ISO
19136:2007, Geographic information - Geography Markup
Language.
The Geographic Information Framework Data Standard was initially
developed through the Geospatial
One-Stop e-Government initiative; however,
the FGDC assumed leadership for continued standards
activities.
As the Geographic Information Framework Data Standard was developed using public funds, the U.S. Government will be free to publish and distribute its contents to the public, as provided through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Part 5 United States Code, Section 552, as amended by Public Law No. 104-231, “Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1996”.