Transcript NatMap Briefing with Speakers Notes

Proposed National Standard
for Named Physical & Cultural
Geographic Features
Geographic Names Project
U.S. Geological Survey
U.S. Department of the Interior
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Full Title
Identifying Attributes for Named Physical and
Cultural Geographic Features (Except Roads
and Highways) of the United States,
Territories, Outlying Areas, and Freely
Associated Areas, and the Waters of the
Same to the Limit of the Twelve Mile Statutory
Zone
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Timeline
Translating existing federally developed standards
into a national, public, consensus based standard
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1890: U.S. Board on Geographic Names Established
1947: Board reauthorized in public law 80-242
1975: Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) implemented
1987: GNIS designated as official Federal source of names & locations
08 Feb 05: NIST withdraws FIPS 55 as Federal standard
01 Jan 06: GNIS Feature ID supersedes FIPS55 Place Code
13 Jul 06: Proposal submitted to ANSI INCITS L1 Committee
21 Sep 06: Briefed to FGDC Homeland Security Working Group
12 Oct 06: Briefed to INCITS L1 Committee
18 Oct 06 : Proposal accepted by INCITS L1 Committee
May 07: Draft Standard submitted to INCITS L1 Committee
TBD 07: Standard approved
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Supersedes
• ANSI X3.47:1988 [R2004], Structure for the
Identification of Named Populated Places,
Primary county Divisions and other Entities of the
U.S. and Its Outlying Areas for Information
Interchange
• FIPS PUB 55-DC3:1994, Codes for Named
Populated Places, Primary County Divisions, and
Other Locational Entities of the United States,
Puerto Rico, and the Outlying Areas
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Standardization not Regulation
Why Standardize Feature Names and Locations?
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Homeland Security/Homeland Defense
 Civil Support
 Emergency Preparedness & Response
 Regional & Local Planning
 Site Selection & Analysis
 Cartographic Application
 Environmental Problem-solving
 Tourism
 All Levels of Communication
The implications of incorrect, inaccurate, or contradictory
feature data appearing simultaneously from multiple
sources are, if anything, more serious today.
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Need for Names Standardization
Before—19th Century
• Scientific and exploration expeditions
recorded conflicting feature names, resulting
in significant confusion and difficulty
Today
• Geographic names are a key component of
the National Spatial Data Infrastructure
• An official A-16 layer
• And a base layer of The National Map
Always
• Consistency is a key attribute of base
geographic information
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U.S. Board on Geographic Names
• 4 September 1890 –
Established by
Presidential Executive Order
• 25 July 1947 –
Re-established by
Public Law 80-242
Representatives of Federal agencies concerned with
geographic information, population, ecology, and
management of public lands.
http://geonames.usgs.gov/
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U.S. Board on Geographic Names
• Ensures uniformity in geographic nomenclature and
orthography throughout the Federal government
• Formulates principles, policies, and procedures
for domestic feature names standardization.
• Serves as Federal authority to which name problems,
name inquiries, name changes, and new name
proposals are directed
• Promulgates Decisions with respect to geographic
names and locations
• Publishes official feature names and locations
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Concepts And Terms
Concept and terms relating to geographic feature
names and locations are defined within the
Principles, Policies, and Procedures for Domestic
Geographic Feature Names
of the
U.S. Board on Geographic Names
(http://geonames.usgs.gov/docs/pro_pol_pro.pdf)
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Geographic Names Information System
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Official Federal source for feature names and locations
Base theme of The National Map
Authoritative A16 database for geographic names
Conforms to Board principles, policies, guidelines
30 Years of Data from authoritative sources
Stable, mature geographic information system
Full national coverage, consistent, seamless
Quality assured, prevents duplication
Open, interoperable, available, web services
Functioning partner base – Federal, State, Local, Tribal
Large user community of long standing
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Feature Examples in the GNIS
• 502,000 hydrographic features – Synchronized with NHD
• 395,000 cultural features – Mostly structures
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Cemetery, Dam, Locale, Mine, Military (historical), Oilfield, Tower, Trail, Well
• 376,000 structural features
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Airport, Building, Church, Hospital, School, Post Office
• 257,000 landforms – In no other layer of The National Map
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(Other than hydrographic features in NHD)
• 170,000 populated places
• 100,000 admin features
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Civil, Forest, Park, Reserve
• 97,000 historical features – In no other layer
• 14,000 transportation point features
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Bridge, Crossing, Tunnel
• (14,000 Antarctica features)
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Scope of Standard
• Domestic named geographic features, geographic
areas, locational entities
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All types, physical and cultural (Except roads and highways)
• Generally recognizable and locatable by name
• Of interest to all levels of government and public
for any purpose
• As defined by authoritative source/data owner
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Inclusive, not exclusive
 Standard does not address specifications relating to
ownership, permanence, size, scale, types, classes, or
other factors
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Exclusion Guidelines
• Generally excluded
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Brand name commercial facilities (unless a landmark)
Unnamed features locatable only by address or other
locative attribute
Small infrastructure and utility elements, e.g., utility
poles, junction boxes, pumping stations, mile markers
Mobile or transitory features that do not achieve
significant name and location recognition
• Guidelines subject to review and revision by the
Board
on Geographic Names and staff
T
h
e
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A Geographic Feature is:
An entity on the landscape/seascape that requires
identification, location, and attribution for
information of government and the public having:
 Feature ID
 Name
 Location
Minimum
Identifying
Attributes
Characterized and differentiated solely by function—
not by relationships, hierarchies, size, extent, age,
composition, structure, ownership, or other factors
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The Feature Identifier (ID) is:
• Permanent, unique, national record number
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To absolutely identify that record
To absolutely distinguish the record from all others
In any database, dataset, file, or document
• Without information content
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Not a code but doesn’t restrict the use of codes
Not subject to change as attribute values change
Can be mapped to system-specific record identifiers
• Never withdrawn and never reassigned
• Assigned sequentially to new records
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Highest existing number plus 1
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Why a Standard Feature ID?
• Ensures national record identity and uniqueness
• Promotes horizontal and vertical data consistency
• Correlates multiple datasets
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Overlapping, potentially contradictory
Virtually impossible to correlate masses of feature data based
solely on attribute comparisons or spatial analysis
• Ensures all attributes and attribute values from any source
apply to the specified feature and to no other
• Ensures Federal, State, county, local data properly
represented in official Federal database available to all
• Mitigates against incorrect, inaccurate, contradictory
feature data appearing simultaneously in multiple layers
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The Standard Feature Name is:
• Alpha-numeric name, title, or designation
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The one and only official name per feature
(May be any number of variant or alternative names)
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In any language expressible in Roman Alphabet
• Within guidelines of Board on Geographic Names
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Complete and correct in wording, spelling,
capitalization, diacritical marks, special characters
Nationally consistent. Standard in form, presentation.
• Defined by authoritative source/data owner
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In all but a few cases requiring formal Board review
(Mostly natural features)
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Why a Standard Feature Name?
• Consistent common reference available to all
• Accurate and current by authoritative source
Without a standard feature name:
• Text easily looses consistency in multiple sources
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Even minor variations in wording, spelling,
capitalization, diacritical marks, special characters
Uneven use of generic terms in the name
(School, Fire or Police Station, Hospital, Emergency Facility, etc.)
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Non-standard abbreviations
 Difficult to enforce quality assurance and validation
• File matching by name difficult & labor intensive
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The Standard Feature Location is:
• Official point to which official name is referenced
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Reliable as national locational identifier
Independent of size, extent, other spatial representations
Based on verifiable document/graphic/image/GPS
(Geocoded locations not sufficiently accurate.)
• Stored as latitude and longitude
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Decimal degrees to seven places, NAD83
Available in geospatial format
• Defined by authoritative source/data owner
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Normally near center or centroid with exceptions
Within guidelines of the Board on Geographic Names
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Why a Standard Feature Location?
• Consistent common reference available to all
• Accurate and current by authoritative source
Without a standard feature location:
• Boundaries not reliable for identity or uniqueness
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Multiple versions, varying resolutions, differing precision
Uncertain currency
Overlapping jurisdictions—horizontal and vertical
Subjective and/or purpose-specific definitions
• Many features have no single set of definable,
official, recognized, or agreed upon boundaries
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80% of communities have no legal boundaries
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Applying as an Authoritative Source
• Apply to Geographic Names Project
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Any Federal, State, local agency, associated contractors
Able to serve as responsible source of named feature data
Covering National, regional, and/or feature class categories
• Granted primary authority to enter and revise data
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Data from other sources coordinated with authorized source
• The standard does not address conflicting claims of
jurisdiction, authority, responsibility, ownership,
and/or stewardship
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Resolution rests with claimants
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Defining a National Standard Feature
• Name & location become national standards upon:
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Submission by authoritative source of a new feature
Validation by Geographic Names Project, or
Decision by the Board on Geographic Names
(Natural features, canals, reservoirs only)
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Entry into Geographic Names Information System
Assignment of a new Feature ID
• Board Policy:
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Names and locations of cultural (not natural) features are
determined by authoritative source and are not subject to
formal Board review and decision
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Revising a National Standard Feature
• Revisions submitted by authoritative source
• At any time through multiple mechanisms:
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Written correspondence, telephone, electronic mail,
secure web forms, batch files (most standard formats),
automated exchanges utilizing web feature services
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Other procedures as technology advances
• Changes validated and committed by Geographic
Names data specialists
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Accessing Feature Data
• Feature data available through GNIS:
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Public web query site
(http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/)
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File Download Services
(http://geonames.usgs.gov/domestic/download_data.htm)
Web map, feature and XML services
Customized files on request
Collaborative efforts on common application interfaces
Other mechanisms in the future
Contains other non-standard attributes—feature classification,
secondary points, feature State(s) and county(ies), topographic
map name(s), history, description, designations
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Related Efforts
• Feature ID/Name/Location in DHS Geospatial Data Model
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Top level optional attributes (next version spring 2007)
• Referenced In draft FGDC Address Standard
• GNIS Feature ID superseded FIPS55 Place Code
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Draft MOU with Census to manage the transition
Coordinating with other agencies and organizations
• National Gazetteer Project (Sandia Labs/Patton Alliance)
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GNIS the Authoritative source for domestic names and locations
• MOU with GSA/OPM to maintain Federal agency
geolocation codes with relationship to Feature ID
• Coordination initiated with NGA HIFLD program and
HSIP data collection
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Worked for the Topos
For over a century, the U.S. Board on Geographic
Names assured consistency and accuracy of
geographic names on USGS Topographic Maps,
the only national system of maps. This was a
mission critical to national development.
For thirty years, the Geographic Names
Information System has been the primary
mechanism for accomplishing this purpose.
Can we do less in the age of the Internet, GIS, and
The National Map?
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Contacts
• Louis Yost
Acting, Executive Secretary
• Joan Helmrich
U.S. Board on Geographic Names
Names Coordinator
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(703) 648-4552
[email protected]
• Jennifer Runyon
Board on Geographic Names
Senior Researcher
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(703) 648-4550
[email protected]
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(703) 648-4622
[email protected]
• Dwight Hughes
Sr. Software Engineer
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(703) 648-5793
[email protected]
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The End
Thank you for your interest!
Questions?
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