| I. Status of planned activities Activity 1: Cartographic standards for geologic maps: The subcommittee prepared a proposal to develop a "FGDC Standard for Geologic Map Symbolization". This proposal was reviewed by the Standards Working Group and is currently in a thirty day public review period. Using the results of technical reviews from FGDC, Association of American State Geologists (AASG), and USGS of a USGS draft report on digital cartographic standards for geologic maps, a complete symbol, pattern, and color set has been developed and prepared in post script format. This digital symbol set will form the basis for the draft standard. Activity 2: Geologic data model: The subcommittee prepared a proposal to develop a "FGDC Standard for a Geologic Data Model" that will describe the various critical entities of a geologic map and the relations among them. This proposal was reviewed by the Standards Working Group and is currently in a thirty day public review period. A Geologic Data Model working group has been formed through an agreement between the AASG Digital Geologic Mapping Committee and the USGS National Geologic Map Database project. The working group has defined the general framework of the model, received input on the content of the model through forums and discussions, and prepared an initial draft document that is beginning review in the AASG, USGS, and Geologic Data Subcommittee. Activity 3: Participate in USGS/AASG activities related to digital geologic mapping. These activities focus on guidance and implementation strategies that support the NSDI, including creating metadata for geologic data, describing the spatial accuracy of geologic maps, and publishing digital geologic maps. A workshop on Digital Mapping Techniques was held in June1997 and the proceedings are described in USGS Open-File Report 97-269. II. Value or benefit of work in NSDI implementation The two standards activities support goals 2 and 3 of the 1997 NSDI Strategy. Geologic maps are produced by various State and Federal agencies, according to various locally-developed guidelines for content and form. A geologic data model is needed by the geoscience community to provide consistency to the map data that are archived and served to the public and to promote the exchange of digital map data. A national map symbolization standard will help provide a standard cartographic product to the end-user and thus maximize use by diverse communities. These standards activities will provide common systems to facilitate data development, sharing, and use. In addition to Federal agencies, the third activity involves technical experts from the AASG and the Geological Survey of Canada. These organizations are major producers of geologic map data. Working relationships with these organizations at the standards development stage supports goal 4 of the NSDI Strategy. III. Problems or difficulties A shortage of resources devoted to these activities makes progress slow. |
