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Eastern
Earth Surface Processes Team Requirements
for Digital Map Product Publication in the Open File, Miscellaneous Field
Investigation (MF), or Formal Series Digital Map Databases (referred to as
"products" below) will conform to guidelines for approval and
publication as stated by the Division and the Bureau, including the
requirements of Executive Order 12906, USGS manual chapter 504.1, and GDPM
chapter 6.1.3. These requirements refer to products intended for
release to the public in the formal and in the open file series, and external
series as defined by Division policy.
All products must be submitted through the Divisions publications groups
for Director's approval. A product must
conform to these requirements before Director's approval is granted. Conformance is the author's
responsibility. The work needed to
achieve conformance may be done by the author's submitting team or by the
publications group, as defined in the product's publication plan. Any map products within the Eastern Earth Surface
Processes Team that will be published in either the open file or formal series
will adhere to the following components for publication approval by the team
and Director. Data
Formats - All vector map data must be provided in: 1. The Topological Vector Profile (TVP) of the Spatial
Data Transfer Standard (SDTS), which is a non-proprietary format. 2. Arc/Info export format (uncompressed .e00) All Raster format data must be provided in: 1. Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) and its associated
projection file (.tfw). Data may also be provided in other proprietary and non -
proprietary formats. If data are
published in non - proprietary formats that are not supported by published
documentation, those formats must be fully and clearly documented in the product. Associated
Files All associated files, tabular and otherwise, containing
attribute data must accompany the map data and be expressed in a non -
proprietary format. Associated files
that will be required for published digital map data include: Explanation of Database Readme file Metadata Database lookup tables Other files that may be included: Unique or custom symbol sets Color Palettes Scripts (examples: AML or Avenue) that are part of the
data set or analysis File
Naming Convention For the widest possible usage, file names should conform
to the "8.3" convention. This convention requires that file names be
limited to 8 characters or less, followed, if needed, by a period and a
3-character extension. An example would be the file name "readme"
or"readme.txt". The name and extension should be entirely composed of
lower-case (not mixed-case) letters, numerals, underscore, and hyphen. The name
should begin with a letter. Coordinate
Systems Map data provided in geographic coordinates (latitude
and longitude) is most widely acceptable. The author may choose to provide the
map data in both geographic coordinates and/or in projected coordinates, in the
map projection and ground units typically used for maps of that scale and
location (e.g., the UTM projection for 30-minute by 60-minute,1:100,000-scale
quadrangle maps, with ground units in meters).
To avoid loss of data quality due to resampling during projection,
raster thematic (e.g., maps showing spatial variation of a single phenomenon,
such as geophysical data) should at least be provided in the original,
unprojected form. Base
Map Wherever possible, map products should be georeferenced
to a digital base, preferably the one on which the map was compiled. As a
service to users, the author may elect to include the base map with the
product; this is highly recommended if the base is not published or is not
commonly available. If a digital base was used, and if the base was revised to
correct for spatial or attribution errors, it should be supplied (in vector or
raster format) with the product. Revisions to published base maps should be
supported with metadata that describes the data processing. However, not all
geologic maps are compiled on a digital base, generally because one is not
available. In such cases, it is suggested that a. The base be scanned and georeferenced, b. The geologic map be georeferenced to the base, and c. The base be provided, in vector or raster format,
with the product. Metadata All geologic and base map data should be documented with
metadata conforming to the Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata
(CSDGM) of the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC). Conformance of the
metadata to the structure defined in the CSDGM can be determined using the USGS
metadata parser "mp", which is downloadable from http://geology.usgs.gov/tools/metadata/. This parser verifies the specific
indented-text format compatible with the Geospatial Data Clearinghouse. Readme
file A brief, overall introduction and guide to the product
should be included in a plain-text file named "readme" or
"readme.txt". This file should include, but is not limited to: 1. The identity of the product 2. A brief product description 3. Introductory instructions on how to extract
information from the product 4. A table of contents describing how the product's
directories and files are organized and 5. The location of the detailed metadata. Browse
Graphic A low-resolution "browse" graphics file that
represents the finished map product should be provided in GIF, JPEG, TIFF, EPS
or PDF format. This file is intended to be a relatively simple depiction of the
data that enables the user to quickly visualize the map from the author's
perspective. Typically, this graphics
file is not a fully-detailed depiction of the map data; in such cases the
graphic should contain, next to the map image, the following disclaimer:
"NOTE: This image is not an authoritative representation of the
data." Plot
File The author is also required to also include a "plot
file" (preferably EPS or PDF), intended to provide the user with the
author's full interpretation of the map data. Commonly, these plot files are as
detailed as published geologic maps.
The author should note, in the metadata or readme file, the type of
plotter and the RIP software with which the map has successfully been plotted
and the dimensions of the plot. Product
File For those products distributed over the Internet and
housed on the Division Web Server, the product should be packaged in one or more files in a
universal, cross-platform format. At present, the "tar" format best
fits this description. The decision of whether to use one tar file or more
should be based on the content and size of the product. Generally, one tar file
is preferred because product integrity is more easily maintained. However, if
the product is relatively large and contains an extensive base map and/or a
large plot file, the author may choose to package the plot file or base map in
a tar file separate from the geologic data. In that case, both tar files would
contain the readme file. If a tar file is large, it may be provided in a
compressed format, using Unix compress or gzip; the definition of
"large" will be based on the judgement of the author and agency, and
may depend on factors including the intended audience and method of
distribution. The USGS will maintain a Web site containing, for various
operating systems, information on availability and use of these packaging and
compression software. The product file is intended to provide users with a
simple means for copying the product to a local disk, which is especially
helpful for products with many data files. Supporting
Documentation For those products distributed over the Internet and
housed on the Division Web Server, potential users of the data may want a brief
overview of the product before deciding whether to acquire it. Therefore, authors should provide the
following separate files to accompany the single-archive file containing the
product (these are duplicates of files contained in the product): the readme
file, the browse graphic, and the metadata file in plain-text and, optionally,
in HTML format. |
