ABSTRACT
Much of the information managed for environmental analysis has a spatial component, which is critical in integrating one source with another. Recent standards efforts around the world (particularly the US Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS)) specify the kind of information (data about the data or metadata) required to evaluate the data quality of some spatial data product. The SDTS requires that a data producer provide a Data Quality Report, which includes the lineage, positional accuracy, attribute accuracy, logical consistency and completeness of the data. Many of these elements of the report can be transmitted in the form of spatial distributions. A potential user should be able to peruse the Data Quality Report and render an informed judgement about the fitness of the data for the projected use. While SD TS sets important directions, it is not the only standard available. Environmental scientists must choose from a range of conflicting standards, each with their particular strengths. The Vector Product Format (designed for the public domain Digital Chart of the World), when compared with SDTS, shows particular improvements in implementing the original goals of including information to evaluate fitness for use. One key element is the treatment of metadata as spatial data in their own right.
