Subject: Re: Need to analyze different Data Formats

From: Robb Matzke <[email-masked]>
Date: 08 Jun 1998 23:47:21 -0400

Matin S Abdullah <[email-masked]> writes:

> I need to analyze different "Universal" Data formats for our projects
> Can any one point me to any page where I can start.

The hierarchical data format current version:
http://hdf.ncsa.uiuc.edu/

and next version:
http://hdf.ncsa.uiuc.edu/nra/BigHDF/

-- 
Robb Matzke L-170                               #include <disclaimer.h>
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory          Voice: +1 812 863 7211
Livermore, CA 94550                             Fax:   +1 812 863 7211

---

From: "Charley Hickman" <[email-masked]>
Date: 12 Jun 1998 20:59:21 GMT

Matin S Abdullah <[email-masked]> wrote 
> Hi
> The craiterion is
> 1) What advantage it gives me over flat files
> 2) What is the time and space performance.
> 3) How much is it supported in the scientific community.
> 
> 
> Matin
> Computer Science Department
> University of Houston

Greetings,

The U.S. Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) has a Spatial Data
Transfer Standard (SDTS) which is FGDC-STD 002, and FIPS 173, and draft
ANSI NCITS 320:1998.  It accomodates spatial data in vector and raster
forms.  The SDTS web page is
   http://mcmcweb.er.usgs.gov/sdts/

All current SDTS implementations use ISO/IEC 8211:1994, which is a
file-level, self-describing data format used for more than just spatial
data.  The ISO 8211 page is
   http://www.iso.ch/cate/d20305.html

One of the extensions to the SDTS Raster Profile supports ISO/IEC 12087-5
Basic Image Interchange Format (BIIF) which is the successor to some older
NATO and NRO imagery formats (NSIF, NITF).  I believe that there is a BIIF
web page, but I can find the URL right now.  Another extension to the SDTS
Raster Profile supports Geo/TIFF and TIFF, which are common industry
standards.

	HTH,
	Charley Hickman
	U.S. Geological Survey - Rolla, Missouri, USA
	[email-masked]
	http://mapping.usgs.gov/