U.S. ARMY Establishes Data Content Standard for Geospatial Data Storage, Dissemination and Exploitation

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The U.S. Army, in conjunction with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and U.S. Marine Corps (USMC), are working to establish the Ground-Warfighter Geospatial Data Model (GGDM) as the ground-warfighter National System for Geospatial-Intelligence standard.

The GGDM is one of the core components of the Army Geospatial Enterprise (AGE), which will help eliminate stovepipes, reduce costs, simplify acquisition and accelerate transition of technology as part of a standard and shareable geospatial foundation. The data model is the ground-warfighter "container" into which geospatial data elements will be collected, managed and used for analysis. It provides a mechanism for storing and sharing ground-warfighter specific feature data across multinational ground forces.

A roadmap is being established for transitioning Army ground-warfighter systems and geospatial data to the GGDM. U.S. Army Geospatial Center (AGC)-produced geospatial datasets, and Distributed Common Ground System-Army (DCGS-A) and other Army and USMC systems that utilize geospatial feature data, are transitioning to this data model. The Army’s Geospatial Planning Cells are translating their TGD 3.2 data to GGDM 2.1 using AGC-provided correlation translation databases utilizing commercial off-the-shelf software.

Future versions of the GGDM may include additional ground forces enterprise content, including high-resolution urban information, additional aeronautical information, modeling and simulation, tactical information and updates based on common geospatial data requirements across ground forces components.

Geospatial data is the foundation for the Ground-Warfighter Common Operation Picture; geospatial feature data is one of the key components of this foundation. The establishment of a common vocabulary (i.e., GGDM) enables consistent management and sharing of feature data generated by National Agencies, Army and other Services organizations. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ AGC is the focal point for the AGE, which will provide the standards and technology to acquire, manage, and share geospatial data for the warfighter.

###

The U.S. Army Geospatial Center provides timely, accurate and relevant geospatial information, capabilities and domain expertise for Army Geospatial Enterprise implementation in support of unified land operations. To learn more about the AGC, please visit www.agc.army.mil.