This is a living post. Check back for updates as I learned more.
Usage
This is a listing of topics that can be used to group or hold data (directories, but also Esri datasets if you lean that way) and it’s accompanied by some words about an approach for managing the data therein. Of course, the approach is laden with problems, but it also solves some issues that have plagued some groups. Take what you need and leave the rest.
Data Directory Structures
I’ve used this approach several times with years between and each time I have to develop it from memory. So I’m going to put it here for future use and revision. Hopefully it helps you too.
The design of the structures defined below should directly in this document were inspired by concepts found in the Spatial Data Standards for Facilities, Infrastructure, and Environment (SDSFIE) version 2.6 , ISO 19115 Topic Categories [1, 2, 3], and the Maine State GIS Catalog public geospatial data access pages (the new pages follow the ISO 19115 Topics).
DELIVERABLES - directories by delivery year then project name containing final products from either this organization or other parties. Files in these project directories should never change and never be added to.
Products may be data as well as documents. Data should be considered read-only - stored exactly as delivered without changes, additions, or restructuring. Data to be used should be copied into working directories outside the DELIVERABLES tree.
2019
Project_Name_A
Project_Name_B
2020
Project_Name_C
Project_Name_ D
MAIN - directories by topic then by year containing finalized, authoritative data that is the most recent, validated, complete, and approved data owned by this organization. Files in these subject directories should only change when 1) a new final version is available, 2) new authoritative files are added to this organization’s holdings, or 3) data should be removed because they are deemed too problematic for use.
Data should be considered read-only until replaced by a newer finalized version. Data can be displayed from the MAIN tree, but should not be edited there. The MAIN tree should not contain working data. Data will be updated following this organization data stewardship guidelines from the data management plan, or as improvements become available, until the end of the year. Then the year directories are copied to make the next year unless the data did not change in the prior year. This approach allows for historical change tracking at the cost of increased data storage.
Working - any directories created outside of DELIVERABLES and MAIN used for intermediate processing. Input data should be copied from the MAIN or DELIVERABLES trees before used in processing.
From an older version of SDSFIE than is current. I can’t access SDSFIE materials any more as it’s primarily a function for federal organizations, like defense installations, and the current useful tools and documentation are largely locked away… because how a base stores information about their roads and swampy hazards is a matter of national security it seems.
| SDSFIE 2.6 Classes | Old Maine State GIS | New Maine State GIS ISO 19115 Topic Category | Organization Directory Name | Contents |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boundary | Administrative and political boundaries | boundaries - Legal land descriptions, for example political and administrative boundaries, governmental units, marine boundaries, voting districts, school districts, international boundaries | Boundaries | Administrative and political boundaries. County Boundaries, Trust boundaries |
| Organisms, Ecology | Biologic and ecologic ⁄ Environment and conservation | biota - Flora or fauna in natural environment, for example wildlife, vegetation, biological sciences, ecology, wilderness, sea life, wetlands, habitat, biological resources | Biota_Ecological | Biological, ecological, Environmental, conservation. Not natural resource management |
| Cadastre | Cadastral and land planning | planningCadastre - Information used for appropriate actions for future use of the land, for example land use maps, zoning maps, cadastral surveys, land ownership, parcels, easements, tax maps, federal land ownership status, public land conveyance records | Cadastre | Parcels, Zoning, Street addresses |
| Cultural, Demographic | Cultural, society, and demographic | society - Characteristics of society and culture, for example settlements, housing, anthropology, archaeology, education, traditional beliefs, manners and customs, demographic data, tourism, recreational areas and activities, parks, recreational trails, historical sites, cultural resources, social impact assessments, crime and justice, law enforcement, census information, immigration, ethnicity | Cultural_Demographic | Consider replacing with Locations |
| Elevation and derived products | elevation - Height above or below sea level, for example altitude, bathymetry, digital elevation models, slope, derived products, DEMs, TINs | Elevation | LIDAR, DEM, Slope products. | |
| Real Property | Facilities and structures | structure - Man-made construction, for example buildings, museums, churches, factories, housing, monuments, shops, towers, building footprints, architectural and structural plans | Facilities_Structures | |
| Geology | Geological and geophysical | geoscientificInformation - Information pertaining to earth sciences, for example geophysical features and processes, geology, minerals, sciences dealing with the composition, structure and origin of the earth’s rocks, risks of earthquakes, volcanic activity, landslides, gravity information, soils, permafrost, hydrogeology, groundwater, erosion | GeoPhysical | |
| Visual Sensor, Landform | Imagery, base maps, and land cover | imageryBaseMapsEarthCover - Base maps, for example land/earth cover, topographic maps, imagery, unclassified images, annotations, digital ortho imagery | Imagery | |
| Geodetic | Locations and geodetic networks | location - Positional information and services, for example addresses, geodetic networks, geodetic control points, postal zones and services, place names, geographic names | Locations | Geodetic points, social/societal point of interest, historical features |
| Hydrography | Oceans and estuaries ⁄ Inland water resources | inlandWaters - Inland water features, drainage systems and characteristics, for example rivers and glaciers, salt lakes, water utilization plans, dams, currents, floods and flood hazards, water quality, hydrographic charts, watersheds, wetlands, hydrography | Hydrography | Marine and surface freshwater. Including |
| Improvement | Transportation networks | transportation - Means and aids for conveying persons or goods, for example roads, airports/airstrips, shipping routes, tunnels nautical charts, vehicle or vessel location, aeronautical charts, railways | Transportation | |
| Utilities, Communications | Utility and communication networks | utilitiesCommunication - Energy, water and waste systems and communications infrastructure and services, for example hydroelectricity, geothermal, solar and nuclear sources of energy, water purification and distribution, sewage collection and disposal, electricity and gas distribution, data communication, telecommunication, radio, communication networks | Utilities | |
| LandStatus | – | Land_Characteristics | Land use, impervious surface. Not ecological, natural resources, or geophysical. | |
| Future Projects | – | Planning | Features of future work that may be incorporated into other data when completed | |
| Climate | – | climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere - Processes and phenomena of the atmosphere, for example cloud cover, weather, climate, atmospheric conditions, climate change, precipitation | Climate | Meteorological data, but not physical installations. |
| Hazards | – | Hazards | ||
| – | Natural_Resources | Forestry, fisheries. Towards yield / standing crop/harvestable biomass assessment, not biological or ecological | ||
| farming - Rearing of animals or cultivation of plants, for example agriculture, irrigation, aquaculture, plantations, herding, pests and diseases affecting crops and livestock | Farming | |||
| economy - Economic activities, conditions, and employment, for example production, labor, revenue, business, commerce, industry, tourism and ecotourism, forestry, fisheries, commercial or subsistence hunting, exploration and exploitation of resources such as minerals, oil and gas | Economy | |||
| environment - Environmental resources, protection and conservation, for example environmental pollution, waste storage and treatment, environmental impact assessment, monitoring environmental risk, nature reserves, landscape, water quality, air quality, environmental modeling | Environment | |||
| health - Health, health services, human ecology, and safety, for example disease and illness, factors affecting health, hygiene, substance abuse, mental and physical health, health services, health care providers, public health | Health | |||
| intelligenceMilitary - Military bases, structures, activities, for example barracks, training grounds, military transportation, information collection | Military | |||
| oceans - Features and characteristics of salt water bodies (excluding inland waters), for example tides, tidal waves, coastal information, reefs, maritime, outer continental shelf submerged lands, shoreline | Oceans |
Directory Creation Scripts - To speed you up making folders to hold the data. This standard mkdir command worked for me on MacOS, Linux, and Cygwin on Windows.
mkdir -p DATA/MAIN/Boundaries/2022
mkdir -p DATA/MAIN/Biota_Ecological/2022
mkdir -p DATA/MAIN/Cadastre/2022
mkdir -p DATA/MAIN/Cultural_Demographic/2022
mkdir -p DATA/MAIN/Elevation/2022
mkdir -p DATA/MAIN/Facilities_Structures/2022
mkdir -p DATA/MAIN/GeoPhysical/2022
mkdir -p DATA/MAIN/Imagery/2022
mkdir -p DATA/MAIN/Locations/2022
mkdir -p DATA/MAIN/Hydrography/2022
mkdir -p DATA/MAIN/Transportation/2022
mkdir -p DATA/MAIN/Utilities/2022
mkdir -p DATA/MAIN/Land_Characteristics/2022
mkdir -p DATA/MAIN/Planning/2022
mkdir -p DATA/MAIN/Climate/2022
mkdir -p DATA/MAIN/Hazards/2022
mkdir -p DATA/MAIN/Natural_Resources/2022
mkdir -p DATA/DELIVERABLES/2022/Project_A
mkdir -p DATA/DELIVERABLES/2022/Project_B