# Presentation: 262507

## Harmonization Efforts

- Basic Image Interchange Format (BIIF)
- sponsored by NIMA and USGS
- GeoTIFF
- proposed by USGS and GeoTIFF Dev.
- Transportation Standards

## What is BIIF?

- BIIF provides for the transfer of
- image data and parameters
- image annotations (text, symbols)
- visualization and display controls
- Joint ANSI/ISO Image Processing Standard
- Based on military NITF standard
- Draft International Standard July 1997

## SDTS and BIIF

- ACTIVITY: Investigate converging SDTS Raster and BIIF
- SPONSORS: NIMA and USGS
- MOTIVATION: Convergence of raster standards to reduce duplication of effort between the military and civilian communities, and to increase data sharing.
- MILESTONES:
- Nov 95: USGS and NIMA start strategy discussions
- Apr 96: Recommendation to develop an SDTS Profile accepted
- June 96: USGS and NIMA technical working group formed
- July 97: Draft SDTS Raster Profile with BIIF Extension

**Notes:**
Excerpt from Introduction to the SDTS Raster Profile with BIIF Extension:
The SRPBE seeks to take advantage of the capabilities of both SDTS (raster portion) and BIIF. The SDTS has a geographic information focus and provides the capability of encoding raster grid and image data,  georeferencing information, simple color look-up tables, data quality reports, data dictionary information and other such metadata. The BIIF has an image transmission focus and provides an efficient image file format, image compression, image blocking/tiling, variety of color models, and visualization controls.  Rather than modify SDTS structures to directly include these more advanced image handling capabilities, this profile seeks to use BIIF structures as defined. This approach will alleviate redundant development of similar capabilities and facilitate convergence of the military and commercial spatial data communities.  This approach is possible because the SDTS was designed with a separation of logical structures and format. 

## SDTS and BIIF

- Convergence Challenge:
*How do you bring users of both standards together without forcing everybody to change?*
- SDTS Format and BIIF Format AS-IS
- Add “pointers” to each others files
- Software libraries can be reused
- If BIIF or SDTS users want the new capabilities, then they upgrade their software/systems.

**Notes:**
The challenge that the working group faced was to develop a strategy for technically converging two standards without destroying backwards compatibility, and without duplicating technology within each standard. (For example, we could have duplicated all of BIIF’s capabilities within the structures of SDTS and duplicated all of the SDTS capabilities within BIIF.)
The SDTS Format and the BIIF Format remain unchanged. So a BIIF reader from yesterday can read a BIIF file produced today, and the same for SDTS.  However, an SDTS transfer can reference an image file that is of another format; and a BIIF tag will be added that signals the presence of SDTS information in external files.
A BIIF file contains the image data, image parameters, compression parameters, visualization (color model and palette), display controls (attachment and display levels), tiling/blocking, etc.
An SDTS file contains image data, data quality information, data dictionary information, georeferencing information, etc.
If a data producer needs to transfer an image with visualization information and data quality information, then they can create an SDTS/BIIF transfer.  If a data consumer wants to get at all the information, then they upgrade their software to include the new capabilities.
THIS APPROACH MUST BE EMBRACED BY BOTH BIIF AND SDTS STANDARDS DEVELOPERS TO BE SUCCESSFUL.

## What is GeoTIFF?

- TIFF is a general purpose raster data format that permits user-defined tags containing “whatever” to be carried in the file.
- GeoTIFF is a well-defined (standardized) set of tags to carry georeferencing information in a TIFF file.
- TIFF and GeoTIFF are informal standards.

## SDTS and GeoTIFF

- ACTIVITY: Converge SDTS Raster and GeoTIFF
- SPONSOR (?): USGS and SPOT(GeoTIFF owners?)
- MOTIVATION: Converge federal and public raster efforts;
- MILESTONES:
- Sep 97: Discuss strategy and plans
- ??: Include GeoTIFF in current Raster Profile?
- ??: USGS data distribution use?

**Notes:**
In the past, the USGS participated in the development of GeoTIFF and produces its Digital Raster Graphic product (that is, scanned images of paper maps which have been adjusted to be georeferenced)  in GeoTIFF form.
At the September 1997 SDTS Workshop in Rolla, Missouri, Mike Ruth from SPOT Image and representatives from USGS will meet to discuss strategy and plans for GeoTIFF and SDTS.
Technical Options proposed:
Software Bridge - where SDTS transfer is a data source and a GeoTIFF encoder extracts information from an SDTS transfer and produces a GeoTIFF image.
Include GeoTIFF format as allowable option for image data within an SDTS Transfer;  recommend use when a more sophisticated georeferencing model is needed; SDTS files contain the data quality textual narration that is not automatically processed.

## SDTS and Transportation

- The transportation industry has been working on data models, linear referencing, attributes, etc.
- The requirements are varied: for vehicle guidance systems, for maintenance, for routing, etc.
- SDTS Profile for transfer and archive
- Current SDTS Transportation Network Profile
- Proposed GDF/ITS Profile
- Proposed Complete Transportation Profile