Advancing the Nation’s Geospatial Capabilities 

To Promote Federal, State, Local, and Tribal 

Climate Planning and Resilience

A Report to the National Climate Task Force

October 2021
Federal Geographic Data Committee, Reston, Virginia: 2021

For more information on the Federal Geographic Data Committee

World Wide Web: https://www.fgdc.gov/

E-mail: fgdc@fgdc.gov

Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the 

U.S. Government.

Although this report is in the public domain, permission must be secured from the individual copyright owners to 

reproduce any copyrighted materials contained within this report.

Suggested citation:

Federal Geographic Data Committee, 2021, Advancing the Nation’s geospatial capabilities to promote Federal, State, 

local, and Tribal climate planning and resilience—A report to the National Climate Task Force: Federal Geographic 

Data Committee, 10 p., https://www.fgdc.gov/resources/key-publications/2021-climate-mapping-report.

Cover Images, clockwise from top:

Screenshot of the Climate Explorer. Image courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Simulation of flooding from Hurricane Harvey in Port Neches, Texas, using inundation data and high water 

marks provided by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) (https://doi.org/10.5066/F7VH5N3N). Image courtesy of 

Cindy Thatcher, USGS. 

NOAA National Weather Service expert discussing climate outlooks for the Florida region that are used by Tampa Bay 

Water to help inform their utility’s operations. Photograph courtesy of Kurt Mann, NOAA.

Hurricane Harvey led to widespread flooding and knocked out power to 300,000 customers in Texas in 2017, with 

cascading effects on critical infrastructure facilities, such as hospitals, water and wastewater treatment plants, 

and refineries. The photograph shows Port Arthur, Texas, on August 31, 2017—6 days after Hurricane Harvey made 

landfall along the Gulf Coast. Photograph courtesy of Staff Sgt. Daniel J. Martinez, U.S. Air National Guard.
www.fgdc.gov Advancing the Nation’s Geospatial Capabilities To Promote Climate Planning and Resilience i

EO 14008. Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad Section 211(d). “... the Secretary of the 

Interior and the Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget, in their capacities as the Chair 

and Vice-Chair of the Federal Geographic Data Committee, shall assess and provide to the Task Force a report on the 

potential development of a consolidated Federal geographic mapping service that can facilitate public access to climaterelated information that will assist Federal, State, local, and Tribal governments in climate planning and resilience activities.”

The FGDC approved this report on September 29, 2021. The FGDC member agencies are listed below.

FGDC Chair: Department of the Interior*

FGDC Vice Chair: Office of Management and Budget

Department of Agriculture*

Department of Commerce*

Department of Education*

Department of Energy*

Department of Health and Human Services*

Department of Homeland Security*

Department of Housing and Urban Development*

Department of Justice*

Department of Labor*

Department of State*

Department of Transportation*

Department of Treasury*

Department of Veterans Affairs*

Federal Communications Commission 

General Services Administration*

Library of Congress

National Aeronautics and Space Administration*

National Archives and Records Administration

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

National Science Foundation

Office of Personnel Management

Small Business Administration

Smithsonian Institution

Social Security Administration

Tennessee Valley Authority

U.S. Agency for International Development

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

*Agencies identified as “covered agencies” under the Geospatial Data Act of 2018.
ii Advancing the Nation’s Geospatial Capabilities To Promote Climate Planning and Resilience www.fgdc.gov

Contents

I. Introduction.............................................................................................................................................................................1

A. The Value of Geospatial Information................................................................................................................................2

B. Today’s Federal Data and Tools Landscape ....................................................................................................................3

C. Role of the Federal Geographic Data Committee............................................................................................................4

D. Role of the GeoPlatform..................................................................................................................................................5

II. Potential Enhancements to the GeoPlatform Shared Services Model..................................................................................6

A. The Incorporation of Federal Datasets into the GeoPlatform...........................................................................................6

B. Making Federal Data More Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable .............................................................7

Make It Easier for Users to Find Relevant Federal Climate Mapping Data (Findable).................................................7

Migrate Relevant Federal Data to Open-Access Cloud Environments and Deliver These Data in Open 

Formats (Accessible) .............................................................................................................................................8

Increase the Interoperability of Federal Mapping Data So Others Can Easily Integrate the Data With Their Own 

Data (Interoperable)...............................................................................................................................................8

Make It Easier to Understand and Use Relevant Data and Tools (Reusable)..............................................................8

Potential Enhancements to the GeoPlatform’s Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability...................8

C. Potential Expansion of Collaborative Federal Mapping Services ....................................................................................8

Recommended Followup..............................................................................................................................................9

III. Conclusion..........................................................................................................................................................................10

References Cited......................................................................................................................................................................10
www.fgdc.gov Advancing the Nation’s Geospatial Capabilities To Promote Climate Planning and Resilience 1

Advancing the Nation’s Geospatial Capabilities 

To Promote Federal, State, Local, and Tribal 

Climate Planning and Resilience

A Report to the National Climate Task Force

I. Introduction

Executive Order 14008, “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad,” calls for the development of two companion 

reports. This, the second of the two reports, discusses the potential development of a consolidated Federal geographic 

mapping service that can facilitate public access to climate-related information to assist Federal, State, local, and Tribal 

governments in their local, national, and international climate planning and resilience activities. This report uses the 

term “collaborative” mapping service instead of “consolidated” mapping service to better reflect the integrated roles and 

participation of Federal agencies and non-Federal constituents in providing climate-related and other geospatial data 

and services.

Geospatial data, maps, and services help users understand and address challenges at local, national, and global scales 

in the context of their local geography. One such challenge is the climate crisis, a problem whose solution is a national 

imperative that requires a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach. The crisis caused by global climate change 

has many varied and interrelated facets, and numerous government agencies and nongovernmental organizations are 

producing data and products to understand the influences of, and the solutions needed to mitigate the different aspects of, 

this crisis.

Geospatial data services and analysis alone cannot inform and provide solutions to all the challenges posed by climate 

change. However, sharing data and information is essential for climate planning and resilience and necessitates a 

coordinated effort by data providers, data users, and decision makers to develop their data-sharing capabilities. There is 

an active and growing climate ecosystem of scientists, planners, analysts, and decisionmakers focusing on this issue. This 

community spans the government, nongovernment, and academic sectors. Geospatial data and services are key climate 

planning and resilience tools used throughout the climate community for understanding and predicting problem areas and 

preparing and implementing responses.

The first report called for under Executive Order 14008, Section 211(d), was developed by the National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the Office of Science and 

Technology Policy (OSTP). That report, “Opportunities for Expanding and Improving Climate Information and Services for 

the Public,” discusses opportunities for expanding and improving climate information and services for the public and includes 

a description of the ecosystem of data providers, data users, and decision makers mentioned above. The report outlines a 

plan to work across governmental agencies and with users and partners to develop robust climate-related services, data, 

and information products and to implement effective delivery mechanisms for climate services that leverage geospatial data, 

products, and services.
2 Advancing the Nation’s Geospatial Capabilities To Promote Climate Planning and Resilience www.fgdc.gov

The second report (this document) called for under Executive Order 14008, Section 211(d), was developed by member 

agencies of the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC). It focuses on the role that the Federal Government plays in 

providing shared, collaborative mapping services and how the FGDC can potentially enhance these services to leverage 

the accessibility and usability of climate and other key data for the benefit of users. Together, these two reports and their 

authoring communities provide a roadmap for how the Federal Government can leverage its unique data-gathering and 

analytic capabilities in the climate realm to deliver useful and actionable climate information to those who need it, particularly 

disadvantaged communities that are most affected by climate change.

A. The Value of Geospatial Information

During the past 30 years, scientists have made great strides in expanding their capacity to observe, monitor, model, research, 

and understand Earth’s climate systems. Public and private sector organizations have significantly expanded and evolved the 

utility, accessibility, and interoperability of their data and information systems. The steady rise in computational capacity, the 

emergence of the Internet, and the advent of sophisticated software and technologies for accessing geospatial and timeseries data have put a world of information on the map and at one’s fingertips. In a matter of milliseconds, almost anyone 

anywhere can search, gather, and display maps and charts of weather, climate, environmental, economic, demographic, and 

many other types of information from a wide range of governmental, nongovernmental, and commercial sources. Everyday 

users across the globe use phones, navigation tools, search engines, and a myriad of publicly and privately developed data 

and applications. Particularly noteworthy is the rapid progress made during the past decade by commercial and governmental 

agencies in enhancing and expanding the Nation’s use of geospatial data and geospatial information systems (GISs). With 

today’s technology and data, users can monitor drought, improve hurricane forecasts, better respond to wildfires, mitigate 

flood impacts, design smart cities, and measure land-use changes across the globe.

Freely available digital geospatial data and mapping services are among the most critical tools the Nation can use to meet 

these challenges. Communities and individuals need these data at the local level, near to where they live, work, and recreate. 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Weather Service expert discussing climate outlooks 

for the Florida region. These outlooks, which are from the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit, are used by Tampa Bay Water 

to help inform the utility’s operations. Photograph courtesy of Kurt Mann, NOAA. 
www.fgdc.gov Advancing the Nation’s Geospatial Capabilities To Promote Climate Planning and Resilience 3

Open spatial data services provide communities, government, and the 

private sector with equitable access to data and information they can 

use to create collaborative and interoperable maps and visualizations 

to understand, address, and contribute to overcoming the challenges 

resulting from climate change.

The national geospatial community has the opportunity and responsibility 

to further strengthen the geospatial “building blocks” needed to provide 

increased and equitable access to and understanding of Federal data 

for local, regional, national, and global geographies so citizens and 

communities can make informed decisions and act. These geospatial data 

represent local, regional, national, and global locations and influences. 

The opportunity exists now to build on and add to the wealth of tools, 

resources, and expertise within agencies and the private sector.

As the usability and utility of geospatial data and services have evolved 

and improved over the past decade, so, too, have applied uses of 

these services across multiple domains of expertise. Today, Federal 

agencies disseminate a wealth of data and provide numerous mapping, 

visualization, and analysis tools for public use. However, in the context of 

local and sector-specific decision making, user feedback indicates that it 

remains difficult for planners, policy leaders, and the public to discover, 

understand, integrate, and analyze data from Federal agencies and 

other open data and services. As part of addressing issues of equity and 

environmental justice, all open data should be equally accessible to a 

broad and diverse set of users who have varying levels of training and 

skills; it is not sufficient for the collected data to serve only those who 

have the resources and knowledge needed to locate, understand, and 

apply the complex mix of disparate datasets to local issues. Stakeholders 

should be able to find and access the best-available geospatial data, 

interpret the data, and integrate the data into their applications of choice 

to support local planning, sustainability programs, and engineering efforts.

B. Today’s Federal Data and Tools Landscape

The Open Government Data Act requires all Federal agencies to publish 

open data and provide data inventories to the public. During the past 

10 years, the emergence of Data.gov, the GeoPlatform, the U.S. Climate 

Resilience Toolkit, the Partnership for Resilience and Preparedness 

(PReP), the U.S. Climate Atlas, and other government, nongovernmental, 

and commercial websites has improved the public’s ability to find and use 

Federal agencies’ data and information.

The FGDC is committed to building upon these successes and making 

geospatial data and mapping services more discoverable, interoperable, 

and easier to use by the climate community and by other issue-focused 

communities, decision makers, the public, and private sector solution 

providers for reuse and innovation.

Creating New Tools to Empower 

Climate-Smart Communities

As communities plan for increasingly 

frequent and severe impacts from climate 

change, decision makers need relevant, 

usable data and information at their 

fingertips. However, it can be difficult to 

find and synthesize the data that fit their 

local needs from among the many Federal 

agency datasets and resources. To address 

this problem, NOAA and the FGDC Office 

of the Secretariat, in partnership with the 

U.S. Census Bureau, brought together teams 

of commercial innovators to be included 

in NOAA’s Climate-Smart Communities 

Challenge. In August 2021, this project 

launched a 12-week product development 

sprint to create new data mapping tools 

that will provide decision makers with 

information to fit their needs and accelerate 

equitable resilience-building across the 

Nation. The teams are challenged to build 

world-class applications and technologies 

that make it easy for local governments, 

particularly those in underserved regions 

most vulnerable to the impacts of climate 

change, to quickly identify and integrate 

relevant Federal climate datasets with their 

own local information. Such tools can work 

with the collaborative Federal mapping 

service and will support the development of 

climate resilience plans to help communities 

nationwide be better prepared for and able to 

respond to the increasing impacts of climate 

change. NOAA’s Climate-Smart Communities 

challenge is part of The Opportunity Project, 

hosted by the Census Bureau.
4 Advancing the Nation’s Geospatial Capabilities To Promote Climate Planning and Resilience www.fgdc.gov

The FGDC will continue to collaborate with the Federal Chief Data Officers Council (CDOC) and Data.gov on the continuing 

development of the GeoPlatform, and on the development and utilization of new practices and technologies that will improve the 

user experience and enhance the usability of Federal data. These may include streamlining metadata standards and cataloging 

practices, artificial intelligence, machine readability, automated discovery and use of data with spatial features with data with 

spatial attributes for spatial analysis and presentation, and adapting policies to encourage participation by all agencies.

C. Role of the Federal Geographic Data Committee

The Geospatial Data Act of 2018 (GDA) (43 USC § 46) establishes the FGDC as “the lead entity in the executive branch 

for the development, implementation, and review of policies, practices, and standards relating to geospatial data.” The 

Secretary of the Interior chairs the FGDC and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the vice chair. 

The committee is composed of representatives from 18 U.S. Federal departments and agencies and provides leadership, 

coordination, direction, and oversight of the Federal geospatial activities. The FGDC Office of the Secretariat provides 

administrative support, strategic planning, funding, and technical support to the FGDC. The FGDC coordinates external 

activities with all levels of government, tribes, academia, nonprofit groups, and the private sector through the FGDC’s 

advisory body, the National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC).

The FGDC is responsible for advancing the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) Strategic Plan.1 The GDA defines 

the NSDI as “...the technology, policies, criteria, standards, and employees necessary to promote geospatial data sharing 

throughout the Federal, State, Tribal, and local governments, and the private sector (including nonprofit organizations and 

institutions of higher education)” (43 USC § 2801(13)). FGDC member agencies maintain the U.S. National Geospatial Data 

Assets (NGDAs) and mapping services, which are the core data components and critical “building blocks” of the NSDI. 

In accordance with the GDA, the NGDAs are organized into 18 themes, including a “Climate and Weather” theme, which 

includes key national climate-related datasets.

Screenshot of the GeoPlatform. Courtesy of the Department of the Interior.
www.fgdc.gov Advancing the Nation’s Geospatial Capabilities To Promote Climate Planning and Resilience 5

Although the FGDC includes representatives from 18 U.S. Federal departments and agencies, not all agencies that have 

or use climate-related geospatial data are members of the FGDC under the GDA. For example, the U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA), a strong geospatial leader, is not a covered agency under the GDA. As noted below, this report 

recommends that all Federal departments and agencies that manage or use climate-related geospatial data engage and 

coordinate with the FGDC to support and implement the collaborative Federal mapping service envisioned in this report.

D. Role of the GeoPlatform

The GDA requires the FGDC to operate the Federal GeoPlatform (www.geoplatform.gov), a shared Federal service that 

provides public access to Federal agencies’ geospatial data. The GeoPlatform provides search, discovery, viewing, and 

community collaboration services for Federal geospatial data and services registered in the GeoPlatform, in concert with the 

Federal data catalog, Data.gov. The GeoPlatform serves a critical, central role in helping Federal Government agencies make 

their key datasets broadly available in 

open GIS formats to support geospatial 

mapping and analysis. Access to the 

most current and authoritative data is 

essential for local climate resilience 

planners and decision makers.

The GeoPlatform serves a foundational 

role as a collaborative Federal 

geographic mapping service, 

complementing capabilities of the FGDC 

member agencies. This open service 

provides reliable access to trusted data 

and mapping services from Federal 

agencies and helps users efficiently 

find and use these services to support 

their climate and other mission needs 

(44 USC § 3502(20)).

Users from all sectors can go to the 

GeoPlatform to search for, discover, 

and access trusted data from across the 

Federal agencies. The broader network 

of users, vendors, service providers, 

scientists, and software companies 

involved in providing climate information 

leverage these open data services in 

combination with their own data, code, 

and applications. The GeoPlatform 

provides open, reliable access to GIS 

data, engendering trust in and increasing 

the usage of the agencies’ data. 

Concurrently, the GeoPlatform decreases 

the effort required to leverage these data 

to build climate resilience and for other 

purposes. Mission-driven public and 

Geospatial

Portfolio

Registry

Geo Shared

Service

Operations

Geo Policy,

Practices,

Standards

Partnerships

GeoPlatform

Federal 

Agencies Users

FGDC

(committee)

Geo Data,

Products,

Services

Mission

Collaboration

The GeoPlatform is maintained by the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) to 

provide access to the Federal portfolio of interoperable geospatial data, products, and 

services developed by agencies.
6 Advancing the Nation’s Geospatial Capabilities To Promote Climate Planning and Resilience www.fgdc.gov

private entities—including many Federal agencies—integrate data made available through the GeoPlatform with data from 

other levels of government, the private sector, nonprofit groups, and academia to develop specific climate impact and climate 

resilience solutions.

II. Potential Enhancements to the GeoPlatform Shared Services Model

The FGDC member agencies provide annual funding to the Department of the Interior for base operations to support delivery 

of geospatial data and services through the GeoPlatform shared service. Given the large volume of important climate-related 

information that is being gathered by the Federal Government, however, now is an opportune time to evaluate whether the 

GeoPlatform’s backbone services can be improved. Key topics include whether (1) agencies are registering relevant Federal 

datasets in the GeoPlatform in a timely and efficient manner; (2) the GeoPlatform is providing access to Federal data to 

its many users in “findable,” “accessible,” “interoperable,” and “reusable” ways; and (3) the GeoPlatform model could be 

modified or expanded to provide additional capabilities (which could include software, services, or tools) that could assist 

agencies and, potentially, outside information service providers, in providing specialized climate information products. Each of 

these three areas for potential enhancements are described further below.

A. The Incorporation of Federal Datasets into the GeoPlatform

As a general matter, the creation and Congressional validation of the GeoPlatform has elevated the importance that agencies 

attach to the work of preparing and delivering Federal datasets into the GeoPlatform system. The FGDC devotes ongoing 

attention to this core responsibility.

The GeoPlatform has more than 28,000 registered users and on average generates more than 400,000 visits per month on 

the main site. The GeoPlatform does not require users to have an account, so the number of unique users is greater than the 

number of registered users. More than 39 Federal programs use the GeoPlatform’s pay-for-service geospatial cloud-hosting 

capabilities, including programs within the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department 

of the Interior, the Department of Transportation, the EPA, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and the U.S. Army 

Corps of Engineers (USACE).

There are many examples of where the GeoPlatform supports geospatial programs across the Federal landscape through 

partnerships, collaboration, and reuse. To illustrate, FEMA delivers its new Risk Map through the GeoPlatform and uses 

GeoPlatform services for emergency response capabilities. The National Park Service generates and delivers their awardwinning national park maps, and the USACE manages all its civil works geospatial products, such as National Levee data 

and the National Inventory of Dams, through the GeoPlatform. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) 

maintains the GeoPlatform’s Resilience community as well. The U.S. Geological Survey developed and hosts recreational 

trails data that provides existing trail data from Federal, State, county, and local sources to organizations to evaluate the best 

routes to create an interconnected network. The application uses existing trail networks as well as elevation data to help plan 

trail routes. The prototype National Address Database is hosted on the GeoPlatform and provides local- and State-sourced 

address data integrated by the Department of Transportation and served through the GeoPlatform cloud infrastructure.

Although the FGDC has had continued success in fostering its core mission of incorporating Federal Government 

datasets into the GeoPlatform, it is unfortunate that a few Federal agencies that manage or use climate-related geospatial 

data—including, notably, the EPA—were not specified as FGDC covered agencies under the GDA. These agencies are 

longstanding and productive partners that have participated in the GeoPlatform’s shared services model, but it would be 

useful to formalize the relationships between agencies that are not FGDC member agencies under the GDA but that work 

closely with the FGDC. Accordingly, this report recommends consideration of an OMB memorandum or other guidance 
www.fgdc.gov Advancing the Nation’s Geospatial Capabilities To Promote Climate Planning and Resilience 7

(such as adding language to OMB Circular A–16) that would administratively include these agencies as members of the 

FGDC, with an expectation that they will participate fully in FGDC activities, register their geospatial data and services with 

the GeoPlatform, and help implement FGDC initiatives that seek to improve the operation and delivery of mapping services 

across the Federal Government. Participation would be in accordance with the agencies’ statutory authorities and missions to 

ensure alignment with mandated data safeguards, protections, and other restrictions.

B. Making Federal Data More Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable

The FGDC, in collaboration with the NGAC (which is the FGDC’s advisory body) and other non-Federal representatives, 

developed the NSDI Strategic Plan that includes the NSDI’s guiding principles. One of these principles is to “Ensure that 

geospatial data are current, accurate, open, standards-based, findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable.” This 

principle is integrated with the plan’s goal 2, “Advance the maturity of, accelerate the acquisition of, and expand the sources 

of National Geospatial Data Assets to ensure that they are findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable.”

Federal agencies have been working in recent years to improve common processes to make datasets used in GIS mapping 

applications more findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable. They have been guided in this regard by the input 

from the many public and private partners who rely on the availability of Federal datasets to generate informative and 

accurate GIS-based mapping products. The NGAC issued a paper in 2020—titled “Advancing the National Spatial Data 

Infrastructure Through Public-Private Partnerships and Other Innovative Partnerships”2—which identified best practices for 

partnerships and emphasized the importance of collaborating with other sectors within the broader geospatial mapping and 

information ecosystem.

For these reasons, it is essential that the delivery of Federal mapping services be guided by “findable,” “accessible,” 

“interoperable,” and “reusable” principles. Substantial progress is being made on these fronts, as discussed below.

Make It Easier for Users to Find Relevant Federal Climate 

Mapping Data (Findable)

Finding appropriate data requires users to determine which dataset 

is best for their needs and which Federal Government website hosts 

it. The number of options can leave planners and decisionmakers 

frustrated and confused about which data source to use. To guide endusers to appropriate data, the FGDC will continue to work with Federal 

agencies to provide technical guidance for implementing climate 

metadata that emphasizes the scope, limitations, and intended use 

of the datasets. The FGDC will also assist Federal agencies to make 

dataset guidelines more accessible and easier to understand. Finally, 

the FGDC will focus on making GeoPlatform records available in 

formats used by commercial search providers to enhance the public’s 

ability to find relevant data through commonly used search engines.

The FGDC member agencies will also solicit input on mapping 

services and search requirements from current and potential 

users through continuing outreach to the climate resilience and 

other communities. Agencies will, in turn, provide user feedback 

to the FGDC and the GeoPlatform development team to inform 

improvements in the usability and interoperability of the GeoPlatform 

National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center 

(NEMAC) personnel using the Climate Explorer to 

show a model projection of a possible future climate 

scenario in the United States as compared to the 

30-year observed average from 1961–1990. Photograph 

courtesy of NEMAC and the University of North 

Carolina–Asheville. 
8 Advancing the Nation’s Geospatial Capabilities To Promote Climate Planning and Resilience www.fgdc.gov

together with emerging new cloud-based data and mapping services. Sustained engagement by FGDC member agencies 

with users will help ensure that requirements are being met and that the GeoPlatform is continuously adapting and improving 

as needs evolve.

Migrate Relevant Federal Data to Open-Access Cloud Environments and Deliver These Data in Open 

Formats (Accessible)

For the past several years, the U.S. Government has required open access to reliable Federal data, mapping, and 

analysis services to underpin and enable a full network of decision-support services to be developed at scale, benefiting 

disadvantaged communities and the entire user community. The Federal agency members of the FGDC have been working 

with open standards organizations and private sector cloud providers to facilitate greater access to Federal geospatial 

data and services on cloud platforms. The Federal community is seeking to learn from such agencies as NASA and NOAA 

that already have formed public-private partnerships to further leverage the reach of Federal open-access resources onto 

commercial cloud platforms.

Increase the Interoperability of Federal Mapping Data So Others Can Easily Integrate the Data With Their 

Own Data (Interoperable)

The FGDC member agencies, in collaboration with the open science and open standards communities, are interested in 

developing mapping services that are more understandable by humans and machines. This enables users to analyze Federal 

climate data using their local mapping information and applications. Improved interoperability increases the equitable access 

to the underlying meaning and appropriate uses of Federal mapping data. As noted above, Federal agencies strive to make 

their data and mapping services fully open (44 USC § 3502(20)) by leveraging relevant open standards and associated best 

practices to facilitate their interoperability with cloud-based technologies, artificial intelligence, and machine-learning and 

machine-readable approaches (44 USC § 3502(18)).

Make It Easier to Understand and Use Relevant Data and Tools (Reusable)

The use of freely available, well-documented climate data services enables the software industry, academia, and other users 

to understand the differences among the available climate datasets. Well-documented data can be used and reused many 

times to develop climate applications and research at lower cost while increasing consistency in the use of data to inform 

climate decisions.

Potential Enhancements to the GeoPlatform’s Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability

With the Administration’s focus on gathering new climate data and making it usable by a broad spectrum of data analysts 

and providers, inside and outside the Federal Government, now is an opportune time to take a fresh look at the current 

GeoPlatform and related operations from the perspective of Federal GIS data findability, accessibility, interoperability, and 

reusability principles. This report recommends a review to evaluate the current state and potential enhancements to the 

GeoPlatform’s findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability services (see details below).

C. Potential Expansion of Collaborative Federal Mapping Services

The rapidly evolving availability of climate data and the extensive number of mission-specific climate applications produced 

by agencies and outside providers raises a question about opportunities for the Federal Government to provide additional 

collaborative mapping services to users in and outside the Federal Government. Currently, the FGDC primarily serves a 

coordinating function and the GeoPlatform has limited and fixed operational resources provided by member agencies.
www.fgdc.gov Advancing the Nation’s Geospatial Capabilities To Promote Climate Planning and Resilience 9

To illustrate, the FGDC could facilitate the identification, documentation, curation, and mapping of the most needed Federal 

data and an expanded collaborative operational capability that may include additional geospatial expertise. For example, 

the FGDC member agencies could identify the highest value climate data for inclusion in the OMB Circular A–16, Weather 

and Climate Data Theme based on the user communities’ requirements. The FGDC member agencies could then prioritize 

collaborative mapping services that leverage previous agency investments and operational capabilities to build out 

collaborative climate data and mapping services. These services could be updated regularly to ensure that accurate scientific 

information is available to everyone, with a focus on serving users communities, particularly disadvantaged communities, as 

emphasized in the first report.

Whether to expand Federal collaborative mapping services by providing more operational capabilities—which could include 

software, services, or tools—to member agencies and outside parties presents an important and timely question. In recent 

years, several Federal agencies and many outside providers have stepped up their institutional capabilities to combine 

datasets from source agencies, discovered through the GeoPlatform, with many other available mapping resources to 

produce specialized information products that serve a variety of user communities.

Recommended Followup

As noted above, the Administration’s focus on gathering new climate data and making it usable by a broad spectrum of data 

analysts and providers, inside and outside the Government, makes it an opportune time to take a fresh look at the current 

GeoPlatform and related operations from the perspective of Federal GIS data findability, accessibility, interoperability, and 

reusability principles. Accordingly, this report recommends that the chair and vice chair of the FGDC commission a focused 

120-day review that evaluates the FGDC’s core activities and explores potential enhancements that would improve current 

services and operations. This report recommends that the review also evaluates the pros and cons of potentially expanding 

Image showing loss of canopy cover and changes in topography caused by post-fire landslides and erosion in the 

Cheesman Lake, Colorado, area. Image courtesy of Jason Stoker, U.S. Geological Survey. 
10 Advancing the Nation’s Geospatial Capabilities To Promote Climate Planning and Resilience www.fgdc.gov

the operational capabilities of the FGDC to provide additional collaborative Federal mapping services, and that it develops 

a set of options that considers both maintaining the FGDC’s current scope and scale and expanding its capacity, including 

addressing how each option can leverage existing and developing climate data initiatives across the Government. Together, 

the proposed review would examine opportunities to enable the delivery of potential additional services, such as—

• Registering climate and climate-related data (for example, base maps and feature data) in the GeoPlatform and 

establishing repeatable and automated processes for registry, testing, and services updates.

• Improving the GeoPlatform’s interfaces, the user experience, and the usability of provided data and services.

• Providing outreach and assistance to climate services users of the GeoPlatform.

• Identifying policies, practices, and technical issues to improve collaborative Federal mapping services, propose 

and implement solutions, and establish clear requirements and processes to coordinate services between the 

GeoPlatform, Data.gov, and agency services portals.

• Pursuing the creation of innovative public-private partnerships to supplement Federal investments in geospatial 

climate data and information products as well as other data and information products.

III. Conclusion

Executive Order 14008 is an urgent call to action to address and plan for the effects of climate change. Open digital 

geospatial data and mapping services are among the most critical tools the Nation can use to meet these challenges, and 

the Federal Government plays a key role in providing shared, collaborative mapping services. This report describes how the 

FGDC might use the GeoPlatform and other tools, in collaboration with non-Federal partners, to enhance the accessibility 

and usability of climate and other key data for the benefit of users.

The collaborative Federal geographic mapping service envisioned in this report will provide robust capabilities by building 

on the GeoPlatform and services infrastructure. The recommendations in this report—to consider an OMB memorandum or 

other guidance to reinforce agency participation in the FGDC, and to commission a focused review to evaluate the potential 

expansion of FGDC operational capabilities—will provide the basis to effectively advance a collaborative and sustainable 

Federal mapping service.

The two companion reports called for in Section 211(d) of Executive Order 14008—the report prepared by NOAA, FEMA, and 

the OSTP on improving climate information and services, and this report on the development of a consolidated (collaborative) 

Federal geographic mapping service —provide a roadmap for how the Federal Government can leverage its unique datagathering and analytic capabilities to deliver useful and actionable climate information to those who need it, particularly 

disadvantaged communities that are disproportionately affected by climate change.

References Cited

1

Federal Geographic Data Committee, 2020, National Spatial Data Infrastructure Strategic Plan 2021–2024: Reston, 

Virginia, Federal Geographic Data Committee, 17 p., accessed September 24, 2021, at https://www.fgdc.gov/nsdi-plan/

nsdi-strategic-plan-2021-2024.pdf.

2

National Geospatial Advisory Committee, 2020, Advancing the National Spatial Data Infrastructure through public-private 

partnerships and other innovative partnerships: Washington, DC, National Geospatial Advisory Committee, accessed 

September 24, 2021, at https://www.fgdc.gov/ngac/meetings/december-2020/ngac-paper-advancing-the-nsdi-throughpublic.pdf.