NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL-INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

FOUNDATION GEOINT GROUP

MISSION: The NGA Foundation GEOINT Group (SF) provides 

assured, timely, relevant, and accurate, data, products, and services 

with a focus on high priority regions of the world and space in 

support of the warfighter, our national security objectives, and the 

Safety of Navigation needs of the U.S. Government. 

NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL-INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

FOUNDATION GEOINT GROUP | SF

• World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS 84)

 Reference Frame (Precise global coordinates)

 Earth Gravitational Model (EGM) (Defines Mean sea level)

 World Magnetic Model (WMM) (Defines bearing and azimuth) 

• 11 NGA and 6 USSF Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) 

collection stations 

 Supports 4 Billion GPS users worldwide

 QC Data collected from 200 independent GNSS ground 

tracking sources

• 350 Million Square Kilometers of Elevation Data

 SRTM, DTED, DGED, TanDEM-X, etc.

• 118 Million Square Kilometers of Precise Imagery 

 19,965 Digital Point Positioning Database (DPPDB) titles

• 104 million square kilometers of mono-orthorectified imagery

• 100 percent of the Earth’s surface has 12-meter high-resolution 

elevation data 

• 2+ million human geography features 

• Populated Places Framework: settlements, villages and cities 

• Steward of official geographic names, political boundaries and country 

codes for the U.S. Government

• 8 million features with 13 million geographic names in the Geographic 

Names Database (GNDB)

• 70 million hydrographic features

• 16,500 U.S. Government and commercial vessels supported 

• 4,100 standard nautical charts (SNC) (hard-copy portfolio)

• 4,255 electronic navigational charts (ENC)

• 3,900 digital nautical chart (DNC) libraries

• 13,000 DOD and United States Coast Guard aircraft supported (Title 10)

• 4 billion aeronautical data elements

• 33.3 million vertical obstructions

• 9,000 airfields in the Digital Aeronautical Flight Information File (DAFIF) 

• 48,000 airfields in the Automated Air Facilities Intelligence File (AAFIF)

• 7,425 IFPs in the DOD FLIP

• Competing strategically for allies and partners

• Building partner GEOINT capabilities

• Sharing data to mitigate the growing demand

• 70+ nations with bilateral agreements for foundation data and products

 170+ Aeronautical Domain specific agreements

• 32 nations sharing feature data via the Multinational Geospatial 

Co-production Program (MGCP)

 35,983 Controlled Imagery Regional Orth (CIRO) 1⁄4 cells

 40,108 Controlled Image Base 1M (CIB01) 1⁄4 cells

 11,126 Controlled Image Base 5M (CIB05) 1-degree cells

• 188 Million Gravity Records

• 580 Airfield Surveys (TAGGS)

• Minuteman III missile silo surveys (Includes Deflection of 

Vertical [DOV], absolute gravity, and geodetic positions 

at each silo)

• 30 Holloman High Speed Test Track Surveys (10-mile track, 

1,020 survey marks)

• 3,600+ geodetic and geophysical surveys 

• 135 NASA Shuttle missions and thousands of space 

launches

• 3.8+ billion topographic features

• 118 million square kilometers of precise stereo imagery

• 53,400 topographic maps 

• 16 million GEOnet Names Server (GNS) hits annually

• 37 foreign languages spoken 

• Boundaries

 900+ international land and maritime boundaries 

 60,000+ administrative (internal) boundaries

 1.2+ million miles of high-resolution shoreline data

• 1,000 Submerged Electronic Navigational Charts (SMENC)

• 1,400 tactical ocean data (TOD) libraries 

• 580 littoral planning charts (LPC)

• 79 nautical publications

• 24/7 World-Wide Navigational Warning Service 

• 24,600 instrument flight procedures (IFPs) in 

Digital Aeronautical Flight Information File (DAFIF) 

• 10,400 airfields with Airfield Foundation Data (AFD) 

vectors collected

• 19,000+ IFPs in FAA Flight Information Publications (FLIPs)

• 14 nations sharing Human Geography data via the 

International Program for Human Geography (IPHG) 

• 32 nations in the TanDEM-X High Resolution Elevation Data 

Exchange (TREX) Program

• Operation DEEP FREEZE — support to DOD, FAA, the National 

Science Foundations and international partners

SF

SCIENCE

LAND 

HUMAN AND POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY

SEA 

PARTNERSHIPS

AIR 

“We exist to Show the Way ... and do 

so uniquely by knowing the Earth and 

understanding the world.”

— NGA Strategy 2025
MISSION TODAY

GLOBAL NAVIGATION

SATELLITE SYSTEM (GNSS)

PRECISE 

IMAGERY

 GEOID & MEAN SEA LEVEL (MSL)

DIGITAL TERRAIN MODEL (DTM)

GROUND 

TRUTH

ELLIPSOID

DIGITAL SURFACE MODEL (DSM)

GEOSCIENCES

Geotechnical Hazards, Indications & 

Potentials (GeoHIP)

Earth Gravitational Model (EGM)

World Magnetic Model (WMM)

Coordinate System Analysis

3D and 4D Modeling

GLOBAL NAVIGATION

SATELLITE SYSTEM (GNSS)

Global Positioning System (GPS) Precise 

Orbit Production

Earth Orientation Parameter Prediction 

(EOPP)

Maintain and Enhance the WGS 84 

GNSS Monitor Station Network

Geophysical: Astronomic Positioning & 

Azimuth (POS & AZ ), Gravity, Magnetic

Airfield Surveys (Terminal Aeronautical 

GNSS GeodeticSurvey (TAGGS)) 

Geodetic: Positioning & Azimuth,

Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), 

Deflection of Vertical (DOV), 

Precise Leveling

SURVEYS ELEVATION

Low Res (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission 

(SRTM)/(Digital Terrain Elevation Data (DTED))

High Resolution Terrain Elevation (HRTE3/4)

Defense Gridded Elevation Data (DGED) 

(Global 2M)

TanDEM-X (Global 12M)

Bare Earth/Reflective

PRECISE IMAGERY

Commercial Imagery Regional Ortho 

(CIRO)

Digital Point Positioning Database 

(DPPDB)

Controlled Image Base (CIB)

& Enhanced CIB

Near Global Stereo

GEOMATICS • Collection of sciences, technology, and tradecraft measuring and modeling the globe to provide 3D accuracy of every point in, on, or above the Earth

• Enable GEOINT accuracy through functional manag ement of geodetic, geophysical, and photogrammetric sciences and content
MISSION TODAY
MISSION TODAY
MISSION TODAY
MISSION TODAY
MISSION TODAY
MISSION TODAY
MISSION: Enable Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) accuracy 

through functional management of geodetic, geophysical, and 

photogrammetic sciences and content

NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL-INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

OFFICE OF GEOMATICS | SFN

• Earth Gravitational Model (EGM)

• World Magnetic Model (WMM)

• Coordinate systems analysis

• GeoHazards, Indications and Potentials (GeoHIP)

• Global, regional, local and specialized datasets

• Bare Earth/reflective data

• Finished/unfinished data

• In-house/contracted production

• Auto-generation capability

• Supercomputing partnerships

• Geospatial Repository and Data Management (GRID) system 

• Space launch and weapons system support

• Minuteman III and TRIDENT support

• DOD flight safety

• Survey technical expertise

• Geophysical data collection and analysis

• Digital Point Positioning Database (DPPDB) — 

stereo precision targeting product

• Controlled Image Base (CIB) — 

global ortho-mosaic mission planning product

• Imagery accuracy improvement, exploitation and evaluation

• Maintain and enhance the WGS 84

• WGS 84 Reference Frame 

 Built from NGA’s 11 Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) 

collection stations’ data

 Provides a single set of global coordinates for navigation and targeting 

• Interoperability between U.S. and international reference frames

• Technical integration

• Business operations support

• Geomatics tradecraft advancement

• Global humanitarian disaster and relief and advanced 

mobility analysis

• Inertial navigation system support

• 3D and 4D modeling

• 32 nations in the TanDEM-X High Resolution Elevation 

Data Exchange (TREX) Program

• Elevation models

 Terrain contour-matching sciences

 High Resolution Terrain Elevation 4 (HRTe4) products

 Air-launched cruise missile support 

• 100% of the Earth’s surface has 12-meter high-resolution 

elevation data 

• Astronomic azimuth, astronomic positioning, deflections 

of the vertical, gravity, magnetic and geodetic positioning

• Commercial Imagery Regional Ortho-mosaic (CIRO) —

Unclassified ortho-mosaic imagery products

• Near global stereo imagery content

• Support NSG GPS services

• GPS Monitor Station Network

• Real-time GNSS dataflow

• GPS precise orbit production

• Earth-orientation parameter predictions

• Cloud migration

• Geomatics standards

SFN

GEOSCIENCES

ELEVATION

GEODETIC SURVEYS

PRECISE IMAGERY

GLOBAL NAVIGATION SATELLITE SYSTEM (GNSS)

INTEGRATION

“Geodesy is the lifeblood of the agency”
MISSION: Provide integrated geographic data, products and 

services with a focus on high-priority regions of the world in 

support of the warfighter and the national security 

objectives of the U.S. government

NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL-INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

OFFICE OF GEOGRAPHY | SFG

• Feature data collection, management and distribution

• Map finishing

• Data integration/conflation

• Persistent quality assurance

• 3.8+ billion topographic features 

• 53,400+ topographic maps 

 43,150+ topographic, 25K, 50K, 100k maps

 356 topographic JOG-G maps/charts

 2,952 topographic JOG-A maps/charts

 442 Evasion Charts (EVCS)

 1,675+ image city maps (ICMS)

 927 NAVPLAN charts (Tactical Pilotage Charts (TPCs), Jet 

Navigation Charts (JNCs), Operational Navigation Charts (ONCs), 

and Global Navigation and Planning Charts (GNCs)

 3,889 urban scale topographic maps and 68 topographic atlases

• Steward of official geographic names, political boundaries and country 

codes for the U.S. government

• 8 million features with 13 million geographic names in the Geographic 

Names Database (GNDB)

• 37 foreign languages spoken 

• Focuses on social stability and conflict at the regional, national and subnational levels

• HG Foundation Program (HGFP): priorities, tradecraft/roles and partnership 

involvement

• Foundation GEOINT Modernization (FG MOD)

• Production management

• Amazon Web Services (AWS)

• Cloud migration

• Strategic partnerships assist in meeting the growing demand for 

Foundation GEOINT

• Combatant command support

• Education partnership and data exchange with academia

• Environmental security

• Homeland Defense/Homeland Security

• NSG Open Mapping Enclave (NOME) 

 42+ campaigns

 107,000+ new buildings 

 49,000+ new kilometers of roads

 578,000+ new meters of waterways

 29,000+ new Points of Interest (POI)

• Boundaries 

 900+ international land and maritime boundaries 

 60,000+ administrative (internal) boundaries 

 1.2+ million miles of high-resolution shoreline data

• Populated Place Framework: compilation of HG 

settlements, villages and cities

• Key groups thematic patterns and content types

• Over 2+ million human geography features 

• NOME

• Service-oriented architecture

• Automated map finishing

• Joint Content Management (JCM)

• 70+ nations multi- or bi-lateral agreements for 

foundation data and products

• 32 nations sharing feature data via the Multinational 

Geospatial Co-production Program (MGCP)

• 14 nations sharing Human Geography data via the 

International Program for Human Geography (IPHG)

TOPOGRAPHIC

POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY

HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

TECHNOLOGY AND INTEGRATION

PARTNERSHIPS

“Showing the way from the ground up”

SFG
MISSION: Provide global maritime geospatial intelligence in 

support of national security objectives, including commercial 

and defense Safety of Navigation (SoN), international 

obligations and joint military operations

NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL-INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

MARITIME SAFETY OFFICE | SFH

• Weekly unclassified publication since 1869

• Provides critical Safety of Navigation (SoN) updates to all NGA, NOAA and 

USCG standard nautical charts and publications

• Weekly List of Lights updates

• DLA catalog corrections

• Monthly classified version

• 4,100 hard-copy Standard Nautical Charts (SNCs)

• 3,900 Digital Nautical Charts (DNCs)

• 1,400 Tactical Ocean Data (TOD)

• 4,255 NGA and Foreign-produced Electronic Navigational Charts (ENCs)

• Operation area (OPAREA) charts

• Combat charts/littoral planning charts (LPCs)

• Internationally coordinated 24/7 operation that provides immediate SoN messages to mariners at sea

• World divided into 21 NAVAREAS; U.S./NGA is the NAVAREA coordinator for NAVAREA IV and NAVAREA XII

• Receives 300,000 messages per year; 8,000 messages are promulgated as a

NAVAREA IV, NAVAREA XII, HYDROLANT, HYDROPAC or HYDROARC

• Closure areas, piracy, icebergs, and U.S. maritime alerts and advisories

• Bowditch — The American Practical Navigator Vol I & II

• Sailing Directions (Enroute and Planning Guides) — 42 publications

• NGA List of Lights

• Fleet Guides — Atlantic and Pacific

• World Port Index

• Provides bathymetric datasets for the SoN portfolio

• Custom bathymetric products

• Radio Navigation Aids

• Global Maritime Traffic Density Service

NOTICE TO MARINERS

NAUTICAL CHARTS

WORLD-WIDE NAVIGATIONAL WARNING SERVICE

NAVIGATION PUBLICATIONS

BATHYMETRY

“Know the oceans ... chart the course”

SFH

• 50+ bi- and multi-lateral International Maritime Agreements

• Primary Charting Authority responsibilities for 12 foreign partners

• Tri-Service (NOAA, Navy, NGA) member of the U.S. Delegation to the 

International Hydrographic Organization (IHO)

• 75 Strategic Engagement Representatives supporting the IHO technology 

and standards modernization

PARTNERSHIPS AND STANDARDS
MISSION: We provide premier global aeronautical GEOINT to 

enable the world’s preeminent warfighter. 

NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL-INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

AERONAUTICAL NAVIGATION OFFICE | SFA

• 33.3 million vertical obstructions (VOs) collected

• >150 feet worldwide collection and <50 feet within 7 miles of 9,800 priority airfields

• 10,400 airfields with Airfield Foundation Data (AFD) vectors collected

• Maintain airfield data on 48,000 airfields worldwide in the Automated Air Facilities 

Intelligence File (AAFIF) product as the IC RESPROD for global airfields

• 9,000 navigation aids

• 54,000 waypoints

• 10,000 airways with 154,000 segments

• 19,000+ Instrument Flight Procedures (IFPs) in global FAA Flight Information Publications (FLIPs)

• 7,425 IFPs in the DOD FLIP

• 21,000 IFPs in the electronic Instrument Procedure library (e-IPL) 

• 24,600 IFPs coded in the Digital Aeronautical Flight Information File (DAFIF) with 282,000 segments

• 4 billion data elements

• 44 million changes every 28-day cycle

• 10,000 lines of SQL code

• Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Credentialed workforce

• 7.5 million hard-copy FLIP products 

• 50,000 Aero App Mobile Users (iOS, Android, Windows) for digital consumption

• ACES: Aeronautical Content Exploitation System — 360,000 visits since January 2014

• 410 national, international and industry working relationships

• Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreements (BECAs) and Bilateral Aeronautical Exchange agreements

• Allied System for GEOINT (ASG) and Five Eye (FVEY) partner co-production 

• International liaisons imbedded within NGA/Aeronautical Information Document Unit (AIDU) footprint

• Foreign, domestic, military, civilian, private and academic partners

• Force protection and humanitarian relief support

• Operation DEEP FREEZE — support to DOD, FAA, the National Science Foundation and international partners

• Digital access to worldwide aeronautical data

• Life-saving collision and terrain awareness systems

• U.S. military combat and overseas contingency operations 

• Force protection and humanitarian relief support

• 16,000 boundaries with 191,000 segments

• 14,800 special use airspace with 81,000 segments

• Global mission planning

• Intelligence community analysis for operational 

plans and targeting

• Ensures Safety of Navigation for DOD and 

Allied partners

FOUNDATION AERO DATA (AFD/VO) 

PARTNERSHIPS

DISSEMINATION

TERMINAL AERO DATA

AERO DATABASE

WORKFORCE

ENROUTE AERO DATA 

ENABLES

SFA
MISSION: Develop, evaluate and integrate innovative data 

and automation solutions to advance Foundation GEOINT 

missions

NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL-INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

DATA INTEGRATION & AUTOMATION OFFICE | SFD

• Explore, influence, evaluate and seek to integrate commercial, government 

and open-source automation technologies to support and enhance 

Foundation GEOINT (FG) operations

CURRENT EFFORT:

• FG automation focus areas, including:

 Feature extraction and attribute population

 Change detection

• Explore, influence and evaluate commercial and government emerging 

data sources to support and enhance FG operations

CURRENT EFFORTS:

• Data management, data analytics and data science capability prototyping 

to further the FG shift toward data-centric operations and outputs

• Visualization dashboard development for FG data production

• Develop, deploy and transition state-of-the-art automated tools for FG 

using open-source, cloud-native technologies and agile methodologies

CURRENT EFFORTS:

• Capability development to facilitate contract management for commercial 

data acquisition

• Enhance and prepare FG data for visualization in support of the NSG 

and ASG; aid in establishment and standardization of NGA-wide data 

management practices

CURRENT EFFORTS:

• Develop, enhance, and deliver Basemaps for the NSG and our 

international partners, including NGA Streets Basemap and Canvas 

Basemaps, which support over 88 IC-wide web applications

 FG harvesting for 1,578 layers supporting Basemap creation at 18 

scales

 Cartographic styling, corrections and adjustments to ensure accurate 

and aesthetically pleasing Basemaps

• Develop technical capabilities and workflows that allow the NSG and 

NGA’s domestic and foreign partners to collaboratively upload, create, 

update and validate FG data

CURRENT EFFORTS:

• NSG Open Mapping Enclave (NOME) development, training and adoption

 Establish processes for project management for ASG partners and 

CCMDs Geospatial components 

 Establish more robust training with NGC

• Incorporate automated data implementation solutions

• Incorporate repeatable ingest process with national databases to fill 

gaps in national requirement process

 Conflation

 Data validation

 Metadata and tagging

 Feature generalization

• Data solution consulting in support of business 

intelligence goals

• Data science technology and methods application to 

solve FG data challenges

• Capability development to validate and provide quality 

control for topographic, aeronautical, maritime and 

geomatics data for the NSG and ASG

• Sustain Vector Tiles Micro services architecture to 

accelerate FG data services and product generation 

modernization efforts with reduced network latency

 Current working examples include: NGA Streets 

Basemap, Canvas Suite Basemaps, Topographic Map 

at 50K and 100K scales, and Elevation Basemaps

 Inform Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standards 

for NSG vector tiles interoperability standards and 

Application Programming Interface (API) standards

• MapEdit extraction capabilities and schema translations

• Hootenanny conflation capabilities and supporting 

workflows

• Sherlock global validation

 MapRoulette data validation and grooming

 Signature analysts workflow implementation

• Push-to-print product generation using NOME data to 

replicate the look of standard maps/charts

 Incorporate push-to-print into NOX requirements 

where possible

• BA/BI statistics for data richness and gap enrichment

AUTOMATION

DATA SCIENCE (Data Discovery and Business Analytics)

GEOINT CAPABILITY DEVELOPMENT (GCD)

VOLUNTEERED GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION (VGI) AND CROWDSOURCING

DATA INTEGRATION

SFD
MISSION: Coordinate, refine and execute the prioritized 

National System for Geospatial Intelligence (NSG) 

Foundation GEOINT (FG) requirements to ensure optimal 

use of production resources in support of the Department 

of Defense and the intelligence community, report on NGA’s 

FG mission readiness, and lead FG Group’s international 

engagement. Ensure Noncombatant Evacuation Operations 

(NEO) support to the State Department.

NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL-INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

FOUNDATION GEOINT NOX | SFP • Assist customers with FG requirements creation, refinement 

and submission

• Synchronize FG requirements for production • Perform strategic engagement with NSG and Allied System for 

Geospatial Intelligence (ASG) partners

• Provide oversight for FG international coproduction efforts • Assess FG requirements, adequacy and support to the customer • Assess current NGA/NSG holdings, and identify deficiencies or gaps in 

content, coverage or currency

• Provide oversight of international agreement synchronization, serves as 

Source focal point for international coproduction capabilities and capacity

• Serve as the Source lead for both FG Adequacy and the Chairman of the Joint 

Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) mission readiness reviews

• Develop and leverage new FG methods and tradecraft to meet mission needs • Track, monitor and report FG requirements across the NSG • Provide feedback on FG activities and accomplishments to the NSG • Serve as the FG crisis coordinator for crisis response activities • Serve as the primary NGA production element for Non-combatant 

Evacuation Operations (NEO) products

• Lead FG engagements with international partners • Assess current NGA/NSG holdings, and identify deficiencies or gaps in 

content, coverage or currency

• Provide insight into international coproduction capabilities and capacity • Lead the development and execution of an international engagement 

strategy, aligning the strategy with the NGA vision and policy

• Assess the capabilities of international partners, and identify opportunities 

to enhance NGA/NSG global data content, coverage or currency through 

exchange, co-production and/or burden-sharing activities to meet the 

global requirement for foundation data, products and services

• Collaborate within NGA for development of international agreements and 

co-production and/or data exchange programs

REQUIREMENTS

READINESS

OPERATIONS

ASSESSMENTS

PARTNERSHIPS

SFP
MISSION: Oversee Foundation GEOINT (FG) corporate 

business and technology activities supporting aeronautical, 

maritime, geography and geomatics missions

NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL-INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

CORPORATE OPERATIONS OFFICE | SFC

• Perform strategic workforce-planning coordination

• Coordinate training and workforce development, data and 

manpower programs/processes

• Monitor manpower and career service requirements

• Coordinate new technology capabilities requirements and modernization

• Oversee Unclassified Production Environment implementation

• Lead Enterprise Data Management efforts for SF

• Lead FG in 3-Dimension data and integration efforts

• Document FG Mission Planning and Capabilities

• Coordinate Source Content Dissemination Services 

• Coordinate Moonshot Labs planning for SF

• Coordinate Missouri State Accelerator technology development cooperation

• Influence, lead and coordinate FG standards activities across the NGA, NSG and 

International standards communities

• Develop and maintain FG products and content standards 

• Enable online access to FG Standards and Extraction guidance through the 

FGS-DPS @https://fgs-dps.gs.mil/#/

• Lead the SF Standards Forum to encourage collaboration and knowledge sharing 

across FG standards

• Provide communications and engagement support

• Oversee space, IT systems/devices and software

• Oversee taskers and awards

• Oversee business continuity and information assurance

• Provide senior-level staff support

• Lead N2W planning for SF and Source

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT)

STANDARDS

BUSINESS OPERATIONS

SFC
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL-INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

NGA STRATEGY 2025 SF FY22 GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

SF GOAL 1 | PEOPLE

INVEST IN THE WORKFORCE

1.1 Develop and retain an expert and certified workforce 

1.2 Improve the health of the Foundation GEOINT tradecrafts

1.3 Inspire, recruit, and hire the future GEOINT workforce 

1.4 Promote diversity, inclusion and work-life balance 

NGA will invest in our ability to recruit, engage, develop, train and retain a workforce that advances our tradecraft 

and innovates solutions to meet emerging mission needs. Our world-class workforce must master technology to 

combine the science of intelligence with relentless curiosity; leverage diversity to continuously raise our GEOINT 

expertise; and learn to use machines as digital assistants to provoke expert analysis. NGA will evolve its workforce 

culture to emphasize transparency, respect, excellence and teamwork — creating a workplace built by our 

people which is inherently inclusive and attractive to our aspiring teammates. NGA will insert accountability into 

performance metrics for the agency and individuals. We will accept and expeditiously act upon feedback from our 

workforce, customers and overseers. We will adapt and grow to exceed the expectations of our customers

SF GOAL 4 | MISSION TOMORROW

ADVANCE A RESILIENT GEOINT FUTURE STATE

4.1 Leverage the Foundation GEOINT Integrated Program Office to deliver timely 

innovative IT solutions 

4.2 Integrate automation to enable faster decision cycles and delivery for 

Foundation GEOINT 

4.3 Align data management activities with the NGA Data Strategy 

4.4 Influence Research and research efforts to support Foundation GEOINT 

future operations 

NGA will translate actionable intelligence into opportunities to ensure our national security. We will reduce 

strategic surprise by elevating our understanding of the world and anticipating future events. We will increase 

decision advantage with agile operations that adapt faster and integrate opportunities for innovation before 

our adversaries. NGA will transform GEOINT by investing in breakthrough capabilities that strengthen strategic 

warning, mission forecasting and foundational military intelligence for our customers. NGA will automate routine 

GEOINT tasks and corporate business processes and take advantage of technology from academic, corporate 

and government-military partners to create strategic capabilities with mission advantage. We will evolve 

strategic research and development to harness new phenomenologies, data-centric technologies, advanced 

analytics, deep learning, computer vision, high-performance computing, automation and artificial intelligence.

SF GOAL 3 | MISSION TODAY

OPTIMIZE MISSION EXECUTION

3.1 Maximize and track satisfaction of warfighter and IC priority requirements

3.2 Enhance Safety of Navigation and Assured PNT&T across sea, land, air and space

3.3 Execute timely innovative spend plans and contracts against 

mission requirements

3.4 Implement and sustain reimagine operations

NGA will support U.S. national security by delivering persistent, accurate, secure and timely GEOINT data, products 

and services our customers rely upon to perform critical missions. Our objective remains the same — deliver trusted 

GEOINT for decision advantage to those we serve — and we must stay ahead of the rapidly improving decision 

cycles of our adversaries. As we accelerate timelines and expand our enterprise, we must not inadvertently dilute 

the power of the GEOINT we provide. We will decrease decision timelines by expediting reporting to enable timely 

military, political and humanitarian action; broker geospatial solutions that leverage global suppliers to deliver the 

best possible GEOINT to any mission at any time for any location; and maintain the confidence and trust of our 

customers by consistently ensuring the availability, security and quality of all GEOINT.

SF GOAL 2 | PARTNERSHIPS

ENHANCE AND EXPAND OPPORTUNITIES 

2.1 Maximize international and U.S. cooperation and co-production 

2.2 Harmonize ASG partner Foundation GEOINT capabilities

2.3 Integrate and exchange expertise across the enterprise 

2.4 Influence and lead governance and standards activities

NGA will collaborate and expand alliances with domestic and international partners to fulfill our common 

vision for a mission-integrated, professional and resilient GEOINT community. We will implement governance, 

standards and enterprise services with our partners that enable interoperability and build resilience and 

operational strength in the GEOINT community. NGA will transform its acquisition tradecraft and contracting 

services to enable efficient and mutually beneficial partner and supplier engagement. NGA will share capability 

and resource planning, training, education and certification with our partners for unified GEOINT mission 

execution and transparent resource decisions. 

NGA GOAL 3 | MISSION TODAY

SECURE AND DELIVER THE NATION’S MOST TRUSTED GEOINT

NGA GOAL 4 | MISSION TOMORROW

ANTICIPATE OPPORTUNITY AND FORESEE THREATS

NGA GOAL 2 | PARTNERSHIPS

FUEL AND DRIVE THE ENTIRE GLOBAL GEOINT COMMUNITY

NGA GOAL 1 | PEOPLE

INSPIRE AND GROW OUR WORLD-CLASS WORKFORCE
traces its lineage back over 230 

years. In 1777, General George 

Washington established the Office of 

Geographer for the Continental Army, 

which consisted of cartographers and 

surveyors. In 1830, the U.S. Navy’s 

Depot of Charts and Instruments 

was established. By 1962, this 

office evolved into the U.S. Naval 

Oceanographic Office (NAVO). In 

1910, the U.S. Army’s Central Map 

Reproduction Plant was established, 

evolving into the Army Map Service 

in 1942. In 1928, the Map Unit, part 

of the Information Division of the U.S. 

Army Air Corps, was established, 

evolving into the Aeronautical Chart 

Service in 1944 and subsequently to 

the U.S. Air Force Aeronautical Chart 

Information Center in 1952. In 1946, 

under presidential directive, the 

Inter-American Geodetic Survey 

formed under the Caribbean 

Defense Command. 

These organizations, along with other 

entities, eventually combined to 

form the Defense Mapping Agency in 

1972. The Foundation GEOINT Group 

inherited key missions of the original 

DMA mission that was assimilated 

into NIMA and then NGA. Below is a 

summary of the chronicle of events 

that resulted in the formation of the 

Foundation GEOINT Group.

DMA

1971 A presidential

memorandum directed 

the consolidation of 

the Department of Defense mapping, 

charting and geodesy operations. 

1972 The Department of Defense 

established DMA to provide mapping, 

charting and geodesy to support 

the secretary of defense, military 

departments, Joint Chiefs of Staff and 

other DOD components.

In establishing DMA, DOD combined 

the selective activities of the U.S. Army 

Topographic Command (including the 

Army Map Service); the Department of 

Topography of the U.S. Army Engineer 

School; the Inter-American Geodetic 

Survey of the U.S. Army; and the chart 

production, nautical information, and 

distribution activities of the U.S. Navy 

Oceanographic Office, the Aeronautical 

Chart and Information Center operations, 

the 1st Geodetic Survey Squadron, and 

elements of the 15th Reconnaissance 

Technical Squadron of the U.S. Air Force.

Those organizations formed DMA’s four 

operational offices: the Inter-American 

Geodetic Survey, the Topographic 

Center, the Hydrographic Center and 

the Aerospace Center. 

Through these four organizations, 

DMA support spanned the next quarter 

century, providing for the production, 

worldwide distribution, and support of 

maps, charts, and geodesy. This also 

included precise positioning data and 

digital data for strategic and tactical 

military operations, weapons systems 

and Safety of Navigation.

NIMA

1996 The National 

Imagery and Mapping 

Agency was formed 

to bring our nation’s most capable 

imagery and geospatial assets

together into a single agency. NIMA 

had brought together the Defense 

Mapping Agency, Central Imagery 

Office, the Defense Dissemination 

Program Office and the National 

Photographic Interpretation Center. It 

also incorporated parts of the Central 

Intelligence Agency, the Defense 

Airborne Reconnaissance Office, the 

Defense Intelligence Agency and 

the National Reconnaissance Office. 

Subsequently, DMA’s offices and 

missions were distributed across 

various NIMA offices.

2003 NIMA established the Source 

Operations and Management 

Directorate (S), responsible for 

acquiring, managing, and delivering 

imagery and other source data and 

information to the National System for 

Geospatial Intelligence. 

NGA

2003 The Defense 

Authorization Bill 

included a provision 

renaming NIMA as the National 

Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. 

2005 The NGA director commissioned 

a review of current agency missions. 

As a result of its findings, an entity 

within the Source Directorate, S2 

Foundation Based Operations (FBO), 

with a NSG Operations Executive 

(NOX), was formed. Offices included 

in the FBO were Geography (SG), and 

Geomatics (SN). 

The offices of Aeronautical Navigation 

(PVA) and Maritime Safety (PVM) were 

in the Analysis and Production (P) 

Directorate in the Office of Global

Navigation (PV) with a Safety of

Navigation (SON) NSG Operations 

Executive (NOX). 

2011 The foundation mission activities 

of S2 and PV were combined to form a 

new S2 (Foundation GEOINT Group). 

2015 To be consistent with the rest of 

the agency’s two-letter designations, 

S2 was changed to SF. 

Today, the Foundation GEOINT Group 

is organized in a similar manner to 

that of DMA. The organization of 

DMA’s former four operational offices 

correlates to a certain degree to that 

of the SF operational offices of today: 

the Inter-American Geodetic Survey 

to the Office of Geomatics (SFN), the 

Topography Center to the Office of 

Geography (SFG), the Hydrography 

Center to the Maritime Safety Office 

(SFH), and the Aerospace Center to the 

Aeronautical Navigation Office (SFA).

SF features three support offices. The 

Corporate Operations Office (SFC) 

manages personnel, administration, 

communications, information 

technology and logistic functions. 

The Data Integration and Automation 

Office (SFD) manages technology and 

program functions. Foundation GEOINT 

NOX (SFP) manages customer mission 

requirements. 

Today, the SF workforce consists of 

military, government and contractor 

personnel. Their distribution in St. 

Louis, the National Capital Region and 

locations around the world reflects the 

agency’s varied geographical roots 

and global presence to provide worldclass data, products, and services 

describing the physical and cultural 

characteristics of the Earth and space.

The Foundation 

GEOINT Group

HISTORY

NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL-INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

HISTORY OF THE FOUNDATION 

GEOINT GROUP
NOTES

NOTES
Foundation GEOINT is the data, products, 

and services describing the physical and cultural 

characteristics of Earth and space. Foundation 

GEOINT includes topography, elevation, precise 

imagery, geodesy, geographic names, political 

boundaries, human geography, and maritime and 

aeronautical safety of navigation. Foundation 

GEOINT supports intelligence, defense, civil 

and commercial needs.

OCC 210913-001 | REV 2

Approved for public release, 22-054