Get your geek on - GeoSciML working group in Tucson developing digital data structures

Geoscience researchers from a dozen countries have been meeting at the Lodge on the Desert in Tucson since Sunday, working on the latest developments for the geoscience markup language, GeoSciML.   We're giving them the special Arizona welcome with 108F temperatures and a Saturday night earthquake of magnitude 5.3 right after they settled into the hotel.

GeoSciML has been adopted by a growing number of countries and international data systems "to provide a single, open source, globally agreed data structure that is used to deliver digital geological data over the internet."   

AZGS is hosting the meeting, represented by Geoinformatics Section Chief, Dr. Steve Richard who has been a member of the GeoSciML working group since its organization in 2003.    The group formed under the auspices of the International Union of Geological Sciences, Commission for the Management and Application of Geoscience Information (CGI).

The CGI website notes that "Users of geoscience maps and data know that geological features have no respect for national or provincial borders. Inevitably users of geoscience data will need to source data from more than one data provider. Receiving data in a number of local data formats is recognised as a major impediment to efficient and effective use of data."

The AZGS-led  US Geoscience Information Network (USGIN) is using GeoSciML-Portrayal and GeoSciML to share geological data between government agencies, educational and other organizations, with its biggest application being the National Geothermal Data System.

The group is also working on the use of GeoSciML web feature services and GeoSciML-Portrayal web map services for the 117-nation OneGeology project.