The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC®) seeks public comment on the candidate standard “Earth Observation Metadata profile of the OGC Observations and Measurements Standard.”

The Earth Observation (EO) profile of Observations and Measurements is intended to provide a standard schema for encoding Earth Observation metadata to support the description and cataloguing of products from sensors aboard EO satellites.

This second version of the Earth Observation metadata profile is based on Observations and Measurements, an OGC and ISO standard used in several communities. For example, O&M is used as a basis for the application schemas in several draft INSPIRE Annex II+III data specifications.

The metadata elements defined in this candidate standard are applicable for use in catalogues and applications, including various EO cataloguing applications based on OGC standards like the ebRIM Application Profile of the OGC Catalog Services – Web (CS-W) Interface Standard.

EO products are differentiated by parameters such as date of acquisition and location as well as characteristics pertaining to the type of sensor, such as cloud, haze, smoke or other phenomena obscuring optical imagery. Metadata used to distinguish EO product types are defined in this candidate standard for generic products and also for specific thematic EO products, such as optical, radar, atmospheric, altimetry, limb-looking and synthesized products. In addition, this document describes the mechanism used to extend these schemas to specific EO missions.

The candidate OGC Earth Observation Metadata profile of Observations & Measurements Standard document is available for review and comment at http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards/requests/77.

The OGC is an international consortium of more than 415 companies, government agencies, research organizations, and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available geospatial standards. OGC Standards support interoperable solutions that "geo-enable" the Web, wireless and location-based services, and mainstream IT. OGC Standards empower technology developers to make geospatial information and services accessible and useful with any application that needs to be geospatially enabled. Visit the OGC website at http://www.opengeospatial.org.