Update to a fundamental OGC/ISO standard brings geometric calculations of distance and area, as well as support for web scripting languages with dynamic features.

27 July 2021: The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) seeks public comment on an update to the Simple Features Standard. Comments are due by August 26, 2021.

Simple Features, OGC’s earliest standard and jointly published with ISO, describes how a user can model the location of “features” (a geometric representation of anything of interest) in a 2-dimensional space representing the surface of a planet as a geoid and any globe or map derived through a projection. 

In technical terms, Simple Features can model geometries which display geographic features of 1-dimension (curves) and 2-dimension (areas) defined by one-dimension boundary curves. If the application requires elevation, then the uses of latitude (φ), longitude (λ) and elevation (h) can be added.

The update brings two major changes (that won’t affect compatibility with existing implementations):

• Geometric calculations of distance and area using Differential Geometry to directly transform latitude and longitude to meters, enabling to measure lengths or line strings length (as meters) and polygonal area (in square meters). 
• Programming in both compiled programming (e.g. C++) and web scripting languages such as JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) with dynamic features as well as support for existing data models.

Update of the Simple Features Standard will ultimately result in a multi-part Standard that references the OGC Features and Geometries Abstract Specification (Topic 1) and supports both static and dynamic data models.

OGC Members interested in staying up to date on the progress of this standard, or contributing to its development, are encouraged to join the SWG via this link on the OGC Portal.

The candidate Simple Features 2021 standard is available for review and comment on the OGC Portal. Comments are due by August 26, 2021, and should be submitted via the method outlined on the Simple Features 2021 Standard’s public comment request page.

About OGC

The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) is a collective problem-solving community of experts from more than 500 businesses, government agencies, research organizations, and universities driven to make geospatial (location) information and services FAIR - Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable.

The global OGC Community engages in a mix of activities related to location-based technologies: developing consensus-based open standards and best-practice; collaborating on agile innovation initiatives; engaging in community meetings, events, and workshops; and more.

OGC's unique standards development process moves at the pace of innovation, with constant input from technology forecasting, practical prototyping, real-world testing, and community engagement.

OGC bridges disparate sectors, domains, and technology trends, and encourages the cross-pollination of ideas between different communities of practice to improve decision-making at all levels. OGC is committed to creating an inclusive and sustainable future.

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