Overview of the OGC catalog interface specification

The OpenGIS Consortium (OGC) recently released a catalog services implementation specification developed by a team co-lead by NASA including the authors of this paper. The Catalog Services specification provides an implementation interface that enables data set discovery, metadata retrieval and ordering. The specification was based, in part, on the CEOS catalog interoperability protocol (CIP). Several CEOS members participated in the response to an OGC RFP for catalog services along with USGS, NIMA and several commercial vendors. A joint submission in response to the OGC RFP was submitted in July 1999 and demonstrated at the August 1999 OGC meeting. The OGC membership approved the submitted specification. Several commercial companies are planning commercialization of the catalog interface. This presentation will provide an overview of the capabilities of the OGC catalog interface specification.