OGC® Requests Public Comment on Sensor Web Enablement Specifications

Wayland, Mass., April 5, 2006 – The Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC®) invites public comment on several candidate standards developed in the OGC's Sensor Web Enablement initiative. The OGC membership anticipates that these specifications will be adopted as OpenGIS® Specifications and that they will become widely used as open, international standards for Web-based registration, discovery, use and control of sensors, sensor systems, and sensor data stores.Comments are requested on:Draft Sensor Model Language(SensorML) Encoding Specification defines general models and XML encodings for sensors and observation processing.Draft Sensor Observation Service Implementation Specification (SOS) defines a service by which a client can obtain observations from one or more sensors/platforms.Draft Transducer Markup Language Encoding Specification (TransducerML) defines a set of models describing the hardware response characteristics of a transducer as well as an efficient method for transporting sensor data and preparing it for fusion through spatial and temporal associations.A fourth specification, Draft Sensor Planning Service Implementation Specification (SPS), will be posted for comment in the near future. SPS defines a service by which a client can determine collection feasibility for a desired set of collection requests for one or more mobile sensors/platforms, or a client may submit collection requests directly to these sensors/platforms.All four were enhanced in the recent OGC Web Services Phase 3 Interoperability Initiative (OWS -3). The documents are available at http://www.opengeospatial.org/specs/?page=requests. Comments on the specifications can be submitted to a dedicated email reflector requests@opengeospatial.org until 5 May 2006. Comments will be collected and considered for integration into the documents before they move forward in the OGC process to become adopted specifications.Also, the following documents are now publicly available as Discussion Papers at http://www.opengeospatial.org/specs/?page=discussion. OGC Discussion Papers are being considered in the Working Groups of the Technical Committee, but do not represent the official position of the organization.OpenGIS® Sensor Web Enablement Architecture Discussion Paper offers design and operational concepts for an architecture built on the above and other draft specifications.Observation and Measurement Discussion Paper defines general models and XML encodings for observations and measurements made using sensors.Sensor Alert Service Discussion Paper defines an open interface for a web service for publishing of and subscribing to deliverable alerts from sensor or simulation systems.The OGC® is an international industry consortium of more than 300 companies, government agencies, research organizations, and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available interface specifications. OpenGIS® Specifications support interoperable solutions that “geo-enable” the Web, wireless and location-based services, and mainstream IT. The specifications empower technology developers to make complex spatial information and services accessible and useful with all kinds of applications. Visit the OGC website at http://www.opengeospatial.org.”