DHS Geospatial Data Model (GDM)

1. DHS Geospatial Data Model (GDM) David Li, Ph.D. DHS GMO/EDMO June 20, 2006 Office of the Chief Information Officer

2. Business Requirements of GDM • Support DHS Business Missions • Enable Data Exchange among DHS Components • Enable ETL Processes with States & Locals • Comply with FGDC Standards and Guidelines • Align with FEA Geospatial Profile • Develop as a Part of DHS Enterprise Logical Data Model (ELDM) • Align with DHS EA through DHS DRM (Under Development) • Align with DHS Geospatial Data Warehousing Strategy • Be Public Accessible (Not FOUO) • Leverage Existing Data Models • Have Sufficient Documentation for Future Implementation DHS Geospatial Data Model

3. Technical Approach • Use FGDC Framework Model to Describe 7 Framework Data Layers: • Cadastral • Digital Orthoimages • Elevation • Geodetic • Governmental Unit Boundaries • Hydrology • Transportation • Include all NIEM Geospatial Data Types (updates will be made according to the future NIEM releases) • Adopt the Bluebook Data Model to Describe Structure and Critical Infrastructure DHS Geospatial Data Model

4. Modeling Considerations • Use UML (Unified Modeling Language) for Logical Model • FGDC Guideline: • “The use of UML class diagrams is an application-neutral approach to depict the inherent description of and relationships among data entities. These diagrams should neither be interpreted as requiring object-oriented implementation – methods or interfaces are not typically shown on these data classes – nor should they be interpreted as representing tables in relational databases. Instead, the UML classes should be used as the basis for translation to and from internal organization data stores and applications. UML modeling environments typically support conversion of logical UML models into implementations in various programming environments through rule-based transforms.” • Each of the FGDC Framework schema expressed in the Unified Modeling Language (UML) according to ISO 19109, Geographic information – Rules for application schema, and its normative references. The application schema specifies, as appropriate, the feature types, attribute types, attribute domain, feature relationships, spatial representation, data organization, and metadata that define the information content of a dataset. • Follow UML Practices in the FGDC Framework Standard, e.g. use <<stereotype>> as an semantic extension mechanism for existing UML concepts. • Follow Guideline of ISO 19103 (Conceptual Schema Language) • ISO 19103 provides rules and guidelines for the use of a conceptual schema language. The chosen conceptual schema language is the Unified Modeling Language (UML). It provides a profile of UML for use with geographic information. In addition, it provides guidelines on how UML should be used to create standardized geographic information and service models. • The Logical Model has a package of packages hierarchical structure following FGDC practice. DHS Geospatial Data Model

5. Implementation Guidance • Try first to leverage this model to improve the existing work if such effort can be carried out in a timely and cost effective manner. • If the application must begin anew, the implementation needs to convert the DHS GLDM constructs into physical database schemas, data transfer encodings (payloads). • Although it is a common understanding that a complete Object Management Group (OMG) Model Driven Architecture (MDA) may not be available to move from a logical model to a physical implementation, many modeling software/tools may offer a variety of help in this aspect. • Implementers are highly encouraged to coordinate DHS GMO on any task-specific additions that may be more generally applicable and useful for others. DHS Geospatial Data Model

6. Geospatial Enterprise Data Model Overview DHS Geospatial Data Model

7. FGDC Framework Overview DHS Geospatial Data Model

8. Bluebook Model Overview DHS Geospatial Data Model

9. Critical Infrastructure DHS Geospatial Data Model

10. HLS Operations DHS Geospatial Data Model

11. NIEM Model Overview DHS Geospatial Data Model

12. NIEM Mission Domains DHS Geospatial Data Model

13. GDM Contributions to DHS Taxonomy Development • Taxonomy is a collection of controlled vocabulary terms organized into a hierarchical structure • Taxonomies provide a means for categorizing or classifying information within a reasonably well-defined associative structure, in which each term in a Taxonomy is in one or more parent/child (broader/narrower) relationships to other terms in the Taxonomy • Semantic Relationships • “SubclassOf”: “Is-A” transitional relationship • “PartOf”: “Has-A” (not necessary transitional) relationship • “InstanceOf”: membership relationship • Other possible Semantic Relationships (e.g. in a Thesauri) beyond a Formal Taxonomy • Synonymous Terms • Related Terms • Strategy of Building a Taxonomy • Starts with a Subject Area (based on DHS Enterprise Architecture) • Compile a set of Controlled Vocabulary based on DHS Lexicon and EDLM High-level Data Elements (GDM is a part of EDLM) • Create a Hierarchical Structure based on the Semantic Relationships among the Terms with in the set of Controlled Vocabulary (semantic relationships are initially identified based on the relationships captured in ELDM (in UML) and DHS lexicon; additional relationships can be manually added in by subject matter experts) DHS Geospatial Data Model

14. For More Information • GDM Version 1.1: http://www.fgdc.gov/fgdc-news/geo-data-model • Other Questions and Comments: david.li@associates.dhs.gov DHS Geospatial Data Model