This page outlines the geospatial data efforts of the New York District.

 Geospatial Data is information that identifies the geographic location and characteristics of natural and constructed features and boundaries on the earth. "GIS" refers to a Geographical Information System for organizing and analyzing geospatial data. Metadata is information about the data, describing the content, quality, fitness for use, access instructions, and other characteristics.

In January 1995, the NY District Geospatial Data and Systems Technical and Oversight Committees were organized, in compliance with Executive Order (EO) 12906, Coordinating Geographic Data Acquisition and Access: The National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), and Corps of Engineers Engineer Regulation (ER) 1110-1-8156, Policies Guidance and Requirements for Geospatial Data and Systems (GD&S).

The purpose of the GD&S Oversight Committee is to promote interoperability among various GD&S efforts within the NY District from a corporate perspective, and to review and approve the plans and procedures drafted by the GD&S Technical Committee for complying with the ER.

The purpose of the GD&S Technical Committee is to promote interoperability among various GD&S efforts within the NY District from a technical perspective and ensure adherence to the ER and standards developed by the FGDC and Tri Services CADD/GIS Technology Center.

The GD&S Point of Contact (POC) is responsible for disseminating relevant information to members of the NY District geospatial data community, and is the focal point for information exchange between the NY District, Army Corps of Engineers Headquarters, and other agencies and organizations.

Since it was formed, the GD&S Technical Committee members have prepared a GD&S Implementation Plan for their respective offices and divisions, and have established geospatial data sharing and license agreements with a number of State and County governments within the District, where there are ongoing and planned projects. These efforts have saved the NY District hundreds of thousands of dollars in geospatial data collection efforts.

Executive Order 12906 directs all federal agencies involved in the creation or utilization of geospatial data to contribute to the development of a National Geospatial Clearinghouse. It requires that those agencies:

• Contribute to the National Geospatial Data Clearinghouse and use the clearinghouse to determine availability of such data prior to new data collection efforts.
• Document geospatial data in compliance with the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Metadata Standard.
• Cooperatively develop data standards as deemed necessary.
• Develop a plan for initial implementation of and on-going maintenance for a national digital geospatial data framework.
• Develop strategies to maximize cooperative efforts with other federal, state and local government agencies, academia and the private sector to share costs and improve efficient acquisition of geospatial data.

ER 1110-1-8156 supports this Executive Order, by establishing general criteria and presenting policy and guidance for the acquisition, storage, distribution and utilization of non-tactical geospatial data throughout the Army Corps of Engineers.

Engineer Manual (EM) 1110-1-2909, Engineering and Design, Geospatial Data and Systems provides technical guidance and procedures for compliance with the policy in ER 1110-1-8156.

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