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Created July 10, 2023 22:15
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OGC Community Standards STAC Spec
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stac_api_ogc_cs_letter.adoc

Open Geospatial Consortium

Submission Date: 2023-07-02

Approval Date:   <yyyy-mm-dd>

Internal reference number of this OGC® document:    YY-nnnrx

Category: OGC® Community Standard Work Item Justification

Authors:   STAC Project Steering Committee

STAC API Community Standard

Copyright notice

Copyright © 2023 Open Geospatial Consortium

To obtain additional rights of use, visit http://www.opengeospatial.org/legal/

1. Introduction

This document provides a justification to the OGC Technical Committee (TC) for consideration of STAC API as a Community standard. This justification, along with the submitted candidate Community standard, will form the basis for TC review and vote to approve the start of a Work Item as the first step in the Community standard process for this standard.

The submitters agree to abide by the TC Policies and Procedures and OGC Intellectual Property Rights Policy (http://www.opengeospatial.org/ogc/policies) during the processing of this submission.

Once approved, the Community standard Work Item defined by this document is valid for six (6) months.

2. Overview of proposed submission

The SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog (STAC) is an open specification designed to improve the discovery, accessibility, and interoperability of geospatial data. STAC API is the dynamic endpoint conforming to OGC API - Features described using OpenAPI specifications.

STAC API supports geospatial interoperability requirements by providing a common metadata framework to expose geospatial assets, such as satellite imagery and other spatiotemporal raster data. Interoperability eases the search process and allows users to find and use data in various formats and from multiple providers.

The STAC API specification evolved from different organizations' collaborative efforts to increase the interoperability of searching for and using satellite imagery. Its development was driven by the need to overcome the challenges associated with different tools, APIs, and data formats in geospatial technology.

The primary use case for STAC is to simplify the finding and using geospatial assets. It is beneficial for data providers, developers, and data users. Providers can more easily expose their data to the world, developers have a standardized way to interact with geospatial data, and users can more easily find and ingest the data they need.

STAC is backed by various tools and resources that facilitate its use. These include an html browser for STAC catalogs and a compliant web API for searching and serving metadata for geospatial data​​.

3. Relationship to other OGC Standards

STAC implements and extends the OGC Features API and describes many datasets using the standard. STAC and OGC Features API evolved together and continually aligned based on new user feedback and new implementations.

In addition to the OGC Features API, the dynamic catalogs of STAC align well with the OGC Records API. Multiple development sprints have been completed with OGC members to ensure alignment between STAC and OGC.

4. Alignment with OGC Standards Baseline

The STAC standard fits well within the OGC API roadmap and aligns with the OGC Features API. STAC API also attempts to align with OGC Records API

This specification enhances OGC operations and community involvement by describing geospatial data to newer, non-geospatial companies.

5. Evidence of implementation

The following is a list of publically available implementations of the STAC API specification.

Microsoft Planetary Computer Planet Labs Element84 Earthsearch OpenEO

Date of most recent version:

Version 1.0.0 of the STAC API Spec was released on Apr 25, 2023

Implementation description:

The STAC API specification is a dynamic version of a SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog composed of three foundational specifications.

  • STAC API - Core

  • STAC API - Features

  • STAC API - Item Search

The last, Item Search, can be composed of different Extensions to help customize a full STAC API implementation. The reference API is rendered online using HTML and human-readable documentation. It also follows the OpenAPI specification and provides data as JSON and Geo-JSON for machine consumption.

A STAC API can be implemented in compliance with the OGC API - Features standard. This specification enhances OGC operations and community involvement by describing geospatial data to newer, non-geospatial parties.

Implementation URL: https://api.stacspec.org/v1.0.0/

Is implementation complete?

  • ✓ Yes

  • ❏ No

If not, what portions of the proposed Community standard are implemented?

6. Public availability

Is the proposed Community standard currently publicly available?

  • ✓ Yes

  • ❏ No

7. Supporting OGC Members

Sparkgeo Element84 Planet Labs Microsoft WWU Münster EURAC

8. Intellectual Property Rights

Will the contributor retain intellectual property rights?

  • ❏ Yes

  • ✓ No

If yes, the contributor will be required to work with OGC staff to properly attribute the submitter’s intellectual property rights.

If no, the contributor will assign intellectual property rights to the OGC.

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