A GEOSPATIAL DATA FRAMEWORK FOR THE UNITED STATES 
Stephen C. Guptill 
U.S. Geological Survey 
519 National Center 
Reston, VA 22092 USA 
phone (703) 648-4520 
fax (703) 648-5542 
sguptill@usgs.gov 
ABSTRACT 
The National Performance Review (a study of Federal government 
operations aimed at making the government more effective, efficient, and 
responsive, conducted by Vice President Albert Gore during the spring and 
summer of 1993) has recommended that the Executive Branch develop, in 
cooperation with State and local governments and the private sector, a coordinated 
National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) to support public and private sector 
applications of geospatial data. In support of this goal, the Federal government 
shall complete an initial implementation of a national geospatial data framework. 
The framework will provide a consistent information base for the maximum 
number of users, against which other data categories (e.g. soils, geology), more 
detailed content within a data theme, or data from more than one source can be 
registered. The framework design will provide assurance that all data registered 
to it will be able to be related to and used with other spatial data within the 
constraints of its level of accuracy. The framework will aid in locating data to its 
correct position and provide transparent referencing to other spatial information. 
It will provide a nationally accepted and used referencing capability that will 
eliminate recollection, duplicate collection, or incompatible collection of basic 
building blocks of the NSDI. 
UNE STRUCTURE DE DONNÉES GÉOSPATIALES POUR LES ÉTATS-UNIS 
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