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SCAR Circular No. 766

5th Dec 2006

To: National Committees, Delegates and Alternate Delegates

Subject: National Representatives on the SCAR Standing Committee for Antarctic Geographic Information (SC-AGI)

Dear Colleague,

At the XXIX SCAR meeting in Hobart, the Expert Group on Geographic Information (EGGI) was repositioned from within the Standing Scientific Group for the Geosciences to become the Standing Committee for Antarctic Geographic Information (SC-AGI) reporting to the Delegates Committee on Outreach and
Administration and to the Executive Director. SC-AGI is the direct descendant of the SCAR Working Group on Cartography, formed near SCAR's beginnings, in 1958.

We now seek your nomination of a national representative who has either:

Whichever kind of person is nominated must be given the authority to act for the Member country on issues relating to geographical information (e.g. place names) and standards. Because very few Members nominated representatives to SC-AGI's predecessor, the Expert Group on Geographic Information (EGGI), several existing arrangements such as the distribution of published maps to SCAR Members are in danger of becoming ineffective because of the lack of contact with all Member nations.

All work in Antarctica relies on a consistent geographic framework, and the main function of the new SC-AGI is to manage and improve the geographic framework not only for Antarctic scientific research but also for other activities including operations, environmental management and tourism. Among other things, SC-AGI's work will help to provide geographic limits to Antarctic Specially Protected Areas (ASPAs) and Antarctic Specially Managed Areas (ASMAs), locations of Historic Sites and Monuments, and geospatial web services that might be needed for scientific, logistic, or tourism related applications.

Nomination of a point of contact by each SCAR Member is a pre-condition for ensuring that SC-AGI is effective for the benefit of all.

Building on the work done by its predecessor EGGI, SC-AGI will continue to deliver a range of up to date Geographic Information products through its various projects. In particular the SC-AGI is responsible for:

(i) Creating an Antarctic Spatial Data Infrastructure (ANTSDI).

This will provide:

The development of a Spatial Data Infrastructure is the next step towards increasing the rigour and effectiveness of the geographic framework. For more details see the website at http://www.antsdi.scar.org

(ii) Maintaining the Continent-Wide Topographic Database:

The Antarctic Digital Database (ADD) is the primary source of continent-wide topographic data for Antarctica. A Web Map Server and a Web Feature Server have been created, allowing direct access to the ADD from both web sites and computer software. The topographic data is sourced from Member countries to produce a pan-Antarctica topographic data set. First published on CD-ROM in 1993, and regularly updated, it is available on the Web at: http://www.add.scar.org/add_main.html.

(iii) Maintaining the Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica:

The SCAR Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica provides an authoritative database of all Antarctic place names approved by recognised national naming authorities, for reference by them, scientists and operators. At present the database includes 35551 records from 22 countries and from the GEBCO (IHO) gazetteer, corresponding to almost 18000 features. The Gazetteer database is accessible at: http://www3.pnra.it/SCAR_GAZE. This is now the de facto international gazetteer for Antarctica. Many names described at present have significant errors in their positional information, something that needs attention to make the Gazetteer yet more useful to Antarctic science, COMNAP and tourist operatives. There is also an increasing problem with duplicated place names, which SC-AGI can flag and help to resolve. Moreover, we are aware that because of a lack of nominated national representatives the flow of information from Members into the Gazetteer has seriously declined, which will reduce the value of the Gazetteer to all Members if the trend continues.

(iv) Maintaining the SCAR Antarctic Map Catalogue:

The Map Catalogue is a public access on-line catalogue of all Antarctic mapping products. It allows searches for published maps of Antarctica using spatial coverage, keywords, place-names, etc. The catalogue contains 5115 maps from 23 countries and has been set up as a framework that allows each SCAR Member country to update the relevant information online at:
http://aadc-maps.aad.gov.au/aadc/mapcat/.

(v) Maintaining the SCAR King George Island Geographical Information System (KGIS):

This project provides an integrated and consistent geographic framework for King George Island. The KGIS database is for use by all countries and for multi-disciplinary applications including scientific research and environmental management. It has been and still is used extensively in the preparatory studies for the emerging discussions on a coordinated environmental management policy for the Fildes Peninsula Region. SCAR KGIS data has also contributed to the Admiralty Bay ASMA management plan. The database is continuously being updated with new topographic and bathymetric data as these become available from SCAR countries. The data are accessible at: http://www.kgis.scar.org/.

(vi) Maintaining and developing the SCAR Feature Catalogue.

This is a catalogue of feature types for inclusion in Antarctic Geographic Information Systems to provide for semantic interoperability. Feature catalogues provide a detailed description of the nature and the structure of spatial data, and promote the dissemination, sharing, and use of geographic data by providing a better understanding of the content and meaning of the data. Spatial databases that already implement the SCAR Feature Catalogue include those of the Australian Antarctic Data Centre and the SCAR King George Island GIS Project, and the forthcoming Antarctic Digital Database (ADD).

(vii) The Cybercartographic Atlas of Antarctica:

With its open framework this Atlas has the potential for a wide range of use by scientists, the public, governments, the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat, and COMNAP. It can be an important aid in Education, Outreach and Information Exchange. The Atlas continues to develop with assistance from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada. A series of baseline content modules have been created including treatments of Antarctic topics such as: Exploration, Politics, Environmental Protection, Sea Ice, Glacial Morphology, Biodiversity, Ecology, and Territorial Claims. The modules use an Atlas development framework, which supports integration of multimedia content and connection to geographic information services. Four publications and three Masters theses by the project team were published or accepted during 2005 and early 2006
(http://www.carleton.ca/gcrc/caap/)

(viii) Other projects by member countries, including:

Project leaders aim to produce standards and specifications that follow appropriate standards, which is done through participation in the work of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), particularly the ISO Technical Committee on Geographic Information standards (TC211), where SCAR has Class A Liaison status.

We would like the SCAR Committee for Antarctic Geographic Information to include as many representatives from member countries as possible and look forward to contacting your nominated representative on the committee.

Please respond to this circular by the end of January 2007.

Yours sincerely,
Colin Summerhayes' signature

Colin Summerhayes
SCAR Executive Director