Australian and International Data Standards

Last updated:7 June 2023

Standards organisations

A standards organisation, sometimes referred to as a standards body, is an organisation with authority to endorse official standards for given applications. Geoscience Australia collaborates with a number of Australian and international bodies to develop agreed standards for data transfer and best practice.

Geospatial data standards

International Organisation for Standardization (ISO)

Standards Australia (Australian representative on ISO)

Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

Geological data standards

GeoSciML and EarthResourceML are international data transfer standards for geological and mineral resources data, developed by the IUGS Commission for the Management and Application of Geoscience Information (CGI) and Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC).

The Government Geoscience Information Committee (GGIC), representing all Australian and New Zealand government geological surveys, has endorsed GeoSciML as the Australasian geological data transfer standard. MineralTenementML is a GGIC standard for delivery of mineral tenement data.

GeoSciML (OGC Geoscience Markup Language)

EarthResourceML

MineralTenementML

Geophysical data standards

Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists (ASEG)

Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG)

FDSN StationXML Schema

Standard for the Exchange of Seismic Waveform Data (SEED and miniSEED)

Adaptable Seismic Data Format (ASDF)

Building and Construction standards

The development of the building codes ensures that all buildings are resistant to earthquakes and cyclones.

Oceanographic standards

Tsunami research and the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre are underpinned by standards coordinated by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) within UNESCO.

Maritime Limits and Boundaries

IHO S‐121 Maritime Limits and Boundaries Data Exchange is being developed by Geoscience Australia in partnership with the UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea and the S‐121 Project Team.

Discrete Global Grid Systems

The Digital Earth Australia platform uses the OGC’s Discrete Global Grid Systems (DGGS) standard.

International GeoSample Number (IGSN)

The objective of the IGSN e.V. is to implement and promote standard methods for locating, identifying, and citing physical samples with confidence by operating an international IGSN registration service with a distributed infrastructure for use by and benefit to its members.

For more information on Data Standards in GA please contact: data@ga.gov.au