NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANISATION

(NATO)

ANNEX D
to
ADDITIONALMILITARYLAYERS
NETWORKMODELBATHYMETRY
PRODUCTSPECIFICATION
Version 0.2, 31st July 2007

Produced and issued by the United Kingdom Hydrographic

Office under the direction of the Geospatial Maritime Working
Group of the NATO Geographic Conference.
UKHO 2007
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
The copyright in this document, which contains information of a proprietary nature, is vested in UKHO. The
contents of this document may not be used for purposes other than that for which it has been supplied.

AdditionalMilitaryLayers

NetworkModelBathymetryAnnexD

ANNEXD
BATHYMETRICATTRIBUTEDGRID(BAG)IMPLEMENTATION
OFNETWORKMODELBATHYMETRYPRODUCT
SPECIFICATION
DocumentControl
ISSUE
Date

Author

Issue SummaryofChanges

31/07/07

P.Burton

0.2

AnnexissuedwithV2.0ofmain
specification

APPROVALS
ApproverandTitle

Signature

Date

ChairmanGMWG

VERSIONCONTROL
Version

ReviewDate ReviewedBy

FILEDETAILS
Component

Name&Location

Tool

Documenttext

J:\AML\Specification\Specifications\NMB\
annexD\NMBPSAnnexDv0.2.doc

MSWord

Correspondence
andhardcopy

N/A

CONTENTS
D.1
AML NMB Bathymetric Attributed Grid Format and Structure..............................4
D.1.1
References.......................................................................................................4
D.1.2
Document Structure.........................................................................................4
D.1.3
BAG Content...................................................................................................5
Figure 1............................................................................................................................5
D.1.4
Metadata..........................................................................................................6

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D.1.5
Grid Arrays......................................................................................................9
D.1.5.1 Elevation Grid.............................................................................................9
D.1.5.2
Vertical Uncertainty Grid.......................................................................10
D.1.6
Tracking List.................................................................................................10
D.1.7
Certification...................................................................................................11
D.1.8
Encapsulation................................................................................................11
D.2
File Naming............................................................................................................14
D.3
Updating.................................................................................................................14
D.4
Acknowledgement..................................................................................................14

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D.1 AML NMB Bathymetric Attributed Grid Format and

Structure
D.1.1

References

Thisdocumentrequiresreferencetothefollowingdocuments;
1. STANAG7170AdditionalMilitaryLayers
2. AdditionalMilitaryLayers,NetworkModelBathymetry,ProductSpecification
3. FormatSpecificationDocumentDescriptionofBathymetricAttributedGrid
Object(BAG)Version1.0.0http://www.opennavsurf.org/papers/ons_fsd.pdf
4. TheOpenNavigationSurfaceWorkingGrouphavedevelopedsourcecode
librariesanddocumentationwhichisavailablefordownloadatthefollowing
address;http://www.opennavsurf.org/
5. WhitepaperentitledDigitalSignatureSchemefortheBathymetricAttributed
Grid(BAG).Availablefrom
http://www.opennavsurf.org/papers/ons_digitalsig.pdf

D.1.2

Document Structure

ThisdocumentdefinestheimplementationofAdditionalMilitaryLayer(AML),Network
ModelBathymetry(NMB)inconformancewiththeBathymetricAttributedGrid(BAG)
standard.
ReferencemustbemadetotheFormatSpecificationDocumentDescriptionof
BathymetricAttributedGridObject(BAG)Version1.0.0forafulldescriptionofthe
BAGformatandencodingdetails.ThisAnnexonlygivesahighleveldescriptionofthe
contentofaBAGdataset.
ThisdocumentisstructuredtosupportNMBandthevariableresolutionsatwhichdata
mayappropriatelybedeliveredinsupportofagiventask.
AMLNMBdatafilesmaybeaccompaniedbyanoptionalASCIIfilecontaininggeneral
information,thisfilewillbecalledreadme.txt.

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D.1.3

NetworkModelBathymetryAnnexD

BAG Content

The BAG contains a number of mandatory elements. These are:

Metadata dataset metadata conformant to ISO19115:2005

Elevation grid two-dimensional grid containing estimate of elevation from

the referenced vertical datum at the grid node
Vertical Uncertainty Grid - - two-dimensional grid containing estimate of the
vertical uncertainty of the corresponding elevation value
Tracking List List of originally computed values of elevation and uncertainty
that have been manually overridden within the grids
Digital Signature a mechanism to validate that the contents of the file has not
changed since original signature.

These elements are shown conceptually in Figure 1.

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Figure 1
BAG has adopted Hierarchical Data Format version 5(HDF-5) as the encapsulation
format.

D.1.4

Metadata

The BAG has adopted the ISO19115 standard for metadata and ISO19139 XML encoding
of this metadata. A master copy of the XML schema can be accessed via the ONS
website.
Metadata
Attribute
Production
Agency

ISO Short name

Data Type

Domain

rpOrgName

CharacterString Free text

role

Class

Producing
Country
Dataset Name
Edition
Number
Date of
Release
Product
Specification
Description
Product
Specification
Version
Number
Product Scale
Band

country

International
Defence
Organisation
(IDO) status
or
Caveat

resTitle
resEd

CI_RoleCode
Value: 010 (Publisher)
CharacterString ISO 3166-3, other parts may
be used
CharacterString Free text
CharacterString Free text

resEdDate

Class

formatName

CharacterString AML NMB BAG V1.0

FORMAT

formatVer

CharacterString 1.0

equScale

Class

handDesc

CharacterString Valid values for IDO Status:

NATO - North Atlantic
Treaty Organisation
NACC - North Atlantic Cooperation Council
PfP - Partnership for Peace
WEU - Western European
Union

Date

MD_RepresentativeFraction
<<DataType>>

NOTE: IDO status and

Caveat are mutually
exclusive
NOTE: Caveat is only
applicable if Protective
Marking is Confidential or

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greater
MD_ClassificationCode
<<CodeList>>

Protective
marking

class

Class

Owner
Authority

rpOrgName

CharacterString Free text

role

Class

Horizontal
Geodetic
Datum
Vertical
Datum

Datum

Class

vertDatum

Association

Elevation
Units
(Depths)
Capture Date

vertUoM

Class

UomLength
Valid value: Metre

refDate

Class

Date

refDateType

Class

CI_DateTypeCode
Value: 001 (Creation)

rpOrgName

CharacterString Free text

role

Class

country

CharacterString ISO 3166-3, other parts may

be used

Source
Agency

Source
Country

CI_RoleCode
Value: 003 (Owner)
Valid Datum:
WGS84 World Geodetic
System 1984
SC_VerticalDatum
(See Para 3.5.1 of the main
document for valid vertical
datums)

CI_RoleCode
Value: 006 (Originator)

Source Extent Polygon

Class

GM_Object
-90 to 90 latitude
-180 to 180 longitude

Source Date

exTemp

Class

TM_Primitive

Source ID

resTitle

CharacterString Free text

Source Type

srcDesc

CharacterString Free text

Source Scale

srcScale

Class

MD_RepresentativeFraction
<<DataType>>

Copyright
Statement

useConsts

Class

MD_RestrictionCode
<<CodeList>>
Value = 001 (Copyright)

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Number of
Grid
Dimensions
X-Axis

numDims

Integer

Integer

dimName

Class

Y-Axis

dimName

Class

Grid Size (X
& Y axis)

dimSize

Integer

MD_DimensionNameType
<<CodeList>>
Value = 002
MD_DimensionNameType
<<CodeList>>
Value = 001
Integer

Grid
Resolution
(X & Y axis)
Grid Corner
Points

dimResol

Class

Measure
Degrees and decimals of arc

cornerPts

Sequence

GM_Point

West
Bounding
Limit

westBL

Class

Angle
-180.0 <= West Bounding
Longitude
Value <= 180.0

East
Bounding
Limit

eastBL

Class

Angle
-180.0 <= East Bounding
Longitude
Value <= 180.0

South
Bounding
Limit

southBL

Class

Angle
-90.0 <= Latitude
Value <= 90.0; South
Bounding Latitude Value <=
North bounding Latitude
Value

North
Bounding
Limit

NorthBL

Class

Angle
-90.0 <= Latitude
Value <= 90.0; North
Bounding Latitude Value >=
South bounding Latitude
Value

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Vertical
Uncertainty
Type

verticalUncertaintyType
(extension to ISO19115
for BAG)

Tracking
Identifier

trackingId
(extension to ISO19115
for BAG)

D.1.5

NetworkModelBathymetryAnnexD

CharacterString Unknown - The uncertainty

layer is an unknown type
Raw_Std_Dev - Raw
standard deviation of
soundings that contributed to
the node
CUBE_Std_Dev - Standard
deviation of soundings
captured by a CUBE
hypothesis (i.e., CUBEs
standard output of
uncertainty)
Product_Uncert - NOAA
standard product uncertainty
V1.0 (a blend of CUBE
uncertainty and other
measures).
Historical_Std_Dev
Estimated standard deviation
based on historical/archive
data.
CharacterString

Grid Arrays

The BAG contains two co-located two dimensional arrays. These are organised in row
major order starting from the south-western most data point. The south-western data
point, grid resolution (distance between each node) and size of grid (number of x,y nodes)
are all specified in the data set metadata. Multiple grid resolutions within one instance of
a BAG file is not supported.
BAG is a node-based as opposed to a cell oriented grid. This means that each value held
at the grid node only applies to that exact position and not to the whole cell.
The Grid coordinate system should be geodetic as opposed projected and the grid origin
(Latitude and Longitude) and grid resolution described in degrees and decimals.

D.1.5.1

Elevation Grid

The elevation units must be metres. The vertical datum must be referenced in the dataset
Metadata. Elevation values are positive above the vertical datum (heights) and negative
below the vertical datum (depths).
For any node where the elevation is unknown the value shall be defined as 1,000,000.0.

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The minimum and maximum elevation values contained within the array are encoded at
the completion of the Elevation array.
Attribute Table for Elevation Grid
Unit
Data Type
Domain

Attribute
Elevation
Minimum Elevation
Value
Maximum Elevation
Value

D.1.5.2

Metres Float 32 [][]

Metres Float 32

(FLT_MIN,FLT_MAX)
FLT_MIN

Unknown
Value
1.0e6
N/A

Metres Float 32

FLT_MAX

N/A

Vertical Uncertainty Grid

The vertical uncertainty units must be metres. The values are expressed as positive values.
For any node where the vertical uncertainty is unknown the value shall be defined as 0.0.
The minimum and maximum uncertainty values contained within the array are encoded
at the completion of the Uncertainty array.
Attribute Table for Vertical Uncertainty Grid
Unit
Data Type
Domain

Attribute

Uncertainty
Minimum Uncertainty
Value
Maximum Uncertainty
Value

D.1.6

Metres Float 32 [][]

Metres Float 32

(FLT_MIN,FLT_MAX)
FLT_MIN

Unknown
Value
0.0
N/A

Metres Float 32

FLT_MAX

N/A

Tracking List

The tracking list contains the original elevation and uncertainty values from any node of
the surface that has been modified by manual over-rides i.e. values that have been
changed from those originally computed by an algorithmic method.
Due to the requirement for AML NMB to accurately define the scientifically most
accurate depiction of the elevation it would be normal for the tracking list to be empty.
Attribute
Tracking List Item
Tracking List Length

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Attribute Table for Tracking List

Unit
Data Type
Domain
N/A
BAG
N/A
Tracking
List Item
N/A
Unsigned
[0,2^32-1]
Integer 32

Description
X-location of modified
node
Y-location of modified
node

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Elevation

Attribute Table for Tracking List Item

Unit
Data Type
Domain
N/A
Unsigned
(0,SizeOf_X-Array)
Integer 32
N/A
Unsigned
(0,SizeOf_Y-Array)
Integer 32
Metres Float 32

Uncertainty

Metres Float 32

Track_code

N/A

Char

List_series

N/A

Unsigned
Integer 16

Attribute
Row
Column

D.1.7

Description
X-location of
modified node
Y-location of
modified node
Original
elevation before
change
Original
uncertainty
before change
Code identifying
reason for
modification
Index number
linking to
metadata
modification
description

Certification

The Digital Signature Scheme(DSS) implemented by BAG is intended to ensure that any
modifications made to the originally produced dataset are readily detectable. Any end
user of AML NMB can therefore be confident that the dataset in use is as authorised by
the competent authority.
The DSS is not part of the actual HDF-5 data structure but appended to the end of the file
to ensure the integrity of the signature is maintained.
Full details of the implementation of DSS within the BAG are detailed in references [3]
and [5].

D.1.8

Encapsulation

BAG has adopted the Hierarchical Data Format version5 (HDF-5) to encapsulate the data.
The BAG file structure is shown in Figure 2.

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Version Tag

XML MetaData

Elevation Estimate Nodal Array

HDF5 Based
Data
Structure

Uncertainty Nodal Array

Tracking List
Hydrograper Modifications

Certification

(Attached To HDF5 File)

Figure 2
The structure of this encapsulation is shown below.
Group BAG_root {
Attribute BAG Version
Dataset metadata {
DATATYPE String
DATASPACE 1-dimension, 0-N
DATASET {XML.}
}
Dataset elevation {
DATATYPE Floating point 4bytes
DATASPACE 2-dimensions, 0-N,0-M
DATASET {{}}
Attribute Minimum Elevation Value
Attribute Maximum Elevation Value
}
Dataset uncertainty {
DATATYPE Floating point 4bytes
DATASPACE 2-dimensions, 0-N,0-M

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DATASET {{}}
Attribute Minimum Uncertainty Value
Attribute Maximum Uncertainty Value
}
Dataset tracking list {
DATATYPE bagTrackingListItem
DATASPACE 1-dimension, 0-N
DATASET {}
Attribute Tracking List Length
}
}

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D.2 File Naming

AMLNMBwillfollowthefilenamingconventiondevelopforAMLvectorspecification
Version3.0.

D.3 Updating
There is no mechanism for incremental updates (thin updating) to BAG format files.
Data will be updated by a complete refresh of the file contents.

D.4 Acknowledgement
The contents of much of this Annex has been derived from references [3] and [5]
produced by the Open Navigation Surface Working Group.

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