| Abstract: | For more than a decade, efforts to develop and specify the U.S. Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS) have on many occasions encountered limitations in both theory and "gaps in our knowledge" which have hindered its development. This work examines broad categories of these limitations from the perspective of research needs, to encourage further research on these topics. Areas in need of further study include fundamental concepts, the specification and use of spatial objects, spatial data quality, entity definitions, the data transfer mechanism, and international comparison of transfer mechanisms. In many cases recent research progress has been made in these areas and this progress is pointed out. A number of high-priority research areas are identified. It is hoped that this work will encourage more research effort to be directed towards these areas, which will benefit not only the development of spatial data transfer standards but also the spatial data sciences in general. |
