AGeoP-14 NATO's defence maritime geospatial exchange model

What it is

AGeoP-14 is the Allied Geographic Publication (AGeoP) that defines the Defence Maritime Geospatial Exchange Model, DMGEM: NATO's framework for building maritime geospatial data products on two civil and NATO standards at once, the IHO's S-100 Universal Hydrographic Data Model and NATO's own Geospatial Information Framework (NGIF). The resulting family of data products is called AML+, an evolution of the older Additional Military Layers (AML) concept carried by STANAG 7170. AGeoP-14 does not itself contain geospatial data. It sets the rules for how AML+ Product Specifications get written and maintained, and how the S-100 and NGIF sides of a data product stay consistent with each other.

Who this addresses

AGeoP-14 is not written to a commercial supplier. Development of the DMGEM "is directed by the Geospatial Maritime Working Group (GMWG)", with every AML+ Product Specification endorsed by that group, which "is tasked by the NATO Geospatial Board (NGB) (through the Geospatial Requirements Working Group (GRWG) for NATO maritime geospatial requirements and the Joint Geospatial Standards Working Group (JGSWG) for NATO geospatial standardization)" (section 1.1). The publication itself was "approved by the nations in the Military Committee Joint Standardization Board", and the technical content is carried by this AGeoP while "the agreement of nations to use this publication is recorded in STANAG 6503". That is the standard NATO pattern: the Allied Publication is the specification, STANAG 6503 is where nations commit to it, and a company meets it only when a national programme or a contract invokes a specific AML+ Product Specification or the systems built to it. AGeoP-14 does address system builders directly on one point: "systems for the creation and use of AML+ datasets must adhere to the DMGEM Framework and AML+ Product Specifications" (section 3.7).

What it requires

The DMGEM's scope is "the requirements for the creation and maintenance of AML+ Product Specifications, data products and software for the production and exploitation of AML+ data products," plus "the required mappings and their maintenance" (section 3.1). Three things sit inside that scope.

Product Specifications are the fundamental unit. Each one defines the content and structure of a dataset, and Product Specifications are "included by reference to a civilian standard or are documented in an Allied Geographic Publication" (section 3.4). A specification is either S-100 based or NGIF based. S-100 based specifications follow the structure of S-100 Part 11 (Annex A) and "include an application schema and feature catalogue," with an optional "portrayal catalogue and data capture guide". NGIF based specifications sit in Annex B, which Edition A leaves genuinely empty: "In Edition A of this AGeoP NGIF based AML+ Product Specifications are not defined", pending a Data Product Specification profile within NGIF itself. Concepts shared across specifications, such as features, attributes and symbols, live in a Register drawn from "both the IHO GI Registry and the NATO NGFCD" (section 3.4).

Concept Mapping keeps the S-100 and NGIF sides interoperable. "For each S-100 Based AML+ Data Product Specification a Concept Mapping to the NGIF NGIM shall be provided" (Annex C), recording Feature, Attribute and Attribute Value for each data model alongside a Mapping Status of Valid Mapping, Partial Mapping or No Mapping. NGIF based specifications need no such mapping, because they "use the items from the NGIM directly" (section 3.6). A mapping is maintained "as baseline versions based on versions of AML+ product specifications or baselines of the NGIM" (Annex C), and ownership sits with the custodian of the Data Product Specification it belongs to.

Data Products must conform to a governing Product Specification. Edition A currently defines exactly one: S-102, the IHO Bathymetric Surface Product Specification (Edition 1.0.0, April 2012), for "the provision of detailed bathymetric information" (section 3.5). The document is candid about a gap here rather than hiding it: "S-102 1.0.0 does not define Portrayal. This should be addressed separately" in a future version. No NGIF based data product is specified yet.

One thing an implementer commonly misses: conformance and certification are kept deliberately apart. Annex D sets out the test modules a Product Specification or a data product must pass to claim conformance, but the conformance of the software and systems that produce or use DMGEM data is stated to sit outside the standard's own scope (section 3.2) - passing Annex D's tests proves the data product or specification conforms, not the tooling used to build it.

Where it has force

DMGEM binds "NATO and contributing nations", who "need a coherent set of digital geospatial products and standards allowing for the dissemination and management of designated geospatial information meeting operational requirements within the maritime domain" (section 1.3). Implementation is uneven by nation in practice: at promulgation, Estonia recorded that implementing DMGEM depends on its own Maritime Administration producing data to the IHO S-100 standard, Slovenia recorded that it does not produce AML-type geospatial products itself though it can use them aboard its own vessels, and the United States recorded that full implementation depends on NGIF-based product specifications this edition does not yet define. AML+ also carries one explicit mandate beyond the DMGEM framework itself, tied to STANAG 4564: it "is a mandated product for WECDIS as defined in STANAG 4564" (section 3.7).

How it is checked

There is no certification against AGeoP-14. The document says so directly: "Certification is a process which generally involves performance tests (including the conformance tests documented herein) and quality assurance tests. This is also outside of the scope of this standard" (section 3.3). What exists instead is conformance testing under Annex D: a Product Specification "shall pass the test module defined in Annex D.2", and a data product claiming conformance to a Product Specification "shall pass the test module defined in Annex D.3" (section 3.2). Concretely, Annex D checks whether a Product Specification's content and structure are consistent with S-100 Part 11 and with this AGeoP's own Annex A, and whether a data product fulfils everything its Product Specification requires.

Standards it references

• STANAG 7170Background
• AGeoP-08Background
• AJP-3.1Background
• STANAG 4564Background
• STANAG 2592Background
• STANAG 2586Background
• AJP-3.17Background