Describing Generic Ocean Environmental Data Objects Using the Geography Markup Language

摘要

This investigation examines the Geography Markup Language (GML) structure and its application to the transfer of one-dimensional ocean profile data (e.g., eXpendable Bathythermograph (XBT) data). GML was designed for the storage and transfer of geography-related data and is noted to be a NATO emerging standard for geographic data interchange. The investigation compares the GML-based structure for an XBT data profile to the same dataset stored in the Keeley Brick data structures. From the perspective of ocean data management, the results indicate that the GML nomenclature is difficult to understand. However, compared to the Keeley Brick approach GML provides benefits such as a standardized structure and efficiencies in file sizes.