The vector product format, an overview

Abstract

Many government agencies with responsibility for collecting geographic information do so primarily for their own use. This information is used for planning, resource management, scientific studies, and as a spatial base for a wide range of data. It is often provided to the public as a by-product in a form which is convenient for the producing agency. The United States Defense Mapping Agency (DMA), on the other hand, collects and provides mapping, charting, geodetic, and geographic information to military and maritime customers for direct use. These data sets, or products, must be designed for ease of use and must fully support customer applications. DMA uses the Vector Product Format (VPF) military standard for this reason. The Defense Mapping Agency will be producing large quantities of data in VPF; it will be made widely available. This paper provides an overview of VPF and discusses the purposes behind the standard, its relationship to other spatial data standards, and products and applications which implement the standard.