• What is it?

    The Army Installation Geospatial Information & Services (IGI&S) program provides a unified approach for the creation, maintenance and management of installation geospatial data. The program is established to consolidate and focus Army efforts in utilizing that information, including its associated systems and resources, to improve accountability and increase the level of credibility of geospatial information and its originating sources. The Army IGI&S program constitutes the Installations, Energy & Environment (IE&E) domain of the Army Geospatial Enterprise (AGE).


    Usage of both Geographic Information System (GIS) and Computer Aided Design (CAD) technologies are widespread across the Army and heavily relied upon in planning installations energy and environmental management. Geospatial information shows the precise relationship between the installation (for example, the natural, cultural, administrative, and infrastructure characteristics of an installation’s sites and their surrounding area) and management activities. Installations use GIS and geospatially -enabled CAD for integrated planning, command and control (for example, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis, relocation and move management, space management, noise management, site selection, permitting, and environmental management). Other uses are installation operations and management, such as, emergency management and operations (fire, police, medical), emergency preparedness planning, environmental analysis and mapping support, communications and briefing support, dig permitting, military training, land navigation training, the daily maintenance of infrastructure, as well as integration with business (tabular data) systems. Headquarters, Department of the Army (HQDA) uses GIS and geospatially enabled CAD for re-stationing, asset lifecycle management, mapping analysis and support, integration efforts with business systems, and impact analysis of policies.

  • What has the Army done?

    The Spatial Data Standards for Facilities, Infrastructure, and Environment (SDSFIE) is the single Department of Defense (DoD) spatial standard that supports common implementation and maximizes interoperability for Installation, Environment, and Civil Works Missions. It is published as a Logical Data Model (LDM), intended to represent business requirements, entities and relationships. The Army IGI&S Program has adopted the Defense Installations Spatial Data Infrastructure DISDI SDSFIE standard (Version 4.0) for installation geospatial data.

    The Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-9 Installations (DCS, G-9) Operations Directorate (DAIN-ODR) and Environmental Division of the Installation Services Directorate (DAIN-ISE) have published a series of quality assurance plans (QAPs) for data layers with a required business case. QAPs comply with the DCS, G-9 memorandum, U.S. Army Installation Geospatial Information Management requirement, which directs geospatial support to the Army Mission. This support includes a Services Data Proponency Matrix, Common Installation Picture (CIP), and QAPs. The QAPs specify required attributes, reduce variances, prescribe acceptable values with examples, identify acceptable sources of data, minimize redundant data collection, identify authoritative data sources that contain the data elements, and provide guidance for topological and geographical accuracy.

  • What does the Army have planned?

    A new SDSFIE (Version 4.x) currently in use was developed using a platform-independent logical data model (LDM) that promotes interoperability and follows accepted industry practices. The IGI&S Program is in the process of developing and refining future SDSFIE Army adaptation and will publish it as a physical data model. The SDSFIE 4.0 Army adaptation will be the foundation of the official records database for the enterprise system and will be used in whole or in part by installations. Installations will be required to develop, at a minimum, a subset of the SDSFIE feature types for the CIP. These features currently representing the installations are defined in the Services Data Proponency Matrix. The CIP serves as the core data component of the geospatial system. Due to its commonality among installations, CIP layers have standards that are to be strictly followed. The CIP is currently being expanded to be inclusive of most commonly required feature data elements. The DCS, G-9 IGI&S office require quarterly geospatial data calls of feature layers from the installations. These layers are reviewed through a quality control process to ensure feature layers meet QAP standards. This will be an ongoing process for the future to ensure the installations geospatial data is accepted as authoritative data in the DCS G-9 IGIS Army Installation Geospatial Platform (AIGP). The official GIS record will be streamlined to improve flexibility and usability with current business systems for more efficient management decisions concerning funding, construction, environmental issues, and Army mission.

  • Why is this important?

    With the SDSFIE data structure, QAP data standards, and methodologies in place it is possible to create an Army-wide set of installation geospatial data sets that can be leveraged to solve many complex and interrelated issues faced by Commands and organizations. Having this level of situational awareness of installations is critical in supporting the Army installation management mission. Factors such as day-to-day installation management operations, transformation initiatives, base realignment and closure (BRAC), homeland security, and mission support mandate that the Army has access to the best possible contextual information about an installation’s sites and their surroundings. Geospatial information - globally referenced digital representations of installation features, including road networks, building footprints, as-built drawings, utilities, environmental resources and constraints, encroachment, and surrounding areas - must be readily available in standardized formats and consolidated in an authoritative data source (ADS). This information is utilized by echelons up to Headquarters, Department of the Army (HQDA) offices to support installation management business processes, inform force protection, respond to encroachment issues, meet regulatory requirements, enable optimum use of facilities, and enhance installation’s energy and environmental management in order to support mission needs.

  • Read more about it:

    USAEC GI&S Support

    In addition to the GI&S initiatives managed by USAEC, the GIS team supports USAEC and the Army community by providing technical consultation, performing geospatial data analyses, reviewing contract language for GIS-related work, providing training to Project Managers on the principles of GIS, and creating professional cartographic products.


    Past USAEC GI&S Support