Levels of Compliance

Overview

The GeMS_ValidateDatabase_Arc10.py and GeMS_ValidateDatabase_AGP2.py tools (available at https://github.com/usgs/GeMS_Tools and at https://github.com/usgs/gems-tools-pro respectively) audit a geodatabase for conformance with the GeMS schema and reports compliance as “may be LEVEL 1 COMPLIANT”, “is LEVEL 2 COMPLIANT”, or “is LEVEL 3 COMPLIANT”. It also runs a mp (metadata parser) to check for formal errors in geodatabase-level FGDC metadata. Note that to qualify as LEVEL 2 or LEVEL 3 compliant, a database must also be accompanied by a peer-reviewed geologic names report indicating nomenclature differences between the geologic units shown on the map and what’s listed in Geolex. This document should provide suggested changes to Geolex (e.g., missing names that have official usage by your agency), and should provide the pertinent publication(s). See the NGMDB "GeMS" site for files and links to help understand, create, and manage GeMS databases.

Compliance criteria are as follows:

Level 1:

• No overlaps or internal gaps in map-unit polygon layer
• Contacts and faults in single feature class
• Map-unit polygon boundaries are covered by contacts and faults lines

Databases with a variety of schema may meet these criteria. Validate Database cannot confirm LEVEL 1 compliance.

Level 2:

• 2.1 Has required elements: nonspatial tables DataSources, DescriptionOfMapUnits, GeoMaterialDict; feature dataset GeologicMap with feature classes ContactsAndFaults and MapUnitPolys
• 2.2 Required fields within required elements are present and correctly defined
• 2.3 GeologicMap topology: no internal gaps or overlaps in MapUnitPolys, boundaries of MapUnitPolys are covered by ContactsAndFaults
• 2.4 All map units in MapUnitPolys have entries in DescriptionOfMapUnits table
• 2.5 No duplicate MapUnit values in DescriptionOfMapUnit table
• 2.6 Certain field values within required elements have entries in Glossary table
• 2.7 No duplicate Term values in Glossary table
• 2.8 All xxxSourceID values in required elements have entries in DataSources table
• 2.9 No duplicate DataSources_ID values in DataSources table

Level 3:

• 3.1 Table and field definitions conform to GeMS schema
• 3.2 All map-like feature datasets obey topology rules. No MapUnitPolys gaps or overlaps. No ContactsAndFaults overlaps, self-overlaps, or self-intersections. MapUnitPoly boundaries covered by ContactsAndFaults
• 3.3 No missing required values
• 3.4 No missing terms in Glossary
• 3.5 No unnecessary terms in Glossary
• 3.6 No missing sources in DataSources
• 3.7 No unnecessary sources in DataSources
• 3.8 No map units without entries in DescriptionOfMapUnits
• 3.9 No unnecessary map units in DescriptionOfMapUnits
• 3.10 HierarchyKey values in DescriptionOfMapUnits are unique and well formed
• 3.11 All values of GeoMaterial are defined in GeoMaterialDict. GeoMaterialDict is as specified in the GeMS standard
• 3.12 No duplicate _ID values
• 3.13 No zero-length or whitespace-only strings