NWCG Standards for Geospatial Operations, PMS 936

The NWCG Standards for Geospatial Operations ensure consistency in the delivery of GIS products and services.  They must be adhered to for incident Geographic Information System Specialist (GISS) activities. They focus on the work performed by a GISS to fulfill the GIS needs of the Planning Section of the Incident Management Team and include guidelines, procedures, processes, best practices, specifications, techniques, and methods. Some components of these standards may change more frequently, like the National Incident Feature Services, or be fairly static like the File Naming conventions.

NWCG resources such as job aids, checklists, training courses, and how-to videos are available to develop the GISS position and to implement GeoOps. A key resource for a GISS is the NWCG GISS Workflow, PMS 936-1, process. The following sections provide the details of GeoOps.The NWCG Standards for Geospatial Operations (GeoOps), PMS 936, are developed and maintained by the NWCG Geospatial Subcommittee (GSC) and approved by the NWCG Data Management Committee (DMC).

Prior to February 2020, these standards were known as GIS Standard Operating Procedures on Incidents (GSTOP). While previous versions may contain current or useful information, the GSTOP is obsolete. The user of this information is responsible for confirming that they have the most up-to-date version. NWCG is the sole source for the publication.

Comments, questions, and recommendations shall be submitted to the appropriate agency member assigned to the GSC. View the complete roster at https://www.nwcg.gov/committees/geospatial-subcommittee/roster.

GeoOps Sections

1. Event Geodatabase
2. National Incident Feature Services (NIFS)
3. Directory Structure
4. File Naming
5. Symbology
6. Map Elements
7. Map Product Standards
8. Documentation