OGC Community approves new OGC API standard: OGC API - Features - Part 2: Coordinate Reference Systems by Reference

OGC APIs usher in a new age for discovering and accessing location information on the web, enabling a much simpler way to share and access location information that is consistent with the architecture of the Web. The OGC API family of standards defines modular API building blocks to spatially enable Web APIs in a consistent way. Through the OGC APIs, the OGC community is standardizing how location information can be integrated: by any developer, with any other type of information, and into any type of application.

The new OGC APIs make use of the OpenAPI Specification (OAS) – a broadly adopted industry standard for describing modern APIs. APIs that implement OAS provide an interface that enables humans and computers to easily discover and understand the capabilities of a service without having to refer to external documentation or guesswork, greatly improving the accessibility of location data.

OGC API - Features provides the fundamental API building blocks to create, modify, and query ‘features’ on the Web (features are simply the digital representations of objects of interest in the real world). OGC API - Features comprises multiple parts, with each part being a separate standard. Whereas OGC API - Features: Part 1 only specifies the use of WGS 84, the new OGC API - Features - Part 2 extends Part 1’s capabilities with the ability to use any other Coordinate Reference System (CRS) as long as it is identified by a URI such as the CRSs managed in the EPSG register.