SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog
Open BetaSTAC (SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog) is not a data format but an open JSON schema for describing geo assets: satellite imagery, rasters, vector layers. The Catalog -> Collection -> Item -> Asset hierarchy plus the STAC API REST spec made STAC the de-facto standard for cloud catalogs (AWS, Microsoft Planetary Computer, ESA Copernicus). Our exporter generates a SINGLE STAC Item v1.0 — a JSON document describing the exported area: bbox, GeoJSON frame geometry, export datetime, per-layer statistics, and asset links. It is a "brick" you drop into your own catalog. To be clear: the Item's asset links are template hrefs to your export, not embedded data, and this is an Item rather than a full Catalog/Collection hierarchy.
Key Features
About STAC Format
The easiest way to picture STAC is a card in a library catalogue. There is no data in it, but there is everything needed to find the data: which territory, when the export was made, what is inside and at which link the file sits. That is exactly how the cloud catalogues of large providers are arranged — a single JSON schema on top of different storages.
The export is for those who run their own geodata storage. You exported an area, put a card next to it, and a month later you find what you need by searching on territory and date rather than by going through file names. When there are dozens of exports, such cards add up into your own searchable catalogue.
What is in the file: one STAC Item of version 1.0 — and at the same time a valid GeoJSON object. Inside are the extent and the geometry of the frame, the date and time of the export, properties with a summary of the layers (which layers made it in and how many objects they contain), service links and an assets block. The asset links are templates: you export the data itself in a separate format and substitute your own storage address.
What Program Opens STAC Files
The following programs and applications can open, edit, and work with SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog (.json) files exported from OSM2CDR:
Format specifications
- Open standard
- 2D only
- Lossless (no quality loss)
- Stores feature attributes
- Output: 1 file
- A single STAC Item v1.0 (valid GeoJSON Feature) describing the export: bbox, frame geometry, per-layer stats and template asset hrefs; an Item, not a full catalog.
Who Uses STAC Maps
How to Export STAC
How to Open After Export
- pystac (Python) — read the document with the Item.from_file method, check the structure and add the card to your catalogue or collection.
- stac-validator — a quick check of conformance to the specification before publishing.
- STAC Browser — a static viewer: put the catalogue with the cards on static hosting and get a navigable catalogue without a single line of server code.
- stac-fastapi — if you need a real STAC API with search by territory and time; the cards go into it as records.
- The asset links — replace the template addresses with real paths to your files, otherwise the card will point into the void.
Popular maps in STAC
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