Oil and Gas Pipeline GIS Glossary / Dictionary

Browse our glossary of oil and gas pipeline terms or click a letter.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Alignment Sheet

Also known as a strip map; specialized map for use in corridor industries such as transportation, electrical transmission, telecommunications and pipelines; they typically include a plan view (map) of a portion of the pipeline, accompanied by plan drawings (schematics) in the same scale and in exact alignment with the map.

Anomaly

An imperfection or defect that may be present in the pipe wall.

ASP

An Application Service Provider is an arrangement where software or data is hosted by a third party, and where the responsibility to ensure 24/7 access to applications and data is transferred to the provider.

APDM : ArcGIS Pipeline Data Model

APDM is Designed for storing information pertaining to features found in gathering and transmission pipelines, particularly gas and liquid systems. The APDM was expressly designed for implementation as an ESRI geodatabase for use with ESRI's ArcGIS and ArcSDE® products.

Cathodic Protection

Protection against environmental corrosion (soil or moisture) of underground or submerged metallic structures through the use of a negative potential applied by an external source to the structure.

DataFrame

A group of GeoFields solutions that manage pipeline and facility data

DLG : Digital Line Graph

USGS digital vector file containing points, lines and areas of planimetric information (polygons)

DOQ : Digital Orthographic Quadrangle

Aerial photograph which has been processed to remove all distortions caused by camera tilt, perspective, and topography; the scale is uniform across the entire image

DRG

Scanned image of a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) standard series topographic map

EDMS

System that supports the transmission, storage, and retrieval of all documents relating to an organization’s business activities

EDM

Organizes the storage and retrieval of all data vital to the operation of the enterprise

ERP

Software and systems that support internal business processes with real-time access to information across the enterprise; these systems typically service human resources, supply chain management, and back office financial functions

FERC

U.S. government agency that regulates hydroelectric dams and interstate commerce in oil, gas, and electricity

GFDM

GeoFields’ format for the design of pipeline databases, based on the PODS standard

GIS

A Geographic Information System is a computerized system for capturing, maintaining, analyzing, integrating and displaying any data that can be related to maps or locations.

HCA

A High Consequence Area is an area legally defined by the OPS as being especially vulnerable to damage in the event of a pipeline leak or failure.

Hillshade

A type of map drawing that emphasizes landform morphology by using colored, shaded relief.

Linear referencing

A system for identifying the location of pipeline features and characteristics by measuring distance from the start of the pipeline. An example linear reference address is: Engineering Station 1145+86 on pipeline Alpha = 114,586 feet from the start of the pipeline.

LNG

Liquefied Natural Gas

NED

A seamless mosaic of best-available elevation data from the U.S. Geological Survey, used for improved base of elevation data for calculating slope and hydrologic derivatives. This data set replaces the earlier Digital Elevation Model

NHD

A comprehensive set of digital spatial data from the U.S. Geological Survey that contains information about surface water features such as lakes, ponds, streams, rivers, springs and wells

NPMS

The National Pipeline Mapping System is a full featured GIS database containing the locations and selected attributes of natural gas transmission lines, hazardous liquid trunk lines and LNG facilities operating in onshore and offshore territories of the United States. Created by a joint government-industry effort between the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Pipeline Safety, other federal and state agencies and the pipeline industry.

NWI

A department within the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service that produces information on the characteristic, extent, and status of the National Wetlands and deepwater habitats

OPS

A division of the US Department of Transportation, with a mandate to oversee and enforce federal pipeline safety regulations

Open Architecture

Refers to databases and technologies that easily connect with and exchange data with other databases and technologies

Outsourcing

The practice of having a third party perform functions that are not in the organization’s set of core competencies

Overland Spread

GeoFields’ proprietary process for modeling the potential spread of liquids from a ruptured pipeline. Potential spreads are modeled over land and along waterways

PHMSA

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is the federal agency charged with the safe and secure movement of hazardous materials by all modes of transportation. The agency also overseas the nation’s pipeline infrastructure.

PODS

The Pipeline Open Data Standard is a standard format for the design of pipeline databases.

ProjectFrame

A group of GeoFields solutions that provide support in anticipation of and during pipeline construction

RiskFrame

A group of GeoFields solutions that support integrity management programs

SCADA

Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition are hardware and software components that gather data in real time from remote locations in order to monitor conditions and control equipment.

VPN

A network that leverages public telecommunication infrastructure, such as the Internet, to provide secure (private) access to the organization’s network from remote offices. This is in contrast to using owned or leased telecommunication lines