rasdaman newsletter 06/2026
Student Creates OGC Datacube Language Compliance Test
At Constructor University, student Brook Nigatu is turning geospatial standards into practical applications. For his master's thesis, he has developed a conformance test suite for the Open Geospatial Consortium's (OGC) Geo Datacube Query Language (WCPS), using rasdaman as a reference implementation. By sharing his work with the OGC, he is helping to advance open, interoperable Earth Data Analytics.
He was recommended for the VDI Engineering Prize 2026 for his thesis, 'Establishing a Compliance Test for a Geo Datacube Query Language'. Supervised by Peter Baumann, his work fills a gap in geospatial standards by providing a dedicated conformance test suite for the Web Coverage Processing Service (WCPS), which is used for high-level queries on multidimensional Earth data.
Nigatu developed an executable WCPS 1.1 test suite for the TEAM Engine, an OGC platform used for compliance testing. During its development, he used rasdaman, the official WCS reference implementation, to validate queries and expected outputs. The suite verifies core language elements, including xWCPS features, as well as arithmetic, logical and aggregation operations. Generating test objects within the test queries rather than in large separate files keeps the suite self-contained and convenient. "The newly developed WCPS conformance test suite provides a canonical, open-source way to validate WCPS implementations, paving the way for better interoperability across geospatial systems," Nigatu explained.
The WCPS compliance test is an innovative application of the TEAM Engine, which until now has only been used to test simple sequences of request parameters. The patterns developed could simplify language testing in the future. Peter Baumann’s recommendation highlights the project’s technical and societal impact. It is expected that the work will become the official route for WCPS implementations seeking the OGC compliance label, with any issues found in the standard being addressed through maintenance procedures.
Dr Gobe Hobona, Director of Product Management Standards at the OGC, praised Nigatu’s work: "I am delighted to have the opportunity to express the appreciation of the Open Geospatial Consortium's Compliance Program for the work done by Brook Nigatu on developing an executable compliance test suite for the Web Coverage Processing Service (WCPS) standard." He emphasised that Brook’s work has been excellent and will have a very positive impact on the geospatial community.
By strengthening open standards for big earth data, Nigatu’s thesis helps to make advanced space-time data analysis more interoperable and accessible — qualities that make him a strong candidate for the award.
contact: Prof. Dr. Peter Baumann