USGS Emergency Response strives to ensure that the disaster response community has rapid access to timely, accurate, and relevant geospatial imagery, products, and services before, during, and after a disaster.

During the course of a major disaster response, the USGS may receive a variety of imagery and related derivative products for the Hazards Data Distribution System (HDDS), a single point-of-entry system that provides preview and download access for disaster-related data. These data will often consist of imagery data, image maps, vector overlays, and other products that have been developed specifically for the means of supporting the disaster response.

In order to expedite delivery from data providers, the imagery data and contributed products may be transferred electronically utilizing the USGS Data Sharing Portal (DSP) services. Appropriate metadata for the imagery and contributed products will be required for accurate information and will assist in managing the products. As a result, products will become geographically retrievable on HDDS and shared across the response community.

The HDDS Product Specification and Services Document is a guide for DSP services and provides the specifications for the types of products and metadata that are required for HDDS.