<s>
The	O
Map	B-Application
Overlay	I-Application
and	I-Application
Statistical	I-Application
System	I-Application
(	O
MOSS	O
)	O
,	O
is	O
a	O
GIS	B-Application
software	I-Application
technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MOSS	O
represents	O
a	O
very	O
early	O
public	O
domain	O
,	O
open	B-License
source	I-License
GIS	B-Application
development	O
-	O
predating	O
the	O
better	O
known	O
GRASS	B-Application
by	O
5	O
years	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MOSS	O
utilized	O
a	O
polygon	O
based	O
data	B-General_Concept
structure	I-General_Concept
in	O
which	O
point	O
,	O
line	O
,	O
and	O
polygon	O
features	O
could	O
all	O
be	O
stored	O
in	O
the	O
same	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
user	O
interacted	O
with	O
MOSS	O
via	O
a	O
command	B-Application
line	I-Application
interface	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1976	O
,	O
the	O
US	O
Fish	O
and	O
Wildlife	O
Service	O
(	O
FWS	O
)	O
issued	O
a	O
Request	O
For	O
Proposals	O
(	O
RFP	O
)	O
for	O
developing	O
a	O
Geographic	B-Application
Information	I-Application
System	I-Application
 [ GIS ] 	O
for	O
environment	O
impact	O
and	O
habitat	O
mitigation	O
studies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
scope	O
of	O
the	O
project	O
included	O
completing	O
a	O
User	O
Needs	O
assessment	O
,	O
developing	O
a	O
GIS	B-Application
functional	O
scope	O
,	O
evaluating	O
existing	O
GIS	B-Application
technologies	O
,	O
and	O
making	O
recommendations	O
to	O
the	O
USFWS	O
as	O
to	O
the	O
appropriate	O
course	O
of	O
action	O
for	O
the	O
development	O
and	O
deployment	O
of	O
GIS	B-Application
technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
the	O
first	O
six	O
months	O
of	O
1977	O
,	O
the	O
project	O
team	O
worked	O
on	O
two	O
tasks	O
:	O
A	O
User	O
Needs	O
Assessment	O
and	O
an	O
Inventory	O
of	O
Existing	O
GIS	B-Application
technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Concurrently	O
,	O
Carl	O
Reed	O
did	O
an	O
inventory	O
of	O
existing	O
public	O
domain	O
and	O
commercial	O
GIS	B-Application
technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Approximately	O
70	O
different	O
mapping	O
and	O
GIS	B-Application
software	I-Application
packages	O
were	O
identified	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Of	O
these	O
,	O
54	O
had	O
enough	O
documentation	O
and	O
basic	O
required	O
functionality	O
to	O
warrant	O
further	O
analysis	O
in	O
terms	O
of	O
matching	O
GIS	B-Application
functionality	O
against	O
user	O
requirements	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
evaluation	O
resulted	O
in	O
the	O
determination	O
that	O
no	O
existing	O
GIS	B-Application
capability	O
provided	O
even	O
a	O
fraction	O
of	O
the	O
functional	O
capability	O
required	O
to	O
meet	O
user	O
needs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Therefore	O
,	O
the	O
decision	O
was	O
made	O
to	O
design	O
and	O
program	O
a	O
new	O
interactive	O
GIS	B-Application
application	O
that	O
used	O
existing	O
publicly	O
available	O
software	O
whenever	O
possible	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
development	B-Application
environment	I-Application
was	O
a	O
CDC	O
mainframe	O
running	O
the	O
Kronos	B-Operating_System
operating	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fortran	B-Application
IV	I-Application
was	O
the	O
development	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
pilot	O
project	O
used	O
vector	O
and	O
raster	B-Algorithm
map	O
data	O
digitized	O
from	O
USGS	O
base	O
maps	O
,	O
from	O
aerial	O
imagery	O
,	O
and	O
maps	O
provided	O
by	O
other	O
agencies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
the	O
middle	O
of	O
1980	O
,	O
the	O
MOSS	O
software	B-Application
suite	I-Application
was	O
ready	O
for	O
production	O
use	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MOSS	O
allowed	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
store	O
both	O
vector	O
and	O
raster	B-Algorithm
in	O
the	O
same	O
geospatial	O
database	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Raster	B-Algorithm
data	O
were	O
stored	O
as	O
pixels	B-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
due	O
to	O
Fortran	B-Application
array	O
addressing	O
issues	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Raster	B-Algorithm
images	I-Algorithm
could	O
be	O
no	O
larger	O
than	O
32,000	O
pixels	B-Algorithm
per	O
row	O
.	O
</s>
