v1.1.0-beta.1

Version 1.1.0-beta.1 is the first update to the stable release of the SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog specification!

The focus has been the addition of a common band construct to unify eo:bands and raster:bands.
Additionally, Item Asset Definitions are now part of the core specification and various additional fields have been made available via the common metadata mechanism.
Some alignment with OGC API - Records have been integrated and the best practices have evolved further.
It is accompanied by various minor changes and clarifications.

This is a beta-release with the option to make changes before a final 1.1.0 release if the feedback of the STAC community asks for it in the next weeks. Currently, no further changes are planned at the time of this release though.

We'd appreciate if the STAC community takes some time to implement the new version and give feedback so that we can ensure the new version is mature and well-received by the community.

The following changes have been made to the specification since v1.0.0:

Added

• bands is a new field in common metadata to replace eo:bands and raster:bands (#1213)
• The fields data_type, nodata, statistics and unit have been added to common metadata (#1213)
• The keywords field known from Collections is available in common metadata. (#1187)
• New fields method, headers and body in the Link Object. (#1198)
• The license field additionally supports SPDX expressions and the value other.
• The roles field known from Assets and Providers is available in common metadata. (#1267)
• The collection relation type is added to the list of known relation types. (#1236)
• The item_assets field in Collections are integrated from extension into the core Collection spec. (#1275)
• Validation for absolute self link in item schema. (#1281)
• Best practice: Link titles should exactly reflect the title of the corresponding entity (#1168)

Changed

• Common Metadata:
  • Clarify in various field descriptions that the fields do not only apply to Items
  • Validate the fields also in Catalogs, Collections and Links
  • If a description is given, require that it is not empty
• Clarified URL resolving mechanics, e.g. that trailing slashes in URLs are significant (#1212)
• All JSON Schema $id values no longer have # at the end.
• Two spatial bounding boxes in a Collection don't make sense and will be reported as invalid by the schema. (#1243)
• Clarify in descriptions that start_datetime and end_datetime are inclusive bounds (#1280)
• Moved the STAC structural relations into commons
• Moved general descriptions about Assets and Links into commons
• Moved common metadata from the item-spec into commons, but kept the JSON schemas in the item-spec for backward compatibility

Deprecated

• license: The values proprietary and various are deprecated in favor of SPDX expressions and other.

Removed

• "Strongly recommended" language around self links in the item spec. (#1173)

Fixed

• Several typos and minor language changes
• Clarification on unique parent link requirement (#1279)
• Clarified that collection IDs should be unique across all collections in the corresponding root catalog
• Clarified that item IDs should be unique per collection
• Clarified which media types should be used for the hierarchical relation types
• Clarified in the Markdown specification that GeometryCollections are not allowed as Item Geometry (#1160)
• Best practice: Do not recommend subdirectories for Items without sidecar files (#1195)
• Clarified that multiple collections can point to an Item, but an Item can only point back to a single collection. (#1273)
• Restructured asset role types and clarified usage of the roles thumbnail, overview and visual (#1272)
• Clarified that JSON Schema draft-07 is the default version for Collection summaries and other versions may not be supported

Thanks Contributors @m-mohr @gadomski @emmanuelmathot @philvarner @sankichi92 @christophfriedrich @dwsilk @matthewhanson @cholmes @wilsaj @tschaub @jonhealy1 @nkleinbaer @jedsundwall @jbants