Geographic Bounding Polygon

This field allows the creation of multiple polygons to describe in a more detailed manner the geographic area covered by the dataset. It should only be used to define the outer boundaries of a covered area. For example, in the United States, such polygons can be created to define boundaries for Hawaii, Alaska, and the continental United States, but not interior boundaries for the contiguous states. This field is used to refine a coordinate-based search, not to actually map an area. It is also useful in identifying the boundaries of non-contiguous countries or data collection areas within a larger bounding box. Note that in this case each combined geogCover and boundPoly should appear in a separate sumDscr to clearly associate the name of the geographic area and it's polygon description.

If the boundPoly element is used, then geoBndBox MUST be present, and all points enclosed by the boundPoly MUST be contained within the geoBndBox. Elements westBL, eastBL, southBL, and northBL of the geoBndBox should each be represented in at least one point of the boundPoly description.