A. Nautical Charts 

A Nautical Chart is a graphic portrayal of the marine environment. In addition to providing the most basic elements, a chart is a working document used by the mariner both as a "road    map" and a worksheet essential for safe navigation. In conjunction with supplemental navigational aids, it is used to lay out courses and navigate ships by the shortest and most       economically safe route. A chart shows the nature and form of the coast, the depths of the      water and general character and configuration of the sea bottom, locations of dangers to navigation, the rise and fall of the tides, locations of man made aids to navigation, and the      characteristics of the Earth's magnetism.

1.   Conventional Charts:

Until recent times, nautical charts were constructed primarily to serve the needs of maritime navigation for large commercial and military ship operations which is known as the conventional charts.  The purpose of today's nautical chart has been broadened to provide for and promote the growth of various segments of the national economy as well as to respond to the needs of technological developments. The proper presentation of hydrographic data is invaluable to such commercial interests as fishing, transportation, underwater mineral resource development, and to  recreational boating and sport fishing.

2.      Recreational and Small Craft Charts:

Oceanographic programs, developments in ship design, and the growth in recreational boating all have contributed to the changing design of nautical chart presentations.  To accommodate the safe navigation needs of the non-professional mariner and the small recreational vessels the recreational charts are bound in spiral books and the small craft charts consist of two to four sheets printed front and back, folded, and bound in a protective cardboard jacket.  These charts, published at scales ranging from 1:10,000 to 1:80,000, are designed for easy reference and plotting in limited spaces. In some areas these charts represent the only chart coverage for all marine users. They portray regular nautical chart detail and other specific details of special interest to small‑craft operators, such as enlargements of harbors; tide, current, and weather data; rules‑of‑the‑road information; locations of marine facilities and anchorages; and courses and distances.

3.      Canoe Charts:

NOAA produces a series of the Minnesota‑Ontario border lakes called canoe charts. Most canoe charts do not show hydrography.  These series of charts portray the general shape and size of these lakes and the international boundary between Canada and the United States . They were originally designed for the International Boundary Commission/U.S. Section but are now also used to provide information of interest to campers and boaters who navigate the waters of these lakes.

4.      Training Charts:

Nautical training charts are outdated nautical charts used for educational purposes in training classes for small‑boat operators. The following training charts are currently available: 39 TR, West End of Lake Erie; 116‑SC TR, Long Island Sound; 1210 TR, Martha's Vineyard to Block Island; 6151 TR, Columbia River Entrance; 5161, Newport to Bermuda; 12221 TR, Chesapeake Bay; 12354 TR, Long Island Sound; 13295 TR, Block Island Sound and 18465 TR, Strait of Juan DeFuca.  Relevant pages of symbols and abbreviations from Chart No. 1 are printed on the reverse side of some of the training charts.

5.   Preliminary Charts:

A chart for which there is a strong requirement, but of a region where some or all of the survey data does not meet modern standards is a  preliminary chart. The deficiencies in surveys may be due to small scale, outmoded or nonstandard survey techniques, obsolete age, unprocessed or unapproved data, or other factors which cause the survey data to be below customary standards for the scale of the chart. A preliminary chart may or may not be published in full color. Included on the chart shall be a source diagram and a warning note stating that all or much of the hydrography shown on the chart is not of customary quality.

6.      Mineral Lease Charts:

Small scale nautical charts overprinted in red with data obtained from Mineral Management Service (MMS) of the Department of Interior to show offshore oil and gas lease areas and blocks are mineral lease charts. They are useful for planning purposes because they show block leases for extensive areas, whereas the official MMS diagrams depict only small areas. The Offshore Oil and Gas Lease Maps series presently includes the following: 1113‑A, Havana to Tampa Bay; 1114‑A, Tampa to Cape San Blas; 1115‑A, Cape St. George to Mississippi Passes; 1116‑A, Mississippi River to Galveston; and 1117‑A, Galveston to Rio  Grande.

2.      Paper and Electronic Display Processes

To maintain and update NOAA=s navigational chart products and services, several technologies have been developed.  For the paper nautical chart, there is the Lithographic Chart process and the Print-On-Demand Chart process.  For the electronic display system, there is the Raster Nautical Chart process and the Electronic Navigational Chart process.

1.      Lithographic Charts

Traditionally,  NOAA=s nautical standard paper chart is printed using the lithographic process.  A new chart edition is usually put in the print cycle when approximately 100 critical changes have accrued, or the current stock is exhausted, or when significant new source data exist.  The  film negatives, plating, printing, trimming, folding and product distribution are the responsibilities of FAA/NACO.  The nautical chart is primarily sold through chart sales agents located throughout the U.S. and the world.  The chart sales agents are notified and sent the new chart edition, if they have a standing order with the Distribution Division.   The chart sales agents return their old stock when notified of a new edition and the old inventory is condemned.  An average offset press-run is 4,000 charts per edition.  Presently, condemnations are as great as sales which is approximately five hundred thousand (500,000) charts per year.

2.      Print-On-Demand Chart

Using cutting edge technology, NOAA updates Nautical charts daily and they are printed only when a chart agent places an order.  All Notices to Mariners and other critical changes are fully applied just before an order is filled.  There are other improvements too:  the charts are water‑resistant and have a tough coating that's easy to write on; brighter colors are easy to read; and there are two versions with additional useful information in the margins, such as, tide tables, emergency numbers, communication frequencies, rules of the road ‑‑ one version for recreational boaters and one for the professional mariners.  The charts are manufactured and distributed in conjunction with NOAA=s CRADA partner Oceangrafix, LLD.   The data, digital chart kapps, are in Intergraph Color Run Length (CRL) Encoded  format.  Ancillary product elements are 8‑bit compressed packbit TIFF.  The principal customers and users are mariners sailing in US waters.  The product conforms to NOS Technical Manual No.1, Nautical Chart Manual.

3.      Raster Nautical Chart (RNC)

Today, national hydrographic offices such as the Office of Coast Survey (OCS) are producing RNC's and endorsing the use of Raster Chart Display Systems (RCDS ) as an officially accepted tool to enhance safe navigation. These georeferenced electronic  images of paper nautical charts are exact reproductions of the paper chart, providing  mariners a familiar picture with which they are well versed.  NOAA RNC's are raster chart images that are maintained and updated with new source information.   The digital files are carefully georeferenced to enable navigation software to map geographic positions to locations in the image. Metadata is added describing the chart, its datum, projection and links to other information about the chart and the digital file. RCDS systems developed by the private sector use the NOAA RNC=s  and electronic positioning to provide an integrated navigational tool. Raster Nautical Charts are available through Maptech, Inc., NOAA=s private sector partner.

4.      Raster Update Service

Raster Update Service is chart corrections, light list corrections, and general section corrections made available weekly to the users of NOAA Raster Charts.  The corrections are received weekly from USCG, processed and applied by NOS and then forwarded to Maptech.  The data is then compared to the latest raster chart edition and a file (raster updates) is produced containing all corrections applied to the raster chart since it was last issued as a new edition.  

5.      Electronic Navigational Chart (ENC)

Electronic Navigational Chart is a data base of chart features and their attributes.  The electronic navigational charts provide compiled nautical chart data as a vector database in an international standard format for use in navigation systems, GIS and for private sector product generation.  The ENC=s are updated weekly and the format of the digital data is IHO S-57, Transfer Standard for Digital Hydrographic Data.  The principal customers are the navigational community and coastal GIS users.  ENC=s specifications are available on request.

3.      Miscellaneous MCD Products/Services:

Several others products are being maintained by the Marine Chart Division which are used to enhance the development, use, or sale of navigational products and services.  These products/services are Chart Number 1,  Nautical Chart Manual, Chart Catalogues, Dates of Latest Editions, and Standing Order Notice.

1.   Chart number 1

Chart Number 1 is not a chart, but a book containing a key to chart symbols of National Ocean Service, NIMA, IHO and symbols used on foreign charts reproduced by NIMA.  For information and availability of chart no. 1 visit: http://chartmaker.ncd.noaa.gov/mcd/chartno1.htm

1.      Nautical Chart Manual

A comprehensive technical documentation of cartographic standards, procedures and policies produced in two volumes for use within the office of Coast Survey (OCS) in the production of Nautical Charts.

2.      Chart Catalog (Paper Publication and On-Line)

 

The paper publications are  printed and distributed by NACO/FAA.  It is a set of four catalogues divided by regions.  The catalogues are:  Catalog 1, United States Atlantic and Gulf Coasts ;  Catalog 2,  United States Pacific Coast ;  Catalog 3,  United States Alaska;  and  Catalog 4, United States Great Lakes.

In addition to the paper publications, Marine Chart Divisions maintains web-based list of regional charts.  This catalog is available at  http://Chartmaker.ncd.noaa.gov

3.      Dates of Latest Editions (Paper Publication and On-Line)

Paper or on-line list of the latest edition of nautical charts.  The quarterly paper publication is printed and distributed by NACO/FAA.  It describes NOS nautical charts,  miscellaneous maps, and coast pilot publications.  

In addition to the Dates of Latest Edition paper product, Marine Chart Division maintains a web-based list (updated daily) of all paper and raster chart editions.   Due to the process of printing and distribution, traditional paper new editions of NOAA charts become available from four to six weeks after raster chart new editions.  The traditional paper chart is distributed by FAA and the dates of latest edition is updated when FAA distribution center has made the new chart edition available.  The raster chart is distributed by Maptech, Inc., and the date of new edition is within a week after NOAA prepares the new edition.  Dates of Latest Edition is in digital form and is available at http://chartmaker.ncd.noaa.gov/mcd/dole.htm

4.      Standing Order Notice

The AStanding Order Notice@ is issued twice each month.  This notice is to inform Nautical Chart Sale Agents of the new chart editions to be released.  The information facilitates order placement.  Standing Order Notice is in digital form and is available at http://chartmaker.ncd.noaa.gov/mcd/son.htm.

NAVIGATION SERVICES DIVISION

1.      Coast Pilot

The nine Coast Pilot books supplement the nautical charts.  They include information that cannot be shown on nautical charts because of space considerations or the information is not amenable to being graphically portrayed.  The Coast Pilot books are updated annually and is maintained in Corel Ventura Publisher files and PDF (Portable Document Format).  Principal customers and users are ships in excess of 1600 gross tons (required by law), military and other federal, state, local government vessels and recreational boaters.  Specifications are documented in the Coast Pilot Manual, last printed in 1994.  The nine Coast Pilot volumes are also published on the Internet at http://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/nsd/cpdownload.htm.

2.      On Line Distances Between United States Ports

A booklet containing distance information between U.S. and some foreign ports. This is published on the Internet at http://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/nsd/cpdownload.htm.  New editions are infrequent.  The last edition (9^th) was published in 2003, and there are no plans to print a new edition in the near future.  The data is maintained in WordPerfect and PDF.  Principal customers and users are mariners (professional and recreational), port authorities, state and local government planners, shipping companies, and shipping agents. Specifications are documented in the Coast Pilot Manual, last printed in 1994.

3.      Coast Pilot Corrections

These are corrections to the Coast Pilot books that are critical to safe navigation.  They are disseminated to Coast Pilot users in various forms.  By law, vessels 1600 tons and above must enter these corrections into their Coast Pilot books.  These corrections are posted on the Internet at http://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/nsd/cpdownload.htm (by book) on a daily basis.  The same corrections are forwarded to the Coast Guard and NIMA who publish them in weekly publications.  The corrections are maintained in Microsoft Word.  Principal customers are users of the Coast Pilot books.  Specifications are documented in the Coast Pilot Manual, last printed in 1994.

4.      Nautical Chart Plan

An Office of Coast Survey plan produced to inform users of plans for chart production.  This plan is updated every 12 to 24 months and is maintained in MapInfo and WordPerfect.  The principal customers/users are OCS, NOS, NOAA employees, maritime organizations (e.g., U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, pilots, port authorities, state and local governments, etc).   Specifications are not applicable.

5.      Conferences, Trade, Shows, Workshops

To represent NOAA/NOS/OCS for the purpose of exchanging information that affects the products and services that NOAA/NOS/OCS provides.  These activities occur throughout the year.  Format and specification are not applicable.    The principal customers/users are OCS, NOS, NOAA employees, maritime organizations (e.g., U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, pilots, port authorities, state and local governments, etc), professional mariners and recreational boaters.

6.      Regional Representatives

To represent NOAA/NOS/OCS at the regional level for the purpose of exchanging information that affects the products and services that NOAA/NOS/OCS provide.  The representatives, known as Navigation Managers, also acquire data to update the Coast Pilot volumes in their respective areas.  Update frequency, format of digital data and specifications are not applicable.  The principal customers/users are regional constituents in a geographic region (e.g., U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, pilots, port authorities, state and local governments, etc).

7.      Rapid Response Mobile Field Units

To perform hydrographic surveys, chart evaluations, and electronic navigational chart verification in critical ports on the east and west coast.  The field units acquire data in two geographic areas each year.  Hydrographic data is in DBF formats and ENC data is in ESRISHAPE formats (which meets S57 standards for hydrographic surveying).  The principal customers/users are mariners, maritime groups, federal-state-local agencies, environmental groups, educational facilities and other groups that use the charts.

HYDROGRAPHIC SURVEYS DIVISION

1.      Wrecks and Obstructions

To assist in project planning,  an internal database of submerged wrecks and obstructions in U.S. coastal waters is maintained.  This provides vital background information that enables field units to most efficiently determine the location or continued existence of each item.  This database is available to the public via the Internet and is updated quarterly.  However, it does not include all wrecks and obstructions in U.S. waters, only those which have been researched as potential hazards to navigation since the creation of the AWOIS (Automated Wreck and Obstruction Information System) in 1981.  The format is described in the PDF-formatted AAWOIS User=s Guide@ which is available on the website.  The principle users of the information in AWOIS are the personnel planning hydrographic surveys operations.  However, the information is also useful to marine archeologists and historians, fishermen, divers, salvage operators and others in the marine community.

2.      Hydrographic Surveys

Hydrographic surveys conducted by NOS are primarily to support nautical charting and navigation safety.  These surveys have been conducted for over 150 years.  Some areas of frequent change or high volume marine traffic are surveyed as often as every five years.  Some areas of Alaska have never been surveyed.   Depth data for hydrographic surveys have been acquired via lead line, single beam sonar and, more recently, multibeam sonar,  marine surveys conducted to determine water depth and the location of objects on the seafloor.   Hard copy sheets (smooth sheets) depicting such data are produced and copies are made available as digital raster files.  Digital data from each survey is provided to the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) in Boulder , Colorado for distribution to the general public.  On a case-by-case basis, digital data, including side scan sonar imagery, is infrequently made available directly from HSD in a variety of formats.  An additional product is a chart compilation of the area covered by the hydrographic survey called an AH-drawing@.  This is only used internally to support nautical chart compilation.

3.      Publications

Various publications are produced to preserve information about each hydrographic survey and document the survey standards and technology developments.  Descriptive Reports (DR=s) of each survey provide vital information to the chart compiler but are also useful to historians and coastal zone managers and researchers.  The National Survey Plan as well as plans for the current surveying season are useful for senior managers as well as mariners interested in future survey plans.  The NOS Hydrographic Surveys Specifications and Deliverables document includes detailed information on conducting surveys for NOS and is used by both in-house field units and contractors performing hydrographic surveys for NOS.  Technical papers are presented at various conferences to document recent developments within NOS, both technological and operational.  These are used by the professional hydrographer community to improve the efficiency of marine surveys.  Most publications are available in either WordPerfect, Word or PDF format,  although the DR=s are only available as raster files.

4.      Responses to Information Requests

Information on a wide range of topics is provided upon request to members of Congress, senior management within NOS and OCS and the general public to clarify HSD=s role in government, accomplishments, policy and products.  This information is provided via e-mail, written reports and verbal communication on an as-needed basis.

COAST SURVEY DEVELOPMENT LABORATORY

1.      Scientific Papers/Documents

Scientific papers and documents are produced by the Coast Survey Development Laboratory as NOAA Technical Reports and published papers.  Subjects include generation of tidal datum fields, hydrodynamic models, circulation models, grid generation, tidal constituent and residual interpolation, and raster navigation systems. The documents are available in printed format and contain the date of first printing.  Revised papers and documents are not available.  Principal customers are the various scientific communities.

2.      Tidal Algorithms

New algorithms under development simulate astronomical tides and total water levels, tidal datums, and times of Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW) by the spatial interpolation of tidal data. Using the new algorithms, digital tidal datum fields have been created for several coastal areas ( Tampa Bay , coastal southern Louisiana , the New York Bight, Delaware Bay, and the central California coast). In a few other areas, digital fields containing the times that water levels are near MLLW have been created to assist in planning aerial photography. The principal customers are NOS= Coast Survey, National Geodetic Survey, and Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services.

3.      Experimental Nowcast/Forecast Systems

Nowcast/Forecast systems provide real-time nowcasts and short term forecasts (0 - 24 hours) of water levels and currents, updated at a minimum of 4 times per day, in graphical and digital format (ASCII, netCDF, GRIB) to the marine navigation community and PORTS.

4.      Hydrographic Processing Software

Hydrographic processing software includes the codification of OCS hydrographic survey procedures and implementation of semi-automated software algorithms.  The software and algorithms are updated or created on demand in a variety of digital formats depending on the implementation platform.  The principal customer is the Hydrographic Surveys Division of the Office of Coast Survey.

5.      Hydrographic System Development

The purpose of hydrographic system development is the integration of new sensors and data management technology for multi-beam and side scan survey vessels, and verification of commercial off the shelf product accuracy.   This development is on-going.   Format and specification are not applicable.  Principal customer is the Hydrographic Surveys Division of the Office of Coast Survey.

6.      Coastal Maps

Coastal maps are geographically referenced raster maps derived from the nautical chart with navigational information removed and color reformatted and serve as a base or backdrop in Geographic Information Systems (GIS).  Currently, only the first edition of the coastal maps are available.  Digital format is the GEOTIFF specification with attached metadata.  Principal customers include coastal managers, fishing enforcement, watershed delineation, and others in the scientific community.

7.      Extracted Vector Shoreline

Extracted vector shoreline includes the high water and low water lines derived and attributed from the largest scale nautical charts for use in Geographic Information Systems (GIS).  The digital files are in ASCII and ESRI Shapefile formats with attached metadata.  Currently, only the first edition of the vector shoreline is available.  Principal customers include coastal managers, fishing enforcement, boundary generation, and others in the scientific community.

8.      Bathy/Topo Project

The Bathy/Topo Project is a prototype effort to produce continuous surfaces comprised of bathymetric and topographic data from NOAA and the U.S. Geological Survey for a variety of purposes including storm surge abatements, hydrodynamic modeling, and studies of the coastal areas.  Areas in Tampa Bay and coastal Louisiana are available in ASCII, ESRI Shapefile, and GRID formats.  Principal users include coastal managers, navigational product production, oceanography, and others in the scientific communities.

1.      Historical Maps & Charts

The Historical Map and Chart Project serves up scanned images of Coast Survey historical documents from the early 1800s to the present.  The Collection contains nautical charts, topographic maps, city plans, landscape perspectives, hydrographic surveys, and Civil War battle maps in GIF, TIFF, and Mr. Sid formats.  The Collection is updated as new maps and charts are scanned, and made available to the public via the Internet.  Principal customers include the general public and other state and Federal agencies.

10.  GIS/CADD Research & Development

The purpose of GIS/CADD research and development is the codification of routines, algorithms, and computer programs for use in generating navigational products and to aid in the use of spatial data for all NOS and NOAA program offices.  This development is on-going.   Format and specification are not applicable.  Principal customers are all the Divisions of Coast Survey, the National Marine Sanctuary Program, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Mineral Management Service, and others in the scientific community.

OFFICE OF COAST SURVEY STAFF

1.      Electronic Commerce System

Electronic commerce supports navigation information delivery system.  It is used on a business-to-business basis between Coast Survey, chart agents, and the print-on-demand printer.  E-commerce software will accept orders from chart agents over the Internet using a Web browser.  It will then reformat that information into a print order, manage the files to be dynamically combined to make each chart, and forward that information to the printer for immediate manufacture and shipping.  Other NOAA charting products can also be ordered with the system.  Each line item in an order is forwarded electronically to the appropriate place for fulfillment.

The e-commerce system supports AStanding Orders@ that chart agents may have with their customers.  Its use is optional.  The same capability supports  the sale of chart Asubscriptions@ to professional mariners, companies and others for whom having the most current data is vital.  Agents would use the Web browser interface to manage the database of their subscribing customers= chart portfolios, constantly changing Aship to@ addresses, and any chart customizing information.  Whenever a chart changes, the database will be searched to find customers who have subscribed to that chart.  Each Ahit@ will generate a print order.  The agent and subscriber will be notified by e-mail or fax of a pending print action so they can update the Aship to@ address.  The chart would then be printed and shipped automatically. 

Finally, Coast Survey will maintain a separate database of digital source material from NOAA, other federal agencies, state authorities and elsewhere that might include: Coast Guard Local Notice to Mariners; plant and pest quarantine information from the Department of Agriculture; port information from the state=s Port Authority, or real-time tide data from NOAA.  This information would be distributed to subscribing mariners electronically by e‑mail, fax, or pager. 

The e-commerce system host Internet service provider is Skynetweb located in Baltimore , Maryland .  The operating system is Linux version 6.2 manufactured by Redhat.  The program was written in Java software language.  The principal customers/users are chart agents selling nautical products, accounts maintained by FAA/NACO who use NOAA/NIMA products and fulfillers of nautical products (e.g., Oceangrafix, Inc, FAA/NACO, Maptech, GPO.  Specification and user instructions are available on request

2.      Chart Sales Agent List

The National Aeronautical Charting Office (FAA) maintains a list of chart agents.  At one time, they did not include the web address for the agents but have since started the process.  We established a page on our server to give the agents a presence on the web and the public a central location, by state, for them to link to the agents= sites.  The site is updated as the agents notify us of changes. 

3.      Coast Survey Web Sites