| Author | Message | ||
     Ted Lavino Moderator Username: tlavino Post Number: 133 Registered: 01-2006 |
Some time ago Mark Howe and I had a discussion regarding obtaining vector cartography for incorporation into GIS projects. At the time there were two types data on the NOAA web site: ENC and ENCDirect to GIS, with no discussion of the differences. Here is a short post discussing the differences (from http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/csdl/enc_diff.html) Differences Between ENC and ENCŪDirect to GIS NOAA Electronic Navigational Charts (NOAA ENCŪs) have been developed to support safe navigation in U.S. waters and are available for free download. NOAA ENCŪs are in International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) S-57 format, which is the data standard developed by the IHO to be used for the exchange of digital hydrographic data. NOAA ENCŪs are fuel for Electronic Chart Display and Information and Systems (ECDIS), which in some cases, may be be used for primary navigation in lieu of paper charts. In addition, NOAA ENCŪs may be used to fuel a wide range of less sophositicated Electronic Chart Systems. NOAA ENCŪs can also be used for non-navigational purposes in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). In order for NOAA ENCŪs to be used in GIS, the data must be translated from S-57 to a GIS-friendly format. The resulting data can be used for a variety of non-navigational purposes that involve geospatial analyses. The NOAA ENCŪDirect to GIS web portal provides comprehensive access to display, query, and download all available NOAA ENCŪ data in a variety of GIS/CAD formats for non-navigational purposes using Internet mapping service technology. Nautical chart features contained within a NOAA ENCŪ provide a detailed representation of the U.S. coastal and marine environment. These data include coastal topography, bathymetry, landmarks, geographic place names, and marine boundaries. Features in a single NOAA ENCŪs are limited in that they only represent the geographic region that is depicted in that particular NOAA ENCŪ cell. By aggregating nautical features from all NOAA ENCŪs in the creation of GIS data, a continuous depiction of the U.S coastal and marine environment is achieved. An ENC contains attributed vector spatial data of nautical chart features. Nautical chart features are organized in S-57 object classes. Attributes in an ENC further describe each nautical feature. Each ENC object class has predefined geometry types associated with it (e.g., point, line, area (polygon in NOAA ENCŪDirect to GIS)). For example, the land area object class has both point and polygon geometry. An ENC can contain any of the predefined IHO object classes and attributes. | ||
| Ted Lavino Moderator Username: tlavino Post Number: 40 Registered: 01-2006 |
Greetings folks, as some of you may be aware, Jeppesen, a subsidiary of Boeing and owner of the Nobeltec brand has purchased C-Map, maker of vector charts on chips for use with various dedicated chartplotters. How this plays out in terms of Nobeltec's Passport series of vector charts remains to be seen, but the future for them seems to be dim if one reads between the lines. Here is an announcement from Jeppessen: http://www.nobeltec.com/NewsLetter/Marketing/Mailer119/mailer.html | ||
| Ted Lavino Senior Member Username: Tlavino Post Number: 339 Registered: 01-2004 |
If you prefer vector charts, NOS is also providing a subset of its charts in S-57 vector (ENC) format. They say harbor charts will be the first published, but I can't seem to find a chart catalog of vector charts. More info at: http://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/enc/index.htm |
