Data.gov - Empowering People

Skip to navigation Skip to main content Skip to search Skip to login

/

Office of Coast Survey's Collection of Raster Nautical Charts (RNC)

Dataset Summary

Agency	NOAA's Office of Coast Survey (OCS)
Sub-Agency/Organization
Category
Date Released	1995
Date Updated
Time Period	19950101 - present
Frequency	Weekly
Description	NOAA, National Ocean Service, Office of Coast Survey, Marine Chart Division is responsible to build and maintain a suite of more than 1000 nautical charts that are used by commercial and recreational mariners to navigate the United States and U. S. territory waters safely.A Nautical Chart is a graphic portrayal of the marine environment. They are used to lay out courses and navigate ships by the shortest and most economically safe route. They can also serve as base maps for resource management and shoreline development planning by state and local government.Charts depict the location of the shoreline, minimum water depths, aids to navigation, hazards to navigation, the nature and form of the coast, water depths, the general character and configuration of the sea bottom, the rise and fall of the tides, protected areas, and the characteristics of the Earth's magnetism.The suite of charts is compiled and maintained with data provided by federal, state, and private partners such as the National Ocean Service elements, United States Coast Guard, United States Army Corps of Engineers, United States Power Squadron Auxiliary, Port Authorities.The charts are currently available as Lithographically printed paper charts, Electronic Raster Nautical Charts (RNCs), up-to-date paper charts (printed with print on demand technology), and are now offered as Digital Vector Electronic Nautical Charts (ENC).The NOAA RNCs are electronic images of the NOAA paper charts. The NOAA RNCs were productized with a successful Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with private sector partner BSB Electronic Charts, a subsidiary of Maptech, Inc. Andover, Massachusetts. As of November 1, 2005 the NOAA RNC's are available for free download via the NOAA website.

Dataset Ratings


	Current	Your Rating [?]
Overall	( votes)
Data Utility	( votes)
Usefulness	( votes)
Ease of Access	( votes)

(Privacy Policy)

Dataset Metrics

Number of Downloads

0

Dataset Information

Data.gov Data Category Type	Geodata
Specialized Data Category Designation	Geospatial
Keywords	None , United States Nautical charts , United States Navigational charts , nautical charts , navigation , ocean-born commerce , hazards , mariner , Marine Navigation , oceans , NOS Data Explorer Topic Category , nautical charting , ISO 19115 Topic Category , oceans , None , U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone , U.S territories , U.S. waters
Unique ID	4A458F00-1DFB-A0C0-FD2C-21CE4F78E716

Contributing Agency Information

Citation	Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Office of Coast Survey (OCS), Marine Chart Division
Agency Program Page
Agency Data Series Page	http://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/Raster/download_agreement.htm

Dataset Coverage

Unit of Analysis
Granularity
Geographic Coverage	-180 , 180 , 81.9 , 14.4

Data Description

Collection Mode
Data Collection Instrument
Data Dictionary/Variable List	The Nautical chart features are according to the U. S. Nautical chart symbols, abbreviations and terms which are Chart No. 1. The NOAA charts are built and maintained according to the policies and procedures documented in the two volumes of the Nautical Chart Manual. The Marine Chart Division, Quality Assurance Policy and Standards Branch (QAPSB) manages questions in reference to symbols, abbreviations, policy and procedures.

Additional Dataset Documentation

Technical Documentation
Additional Metadata	XML Format

OMB Control No. 3090-0284