Charting a Course into the Digital Era

A number of trends and forces are converging to require change in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) nautical charting mission. The most salient among these are changes in customer requirements, with a growing demand for customized and digital nautical information products; a changing customer base that encompasses uses of nautical charts in conjunction with coastal management, regulation, and development activities; and advances in technologies both for acquiring survey data and for structuring, displaying, analyzing, and disseminating nautical information. This volume assesses the needs of users of nautical information; reviews existing and emerging technologies; and examines major issues associated with information acquisition, chart preparation, and dissemination. The book addresses user requirements for improved nautical chart products, as well as technical and programmatic issues relating to the need for and provision of nautical information. Table of Contents Front Matter Executive Summary 1 Overview of the Nautical Information System 2 User Needs for Nautical Information 3 Filling the Data Base: Data Collection 4 The Digital Nautical Data Base: From Paper Charts to Electronic Charts and Beyond 5 Nautical Information as a Component of a Marine Geographic Information System 6 Nautical Information Products and Their Dissemination: Toward a New Way of Doing Business 7 Resource Constraints: Removing the Barriers 8 Conclusions and Recommendations Appendix A: Biographies of Committee Members Appendix B: Other Agencies Appendix C-1: Nautical Chart and Information Survey Appendix C-2: Responses to Survey Appendix D: Workshop on the Future Needs of Users for Nautical Information Appendix E: Principles of Benefit-Cost Analysis Applied to Surveys Appendix F: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Appendix G: Examples of Uses of Data by State Environmental Agencies Appendix H: A National Coastal Zone (Shoreline) Data Base