From Pen and Ink Charts to ENC-First: Deriving Raster Products by Christie Ence US Hydro 2019 Biloxi, MS Tuesday, March 19, 2019 Good morning My name is Christie Ence I am a cartographer in the Marine Chart Division, Cartographic Support Branch This morning, I am going to talk about approximating paper and raster charts using S-57 electronic chart data

NOAA Navigational Chart Products NOAA has three primary navigational chart products: Paper charts Have been around in some form since the beginning of maritime history RNCs Digital raster version of a paper chart meant to be viewed on a computer or chart display screen ENCs Vector chart data intended for use on an ECDIS display Use standardized, but simplified vector chart symbology Use the S-57 international hydrographic data transfer standard Paper Charts Raster Navigational Charts (RNCs) Electronic Navigational Charts (ENCs) Image Credits: NOAA

Nautical Information System (NIS) Central multiuser geodatabase containing all nautical chart data Supported through Esri’s ArcGIS: Maritime Extension All ENC products are maintained and published through the NIS Organized as a series of themed point, line, and area feature classes S-57 object classes stored as domain encoded Feature Class Subtypes AidsToNavigationP 1 BCNCAR_BeaconCardinal 5 BCNISD_BeaconIsolatedDanger 10 BCNLAT_BeaconLateral 15 BCNSAW_BeaconSafeWater ⋮ CoastlineL 1 COALNE_Coastline 5 SLCONS_ShorelineConstruction DepthsA 1 DEPARE_DepthArea 5 DRGARE_DredgedArea 10 SWPARE_SweptArea 15 UNSARE_UnsurveyedArea RNC Paper The Nautical Information System or NIS Central database that contains all nautical chart data It is supported through Esri’s ArcGIS Maritime Extension All S-57 object classes are sorted into themed point, line, and area feature classes within the NIS One of the greatest benefits of having a centralized database is: the ability to derive ALL products from the same place! ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ NIS ENC Nautical Chart System II - NCSII

Chart Finishing Default Geometry Raw Symbology Here is a breakdown of the rasterization process: The user runs a series of tools to replicate the look of a paper or raster chart The first image is default geometry that ArcMap applies to all data The second image is after the Calculate Symbology tool is run

Chart Finishing Raw Annotation Finished Product The next image here is how the chart looks after annotation is applied And finally, the finished rasterized product. I have more examples with me if anyone wants a closer, and longer look offline Raw Annotation Finished Product

Challenges OBJECT SLCONS (shoreline construction) CATSLC 4 (pier (jetty)) CONDTN 2 (ruined) WATLEV 3 (always under water/submerged) Features are not always encoded consistently (or correctly) in the NIS Some attribution necessary to drive symbology is not mandatory in S-57 Chart finishing process requires cartographic knowledge and software familiarity The entire purpose of creating chart products from a central database is to improve efficiency in chart maintenance But, there are some known challenges: The software depends on a feature’s encoding to be consistent and correct Some symbol-determining attributes are optional in S-57, and are usually not populated And finally, depending on the skillset of the cartographer, a template can take anywhere from a few days to a several weeks to complete OBJECT SLCONS (shoreline construction) CATSLC 4 (pier (jetty)) CONDTN <null> WATLEV 3 (always under water/submerged)

Planned Course Improve NIS encoding correctness, completeness, and consistency Encourage automation-friendly cartographic specifications Enhance ArcMap configuration to reduce or eliminate the need for human intervention To improve the chart template user experience, several things need to happen: We must continue to improve the quality of the NIS encoding to ensure the correct symbol and label is displayed on the chart template product We must investigate automation-friendly alternatives to existing cartographic policy Discuss having an expanded paper color palette Update label placement rules to allow more flexibility Determine in-scale symbol and label hierarchies We can then modify the ArcMap configuration to produce fit-for-use, print-ready chart products ‘on-the-fly’

Thank you! As a reminder, I do have more examples if you are interested in seeing more offline.