|Download these images: MrSID format | ArcGIS 9.0/9.1 layer files (see README in zip)|
Download the index layer: ESRI Shapefile
Download the full set: Geodatabase
NOAA nautical charts are a graphic representation of a maritime area and adjacent coastal regions. Depending on the scale of the chart, it may show depths of water and heights of land (topographic map), natural features of the seabed, details of the coastline, navigational hazards, locations man-made aids to navigation, information on tides and currents, local details of the Earth's magnetic field, and man-made structures such as harbors, buildings and bridges.
In the United States, all official nautical paper charts produced by NOAA's Office of Coast Survey (OCS) are available in raster format. A fundamental tool of marine navigation, NOAA's Raster Navigational Charts (NOAA RNCs) are produced by scanning at high resolution the original color separates, which are used to print the paper charts. NOAA adds to the digital raster file such features as data describing the chart, its datum, projection, and its geo-reference. Geo-referencing enables a computer-based navigation system that is connected to a GPS to locate and display on the chart image on screen the vessel's exact position.1
DISCLAIMER: It is important to note that these images alone should not be used for navigational purposes. Because of potential updates and limitations on scale, the NOAA Raster Navigational Chart data distributed by MassGIS should be used primarily as a backdrop display, for plotting vector data, and for interpretation and analysis. Mariners should always consult Coast Pilot and local port authorities and harbormasters and check water and weather conditions. MassGIS, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs do not assume responsibility for the improper use of these data.
In ArcSDE the 68 chart images are named NOAA_<chart #>_<quantity>, in the NOAA schema. The "chart #" is the five-digit number assigned by NOAA. Following the chart number and an underscore character is a number indicating the quantity of images produced from each RNC (some maps have one or more insets and/or sections of the main map, and each is included as its own image). Two additional images, with a "_TC" suffix, are not charts but digital versions of tide charts and other textual information for the small craft operator.
A vector index layer was created from the footprints of each image in ArcGIS. This layer, named NOAA_INDEX_POLY in the NOAA schema in ArcSDE, may be used to reference the location of each chart.
Please note that the August 2008 release of these images replaces the older, less spatially accurate images produced by MassGIS by scanning paper copies of NOAA Nautical Charts.
MassGIS received the images from NOAA, via the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management. MassGIS imported the rasters into its ArcSDE database and projected each to the NAD83 Mass. State Plane Mainland Meters coordinate system. The images are otherwise unchanged. For information on the processing used by NOAA to produce the original RNCs see http://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/Raster/index.htm. Note that the new images include the "collars" -- the borders and other non-data areas (text, etc.) that appear on each chart. In the previous set MassGIS had clipped off the collars, which on the new images will obscure parts of adjacent or overlapping charts. See the "Displaying the Images" section below for more details.
To produce the index layer, the ArcGIS Raster to Polygon tool was used to create a polygon representing the outline of each chart image. All the polygons were then merged into a single polygon feature class.
The following table lists the image number, chart title and original paper map scale and edition date (last updated by NOAA) for all the images in this layer.
Click on an Image No. link to download a zipped MrSID image file.
Image No. Chart Title Scale Edition Date 13006_1 West Quoddy Head To New York 675000 2007-05-01 13009_1 Gulf Of Maine And Georges Bank 500000 2007-05-01 13200_1 Georges Bank And Nantucket Shoals 400000 2007-05-01 13203_1 Georges Bank Western Part 220000 1999-08-14 13204_1 Georges Bank Eastern Part 220000 1999-08-14 13218_1 Martha's Vineyard to Block Island 80000 2008-02-16 13221_1
Additional information (tide charts, etc.) for the small craft operator
Providence River and Head of Narragansett Bay
Seekonk River, Cold Spring Point to Pawtucket
Mount Hope Bay
Continuation of Taunton River
Fall River Harbor
2006-03-01 13228_1 Westport River And Approaches 20000 1997-05-17
13229_1 13229_3 13229_4 13229_6 13229_7 13229_8 13229_9 13229_10 13229_11 13229_12 13229_13 13229_14 13229_15_tc
South Coast of Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay (Barnstable-Chatham) South Coast of Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay (Inset-Hyannis Harbor) South Coast of Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay (Gosnold-Barnstable) South Coast of Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay (Inset-Woods Hole) South Coast of Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay (Inset-Robinsons Hole) South Coast of Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay (Inset-Cuttyhunk Harbor) South Coast of Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay (Gosnold) South Coast of Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay (Dartmouth-Falmouth) South Coast of Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay (N Buzz Bay) South Coast of Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay (New Bedford Harbor) South Coast of Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay (Cape Cod Canal) South Coast of Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay (Inset-Prince Cove) Tide prediction chart
40000 20000 40000 5000 12000 12000 40000 40000 40000 20000 40000
New Bedford Harbor and Approaches
Continuation of Apponagansett Bay
2005-09-01 13235_1 Woods Hole 5000 2004-04-01 13236_1
Cape Cod Channel And Approaches 20000
2006-03-01 13237_1 Nantucket Sound And Approaches 80000 2007-03-01 13238_1
Marthas Vineyard - Eastern Part
Oak Bluffs Harbor
2007-08-01 13241_1 Nantucket Island 40000 2005-11-01 13242_1 Nantucket Harbor 10000 2001-05-26 13244_1 Eastern Entrance To Nantucket Sound 40000 2005-07-01 13246_1 Cape Cod Bay 80000 2006-12-01 13248_1 Chatham Harbor And Pleasant Bay 20000 2001-03-17 13249_1 Provincetown Harbor 20000 2007-04-01 13250_1 Wellfleet Harbor 40000 2001-10-13 13251_1 Barnstable Harbor 20000 2004-09-01 13253_1 Harbors of Plymouth, Kingston And Duxbury 20000 2005-07-01 13260_1 Bay Of Fundy To Cape Cod 378838 2005-07-01 13267_1
2005-07-01 13269_1 Cohasset And Scituate Harbors 10000 2006-02-01 13270_1 Boston Harbor 25000 2006-06-01 13272_1
Boston Inner Harbor
Mystic River Extension
Portsmouth Harbor to Boston Harbor (Hampton-Rockport)
Portsmouth Harbor to Boston Harbor (NH coast)
Merrimack River Extension
Merrimack River Extension
Portsmouth Harbor to Boston Harbor (Rockport-Boston)
Salem and Lynn Harbors
2006-06-23 13276_1 Salem, Marblehead and Beverly Harbors 10000 2003-07-01 13278_1
Portsmouth To Cape Ann
2005-06-01 13279_1 Ipswich Bay To Gloucester Harbor 20000 2007-02-01 13281_1 Gloucester Harbor And Annisquam River 10000 2007-02-01 13282_1 Newburyport Harbor and Plum Island Sound 20000 2003-04-01
Chart numbers 13203, 13224, 13229, 13232, 13242 and 13274 were not included in the previous set of images. Chart number 13003 is not included in the new set.
The images files do not contain attributes. Sounding values on the images with scales 2,500 - 80,000 are in feet at mean low water. Soundings on smaller scale maps are in fathoms.
The NOAA_INDEX_POLY attribute table for the index layer contains the following items:
ITEM NAME DESCRIPTION IMAGE_NAME Name of image, as stored at MassGIS. Includes the 5-digit chart number assigned by NOAA. CHARTTITLE NOAA Chart Title SCALE Scale of chart (as it appears on each image) ED_DATE Chart Edition Date
From the NOAA RNC User Agreement:
Limitations on Use: NOAA RNCs™ may be redistributed, but redistributed NOAA RNCs™ are NOT considered official NOAA RNCs™, and do not meet federal chart carriage regulations for regulated vessels. This official status attends only to the original downloaded files. At a future date, NOAA intends to establish a program under which distributors may be certified to redistribute NOAA RNCs™ such that they will retain their official status and meet chart carriage regulations.
Displaying the Images
As noted above, because these images include the map collars, displaying adjacent or overlapping charts will not be seamless. With the geodatabase version in ArcMap, choosing to display "nodata" and Color Index value 1 (white) as 'No Color' will minimize the effect of the collars. In the MrSID files,black "nodata" areas appear around the edges; displaying "nodata" as 'No Color' will partially minimize these areas. Also, some ArcMap users may want to choose to resample during display using Bilinear Interpolation for a smoother, more readable appearance (set this in the image layer's properties Display tab). The layer files available for download and included on the MrSID CD product include the bilinear resampling and layer titles as listed in the table above.
When using these NOAA Chart images, it may be helpful to refer to NOAA's "Office of Coast Survey" and "Nautical Charts & Publications" pages, which contain a multitude of links, including user manuals, map symbol descriptions and more.
MassGIS does not sell or distribute paper copies of the NOAA Nautical charts. NOAA offers on-demand printed paper charts. Such maps also may be viewed at some major libraries.
For charts on the web, see the NOAA's On-Line Chart Viewer.
Last Updated 12/30/2016