The electronic nautical chart is a major technological breakthrough in maritime field, which is of great significance for navigation safety. With the development of electronic charts, the standardization of charts international is always focused by international organizations and governments. Currently, there are two popular standards: IHO S-57 Transfer Standards for Digital Hydrographic Data and IHO S-52 Specification for Chart Content and Display. Those standards are managed by IHO. S-57 is the data storage standard, and S-52 is the data display setting standard.
The chart module is based on the latest S-57 standards and S-52 specification. This module supports to store, display and publish charts, so as to provide solutions in maritime field such as maritime transportation management, land and sea emergency analysis, etc.
IHO S-57 Transfer Standards for Digital Hydrographic Data
S-57 is transfer standards for digital hydrographic data. The standards are acknowledged by countries worldwide. More and more countries have adopted S-57. The chart module of SuperMap is based on S-57 standards. It defines real world entities as the combination of characteristic landmarks and spatial landmarks. The Landmark is defined as a recognizable information group. It has properties and may relate to other landmarks.
A characteristic landmark is located by one or more spatial landmarks. Meanwhile, the spatial landmark is not a must reference for the characteristic landmark. However, a spatial landmark must reference a corresponding characteristic landmark.
IHO S-52 Specification for Chart Content and Display
IHO S-52 is the specification for chart content and display. It defines the contents, displaying modes, data structures, modification methods, information transfer means, as well as colors and symbols. All of these enables to improve the security and effectiveness of navigation. The S-52 style is controlled by both of attribute data and spatial locations.