Digital Nautical Chart (DNC) Description and Global Mapper

http://www.eagleglobesoftware.com/formatsrd/DNC.htm

Digital Nautical Chart (DNC) Description: Digital Nautical Chart is a Vector Product Format (VPF) based database containing maritime features of digitally replicated

Nautical Charts derived from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's (NGA) hard
copy of Coastal Charts, Approach Charts, Harbor Charts and General Charts for supporting geographic information systems (GIS) such as   our 3D GPS tracking Global Mapper and worldwide marine navigation systems.

NGA responsible for the Digital Nautical Chart or marine navigation chart, maintenance and VPF updates, is derived from approximately 5,000 charts divided into 29 Geographic Regions and currently available via the NGA Gateway or on
CD-ROM version.

Digital Nautical Chart approved format VPF was chosen for ease of data manipulation and less data disk storage while allowing hyper linking to various data in simplicity viewing.  

The database features organized into 12 layers or coverages including:

Data Quality

Navigation Aid

Earth  and Land Cover

Environment

Inland Waterways

Port Facilities

National Hydrography Dataset

Limits and Obstructions

Relief

Cultural Landmarks

Global Mapper v6.00 and above can load files in this VPF format, either select the dht file at the root of the VPF database tree or select the lht file at a lower level to load just one coverage from the database (latter option is usually useful for Digital Nautical Charts).

Available for free? Yes.

Web Pages and FTP Sites:

Digital Nautical Chart Homepage
http://www.nga.mil/portal/site/dnc/index.jsp?front_door=true

NGA Digital Nautical Charts
http://www.nga.mil/portal/site/dnc



http://www.globalmapper.com/product/formats.htm#47

VPF (VMAP0, VMAP1, DNC) Files

Description:
VPF (Vector Product Format) files are used for vector data sets such as VMAP (Vector Map of the World) and DNC (Digital Nautical Chart). To load a VPF database, either select the dht file at the root of the VPF database tree or select the lht file at a lower level to load just one coverage from the database (the latter option is usually useful for DNC charts). Global Mapper v6.00 and above can load files in this format.


Available for free?
Yes.


Web Pages and FTP Sites:

NGA Raster Roam - VMAP Downloads http://geoengine.nima.mil/geospatial/SW_TOOLS/NIMAMUSE/webinter/rast_roam.html
NGA Digital Nautical Charts http://www.nga.mil/portal/site/dnc/