Co-Op Charting...

THE USPS - NOS/NOAA COOPERATIVE CHARTING PROGRAM

Cooperative Charting Program of the United States Power Squadrons is conducted in close coordination with the Marine Chart Division, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The Program is a major public service of USPS. Under it, members supply information to the Marine Chart Division of NOS/NOAA leading to corrections to nautical charts, small craft charts, and Coast Pilot publications. They also supply data on depth surveys, range status, and formerly, geodetic marks and aeronautical charts. The Adopt-A-Chart subprogram provides for individual squadrons to assume responsibility to keep a chart or a portion of a chart in their local boating area up to date and get recognition on new editions for their work. We have been told that the Cooperative Charting Program is recognized as the most effective user-participation program in all of the Federal services.

The Cooperative Charting year begins on 1 April and ends on 31 March; all reports must be at NOS
by this date, or they will be credited to the following year.

Instructions and Guides for the use of CCWeb may be found by clicking the Manual Icon above or

on the CCWeb site and on the USPS Web site. CCWeb is the acronym for the Cooperative

Charting Website. CCWeb is shut down each year for approximately two weeks for annual maintenance

from 1 to 15 April.

HOW TO BECOME INVOLVED!

You can get involved in Cooperative Charting with a minimum of effort. After that you can decide how much further you want to get involved at any point. However, I warn you to be careful; it can be an insidiously habit-forming activity!

There are scads of people who can tell you how to get involved. First, there's your Squadron Cooperative Charting Chairman. Then there is the district Cooperative Charting Chairman. Ask a member of your squadron bridge how to contact him or her.

Also, download and view/print the newly revised (Sept 14, 2007) Cooperative Charting Manual, click on Manual icon above.

The very best way is to get connected with someone in your squadron who is active are is interested in becoming active in Cooperative Charting. Join them and get directly into Cooperative Charting activities.

All NOAA charts are now available as free downloads here. All NOAA charts are updated weekly and
available free on line from NOAA website.

You will need a chart reader such as Maptech ,available as free download - look for: "Chart Navigator 5.08" or later version; or SeaClear, also available as free download - look for: "SeaClear II Full install sc_setup.exe".

GENERAL REPORTING GUIDELINES - What you need to know

On Line Chart Viewer

Posted to CCWeb by: Ed Summers District: 27 Squadron: GOLDSBORO On: 7/10/2008

The Maptech on line chart viewer is currently unavailable. However the NOAA Chart viewer may be used in its place. This may be reached by clicking on (NOAA On-line Chart Viewer).

New requirements for ATON’s

Posted to CCWeb by: Richard White District: 15 Squadron: MOBILE On: 4/24/2008

NEW REQUIREMENTS FOR REPORTS ON SUBMITTING AIDS TO NAVIGATION (ATON’S) AS A NAUTICAL ITEM There is a new requirement for submitting ATON’s as a Nautical Item. If it is a Federal aid and the report indicates that the Coast Guard [CG] was notified credit will be given, but the report will not go to the cartographers. If not listed as having notified the CG the report will go to the cartographers but will receive less credit. If the report is for a Private aid it must be listed in the light list. If an observer thinks that a private aid belongs in the light list they will need to contact the CG. Any light that isn’t marked “Private” should be considered Federal, and treated as such. Link to the USCG Light List: You should also look at “Light list corrections”, this links to the summary of 2007 Light List Corrections from the Local Notice to Mariners.

Position Reporting Guide Lines
 

Many of the field activity reports require Position information (i.e. Latitude and longitude). Positions may be determined by crossed bearings, scaled from the chart or by GPS, DGPS or WAAS. NOS will accept all Cooperative Charting data collected by DGPS, WAAS, and stand-alone GPS satellite receivers. While DGPS and WAAS positions are highly desirable for nautical charting purposes, stand-alone GPS positions may be used when other more accurate positioning methods are not available. If position is determined by GPS, DGPS or WAAS, the following data is needed:

a. Manufacturer of the unit; model number; serial number
b. Whether you performed the confidence check or not, if so, which one.
c. The number of satellites involved in the readings.
d. HDOP
e. Total time you were on station.
f. Time between readings or frequency of readings.
g. The number of positions taken based on your time on station and position frequencies.
h. Was WGS84 used as the datum.
i. Any other information which may be applicable.

Worksheet -- Position Data and Method.
 

CHARTLETS
Many of the field activity reports require attachments illustrating the charted area, showing the locations and nature of the changes, additions and deletions. These items may be sketched on paper charts and scanned or they may be captured from electronic charts, edited and then attached to your report. Cdr Brian P. Schanning, AP of Marblehead Sail & Power Squadron has written an excellent tutorial entitled "CCWEB Nautical Reports: How I learned to love raster charts and kick the scanner habit", (959) Kb on how to do the latter.
 

TIME and MILEAGE REPORTING GUIDE LINES
Credits for awards are calculated for each report. They are based on the time spent, the distance traveled and the number of items reported. They are computed for each report and then allocated among the individuals as instructed on the report.
 

Recording time: Record that time you spend preparing for the trip, travel time and reporting time. This is report time not person hours. Example: if the time is 4 hours by one person, its 4 hours, if 2 people work together, it is still 4 hours.
 

Recording miles: Record the miles used for Coop Charting. This does not include miles spent on vacation or other non Coop Charting activity. As with time, the miles are per report miles. Example if 25 miles are driven and there are 4 people in the car the report miles are still 25. If more than one report is generated as a result of this trip the miles must be divided up between the reports... i.e., the total miles on the multiple reports submitted must not exceed 25.
 

Latency: Reports: must be submitted in a timely manner or the credits will scaled down as follows:

Relevant Web Sites

USPS Home Page National Cooperative Charting Home Page CCWEB- The New Way to Submit Cooperative Charting Reports NOAA's Adopt a Chart Program CCWEB Workshop pictures from Coast Guard Academy in New London. NOAA's National Ocean Service NOAA's Nautical Charts NOAA's National Geodetic Survey NOAA's Tides Online U.S. Coast Pilot NOAA's New Photo Library NOAA's National Geodetic Survey NOAA's Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services NOAA's Office of Coast Survey SEC Navigation Systems:GPS Page NOAA Navigation Services NOAA's National Weather Service NOAA Magazine online

For more information contact:
P/C Don Woods, AP Co-Op Charting Chairman

email Co-Op Charting Chairman

webpage updated 11/12/2008