DAFIF
Encyclopedia
DAFIF or the Digital Aeronautical Flight Information File is a complete and comprehensive database of up-to-date aeronautical
data, including information on airport
s, airway
s, airspace
s, navigation
data and other facts relevant to flying in the entire world, managed by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
(NGA).
customers are able to access the DAFIF data.
At the time of the announcement, the NGA did not say who the 'foreign source providers' were. It was subsequently revealed that the Australia
n Government was behind the move. The Australian Government Corporation Air Services Australia in September 2003 started charging for access to Australian data.
Rather than exclude the Australian data, the NGA opted to stop making the data available to the public.
was available on the NGA website until October 2007. NGA no longer hosts any aeronautical information on the publicly available website.
Aeronautics
Aeronautics is the science involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of airflight-capable machines, or the techniques of operating aircraft and rocketry within the atmosphere...
data, including information on airport
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
s, airway
Airway (aviation)
In aviation, an airway is a designated route in the air. Airways are laid out between navigational aids such as VORs, NDBs and Intersections ....
s, airspace
Airspace
Airspace means the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory, including its territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere....
s, navigation
Air navigation
The basic principles of air navigation are identical to general navigation, which includes the process of planning, recording, and controlling the movement of a craft from one place to another....
data and other facts relevant to flying in the entire world, managed by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States with the primary mission of collecting, analyzing and distributing geospatial intelligence in support of national security. NGA was formerly known as the National Imagery and Mapping Agency ...
(NGA).
Withdrawal of public access
DAFIF was publicly available until October 2006 through the Internet, however it was closed to public access because 'increased numbers of foreign source providers are claiming intellectual property rights or are forewarning NGA that they intend to copyright their source'. Currently only Federal and State government agencies, authorized government contractors and Department of DefenseUnited States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
customers are able to access the DAFIF data.
At the time of the announcement, the NGA did not say who the 'foreign source providers' were. It was subsequently revealed that the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n Government was behind the move. The Australian Government Corporation Air Services Australia in September 2003 started charging for access to Australian data.
Rather than exclude the Australian data, the NGA opted to stop making the data available to the public.
USFIF
A product called USFIF or the United States Flight Information File which contains only data related to the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
was available on the NGA website until October 2007. NGA no longer hosts any aeronautical information on the publicly available website.
Replacement for Google Earth Data
Since the DAFIF data has ceased to be published from, new sources of the data have arrived, though none is (yet) a complete replacement:- In Google EarthGoogle EarthGoogle Earth is a virtual globe, map and geographical information program that was originally called EarthViewer 3D, and was created by Keyhole, Inc, a Central Intelligence Agency funded company acquired by Google in 2004 . It maps the Earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite...
Format (KML) Lloyd Bailey.net Google Earth 3D Airspace - Started soon after the withdrawal of the DAFIF data, the OurAirports web site is a community effort to produce an open (Public Domain) database of airports and navigation aids—nightly CSV data dumps are available from the site.
- In other open formats, publicly contributed data, the Worldwide Soaring Turnpoint Exchange: Airspace