Vector Map
Encyclopedia
Vector graphics
Vector graphics is the use of geometrical primitives such as points, lines, curves, and shapes or polygon, which are all based on mathematical expressions, to represent images in computer graphics...
-based collection of Geographic information system
Geographic Information System
A geographic information system, geographical information science, or geospatial information studies is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographically referenced data...
(GIS) data about Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
at various levels of detail. Level 0 (low resolution) coverage is global and entirely in the public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
. Level 1 (global coverage at medium resolution) is only partly in the public domain.
Description
- Coordinate reference systemGeographic coordinate systemA geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on the Earth to be specified by a set of numbers. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represent vertical position, and two or three of the numbers represent horizontal position...
: Geographic coordinates stored in decimal degrees with southern and western hemispheres using negative values for latitude and longitude, respectively. - Horizontal DatumMap projectionA map projection is any method of representing the surface of a sphere or other three-dimensional body on a plane. Map projections are necessary for creating maps. All map projections distort the surface in some fashion...
: World Geodetic SystemWorld Geodetic SystemThe World Geodetic System is a standard for use in cartography, geodesy, and navigation. It comprises a standard coordinate frame for the Earth, a standard spheroidal reference surface for raw altitude data, and a gravitational equipotential surface that defines the nominal sea level.The latest...
1984 (WGS 84). - Vertical Datum: Mean Sea LevelSea levelMean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
.
Thematic data layers
Features and data attributes are tagged utilizing the international Feature and Attribute Coding Catalogue (FACC).- Coordinate reference systemGeographic coordinate systemA geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on the Earth to be specified by a set of numbers. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represent vertical position, and two or three of the numbers represent horizontal position...
: Geographic coordinates stored in decimal degrees with southern and western hemispheres using negative values for latitude and longitude, respectively. - Horizontal DatumMap projectionA map projection is any method of representing the surface of a sphere or other three-dimensional body on a plane. Map projections are necessary for creating maps. All map projections distort the surface in some fashion...
: World Geodetic SystemWorld Geodetic SystemThe World Geodetic System is a standard for use in cartography, geodesy, and navigation. It comprises a standard coordinate frame for the Earth, a standard spheroidal reference surface for raw altitude data, and a gravitational equipotential surface that defines the nominal sea level.The latest...
1984 (WGS 84). - Vertical Datum: Mean Sea LevelSea levelMean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
.
Thematic data layers
Features and data attributes are tagged utilizing the international Feature and Attribute Coding Catalogue (FACC).- major roadRoadA road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places, which typically has been paved or otherwise improved to allow travel by some conveyance, including a horse, cart, or motor vehicle. Roads consist of one, or sometimes two, roadways each with one or more lanes and also any...
networks - railroadRail transportRail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
networks - hydrologicHydrologyHydrology is the study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water on Earth and other planets, including the hydrologic cycle, water resources and environmental watershed sustainability...
drainage systems - utility networks (cross-country pipelinesPipeline transportPipeline transport is the transportation of goods through a pipe. Most commonly, liquids and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes that transport solid capsules using compressed air are also used....
and communication linesElectric power transmissionElectric-power transmission is the bulk transfer of electrical energy, from generating power plants to Electrical substations located near demand centers...
) - major airportAirportAn 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 - elevationElevationThe elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface ....
contours - coastlines
- international boundariesBorderBorders define geographic boundaries of political entities or legal jurisdictions, such as governments, sovereign states, federated states and other subnational entities. Some borders—such as a state's internal administrative borders, or inter-state borders within the Schengen Area—are open and...
- populated places
- index of geographical names
Levels of resolution
The vector map product are usually seen as being of three different types: low resolution (level 0), medium resolution (level 1) and high resolution (level 2).Level Zero (VMAP0)
Level 0 provides worldwide coverage of geo-spatial data and is equivalent to a small scaleScale (map)
The scale of a map is defined as the ratio of a distance on the map to the corresponding distance on the ground.If the region of the map is small enough for the curvature of the Earth to be neglected, then the scale may be taken as a constant ratio over the whole map....
(1:1,000,000). The data are offered either on CD-ROM or as direct download, as they have been moved to the public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
. Data are structured following the Vector Product Format (VPF) , compliant with standards MIL-V-89039 and MIL-STD 2407
Data sets
The entire coverage has been divided into four data sets:- North AmericaNorth AmericaNorth America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
(NOAMER) v0noa - EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and North AsiaAsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
(EURNASIA) v0eur - South AmericaSouth AmericaSouth America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, AfricaAfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, and Antarctica (SOAMAFR) v0soa - South AsiaAsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , 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...
(SASAUS) v0sas
Level One (VMAP1)
Level 1 data are equivalent to a medium scale resolution. Level 1 tiles follow the MIL-V-89033 standard.- Horizontal accuracy: 125-500m
- Vertical accuracy: 0.5-2m
Data sets
VMAP Level 1 is divided in 234 geographical tiles. Only 57 of them are currently (2006) available for download from NGANational 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 ...
.
Among the available datasets, coverage can be found for parts of Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
, Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Level Two (VMAP2)
Level 2 data are equivalent to a large scale resolution. Level 2 tiles follow the MIL-V-89032 standard.- Horizontal accuracy: 125-500m
- Vertical accuracy: 0.5-2m
Debate about availability of data
The USA Freedom of Information ActFreedom of Information Act (United States)
The Freedom of Information Act is a federal freedom of information law that allows for the full or partial disclosure of previously unreleased information and documents controlled by the United States government. The Act defines agency records subject to disclosure, outlines mandatory disclosure...
and the Electronic Freedom of Information Act guarantee access to virtually all GIS data created by the US government
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
. Following the trend
Freedom of information legislation
Freedom of information legislation comprises laws that guarantee access to data held by the state. They establish a "right-to-know" legal process by which requests may be made for government-held information, to be received freely or at minimal cost, barring standard exceptions...
of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, much of the VMAP data has been offered to the public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
.
But many countries consider mapping and cartography
Cartography
Cartography is the study and practice of making maps. Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.The fundamental problems of traditional cartography are to:*Set the map's...
a state monopoly; for such countries, the VMAP Level1 data are kept out of the public domain. With the privatization of public agencies, some data are sold for a profit.
Various public groups are making efforts to have all VMAP1 data moved to the public domain in accordance with FOIA
Freedom of Information Act (United States)
The Freedom of Information Act is a federal freedom of information law that allows for the full or partial disclosure of previously unreleased information and documents controlled by the United States government. The Act defines agency records subject to disclosure, outlines mandatory disclosure...
Further steps have been taken by the Free World Maps Foundation and others to have the data licensed under the GNU General Public License
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
, while remaining copyrighted, as an alternative to the public domain. This is an ongoing debate (as of 2006).
VMAP0
The U.S. government has released the data into public domain, with the following conditions imposed (quotation from VMAP0 Copyright Statement):- As an agency of the United States government, NIMA makes no copyright claim under Title 17 of the United States Code with respect to any copyrightable material compiled in these products, nor requires compensation for their use.
- When incorporating the NIMA maps into your product, please include the following:
- a. "this product was developed using materials from the United States National Imagery and Mapping Agency and are reproduced with permission",
- b. "this product has neither been endorsed nor authorized by the United States National Imagery and Mapping Agency or the United States Department of Defense".
- With respect to any advertising, promoting or publicizing of this product, NIMA requires that you refrain from using the agency's name, seal, or initials.
The VMAP0 download page states:
- Internal data reference to the CD-ROM being "LIMITED DISTRIBUTION" should be ignored.
However, all is not quite what it seems. There is a 'readme1.txt' file located in the v0eur, v0sas, and v0soa directories. This file contains information saying that layers: Boundaries Coverage and the Reference Library, are copyrighted to the Environmental Systems Research Institute.
If these copyrighted layers are not used there is no violation of any copyrights.
Tools to read and convert VMAP data
- VPFView (V2.1) - developed by NIMANational Geospatial-Intelligence AgencyThe 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 ...
, is available from NGANational Geospatial-Intelligence AgencyThe 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 ...
or USGSUnited States Geological SurveyThe United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...
(as part of the NIMAMUSE package); this tool can render simple plots and export GIS data to other GIS file formatsGIS file formatsA GIS file format is a standard of encoding geographical information into a file. They are created mainly by government mapping agencies or by GIS software developers.Metadata often includes:... - "OGRGDALGDAL is a library for reading and writing raster geospatial data formats, and is released under the permissive X/MIT style free software license by the Open Source Geospatial Foundation. As a library, it presents a single abstract data model to the calling application for all supported formats...
with OGDI driver": this free softwareFree softwareFree software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
tool can convert VMAP format to standard GIS file formatsGIS file formatsA GIS file format is a standard of encoding geographical information into a file. They are created mainly by government mapping agencies or by GIS software developers.Metadata often includes:...
such as SHAPEShapefileThe Esri Shapefile or simply a shapefile is a popular geospatial vector data format for geographic information systems software. It is developed and regulated by Esri as a open specification for data interoperability among Esri and other software products.Shapefiles spatially describe geometries:...
, PostGISPostGISPostGIS is an open source software program that adds support for geographic objects to the PostgreSQL object-relational database. PostGIS follows the Simple Features for SQL specification from the Open Geospatial Consortium .-Features:...
etc.
History
- 1991-1993: The National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) develops the Digital Chart of the World (DCW)Digital Chart of the WorldThe Digital Chart of the World is a comprehensive digital map of Earth. It is the most comprehensive geographical information system global database that is freely available as of 2006, although it has not been updated since 1992.- Origin :...
for the US Defense Mapping Agency (DMA) with themes including Political/Ocean Populated Places, Railroads, Roads, Utilities, Drainage, Hypsography, Land Cover, Ocean Features, Physiography, Aeronautical, Cultural Landmarks, Transportation Structure and Vegetation. One of the sources for the data was the Operational Navigation Chart that compiles military mapping from Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, and the United States.
VMAP (level 0) is a slightly more detailed reiteration of the DCW.
VMAP (level 1) has much higher resolution data.
- 2004 The National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) is renamed to National Geospatial-Intelligence AgencyNational Geospatial-Intelligence AgencyThe 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 ...
which will include other mapping agencies such as the Defense Mapping Agency (DMA), the Central Imagery Office (CIO) and the Defense Dissemination Program Office (DDPO). All VMAP data will subsequently be distributed through the NGANational Geospatial-Intelligence AgencyThe 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 ...
.
See also
- Digital Chart of the WorldDigital Chart of the WorldThe Digital Chart of the World is a comprehensive digital map of Earth. It is the most comprehensive geographical information system global database that is freely available as of 2006, although it has not been updated since 1992.- Origin :...
- GSHHSGSHHSGSHHS is a high-resolution shoreline data set amalgamated from two data bases in the public domain. The data have undergone extensive processing and are free of internal inconsistencies such as erratic points and crossing segments...
, a high-resolution shoreline data set - GADMGADMGADM, the Database of Global Administrative Areas, is a high-resolution database of country administrative areas, with a goal of "all countries, at all levels, at any time period." The database has a few export formats, including shapefiles that are used in most common GIS applications...
, a high-resolution database of country administrative areas - Digital Elevation ModelDigital elevation modelA digital elevation model is a digital model or 3-D representation of a terrain's surface — commonly for a planet , moon, or asteroid — created from terrain elevation data....
, Digital Terrain Model - GISGeographic Information SystemA geographic information system, geographical information science, or geospatial information studies is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographically referenced data...
- DIGESTDigital Geographic Exchange StandardThe NATO STANAG 7074, Digital Geographic Information Exchange Standard , is a product of Defence Geospatial Information Working Group . This standard is related to a number of other international standards and form a model for exchange of Geographic Information...
VRF and VPF are related and compatible with a few exceptions
External links
- Vector Map description- at National Geospatial Intelligence AgencyNational Geospatial-Intelligence AgencyThe 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 ...
- free java viewer
- fast java viewer from Idevio
- SVG Maps converted from VMAP
- VMAP0 data in ESRI shapefile format, ready to download
- VMAP1 data in ESRI shapefile format, ready to download
