Geospatial Terms
Frequently Asked Questions

Georeferencing is the means of adding specific geographical coordinate points to key areas of a digital raster map so that it can be accurately rendered in a geospatial (GIS) system.

A “raster”, or “digital raster” is a digital map image.  All East View Geospatial rasters are produced in-house by our expert production staff from the original lithographic prints using the latest technology.  All images are produced in 8-bit color at 400 dpi in TIFF format, and go through our extensive quality control process.  All rasters are optionally available georeferenced for compatibility with GIS systems, cropped (border or marginalia removed), and / or as a mosaic (mosaic requires the purchase of two or more adjacent cropped products).

Vector Product Format (VPF) was developed by National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency as a standard GIS format for its vector-based products. VPF products are designed to be compatible with a wide range of military applications and products. All VPF products are based on the same basic specification.

East View Geospatial offers all publicly available VPF products in either initial VPF format or any of the industry standard formats:

• ESRI ArcGIS geodatabases
• ESRI ArcInfo coverages
• ESRI ArcView shapefiles
• MapInfo tables
• Intergraph GeoMedia databases or MGE projects
• Autodesk DXF/DWG
• Bentley/Intergraph MicroStation DGN

NGA’s list of VPF products includes:

• VMAP Level 0 (VMAP0)
• VMAP Level 1 (VMAP1)
• VMAP Level 2 (VMAP2)
• Urban VMAP (UVMAP)
• Foundation Feature Data (FFD)
• VPF Interim Terrain Data (VITD)
• Mission Specific Data Sets (MSDS)
• Digital Nautical Chart (DNC)

Vector Map (VMAP) Level 0 is an updated and improved version of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency’s (NIMA) Digital Chart of the World (DCW®). The VMAP0 database provides worldwide coverage of vector-based geospatial data which can be viewed at 1:1,000,000 scale and consists of geographic, attribute, and textual data. The primary source for the database is the 1:1,000,000 scale Operational Navigation Chart (ONC) series co-produced by the military mapping authorities of Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, and the United States. The complete database is available in a four part set that contains more than 1,800 megabytes of vector data.

The VMAP0 dataset is divided into 10 thematic layers:

• Boundaries
• Data Quality
• Elevation
• Hydrography
• Industry
• Physiography
• Population
• Transportation
• Utilities
• Vegetation

VMAP0 data can be easily viewed or imported with a number of software programs including ESRI’s suite of products (ArcInfo, ArcGIS, ArcView) and MapInfo. The original data structure is Vector Product Format (VPF) to US Military Standard (MIL-STD-2407) which is compliant with the international standard, Digital Geographic Information Exchange Standard (DIGEST) Annex C. The VMAP Level 0 feature and attribute content is defined in the US Military Specification for VMAP Level 0 (MIL-V-89039).

The VMAP Level 1 database is a unique effort by the NATO community to create a worldwide GIS database at medium scale. It represents a global project which has been executed through participation of regional military mapping agencies around the world. The database is primarily based on 1:250,000 scale JOG maps. VMAP1 divides the globe into 234 distribution rectangles or tiles, of which 74 tiles are publicly available.

For subscribers to the VMAP Level 1 standing order program East View Cartographic provides new VMAP1 tiles and updates to existing VMAP1 tiles once they are released to the public.
The VMAP1 dataset is divided into 10 thematic layers:

• Boundaries
• Data Quality
• Elevation
• Hydrography
• Industry
• Physiography
• Population
• Transportation
• Utilities
• Vegetation

VMAP1 data can be easily viewed or imported with a number of software programs including ESRI’s suite of products (ArcInfo, ArcGIS, ArcView) and MapInfo.
The original data structure is Vector Product Format (VPF) to US Military Standard (MIL-STD-2407), which is compliant with the international standard, Digital Geographic Information Exchange Standard (DIGEST) Annex C. The VMAP Level 1 feature and attribute content is defined in the US Military Specification for VMAP Level 1 (MIL-PRF-89033).

This product of unprecedented detail covers the entire Earth, covering the coastlines and international boundaries of every continent, including Antarctica. WVSPLUS is one database comprised of six libraries varying from 1:250,000 to 1:120,000,000 scales.

These libraries, WVS250K, WVS001M, WVS003M, WVS012M, WVS040M, and WVS120M, represent the world at 1:250,000, 1:1,000,000, 1:3,000,000, 1:12,000,000, 1:40,000,000, and 1:120,000,000 scales respectively. Each library contains several thematic coverages:

• Coastline/Countries/Ocean
• Maritime Boundaries (for 1:250,000 scale only)
• Supplemental Maritime Boundaries (for 1:250,000 scale only)
• Bathymetry (for 1:40,000,000, 1:12,000,000 and 1:3,000,000 scales only)
• Names Placement
• Data Quality

WVSPLUS data can be easily viewed or imported with a number of software programs including ESRI’s suite of products (ArcInfo, ArcGIS, ArcView) and MapInfo.
The original data structure is Vector Product Format (VPF) to US Military Standard (MIL-STD-2407), which is compliant with the international standard, Digital Geographic Information Exchange Standard (DIGEST) Annex C. The WVSPLUS feature and attribute content is defined in the US Military Specification MIL-PRF-89012A.

A geomosaic is a merge of two or more raster images. Geomosaics are ideal for distributing large amounts of raster data in a compressed and efficient way. Topographic maps, thematic maps, digital elevation models or imagery could all be types of raster images used to create a geomosaic. Geomosaics provide seamless map coverage over a certain location or region, making it easier to pinpoint and personalize the geographic area you want to see. There are many formats of geomosaics, which include: GeoTIFF, ECW, JPEG2000, GeoPackage and MBTiles.

The US Government defines GeoINT or Geospatial Intelligence, as the exploitation and analysis of imagery and geospatial information to describe, assess, and visually depict physical features and geographically referenced activities on the earth. GeoINT is made up of three key elements: geospatial information, imagery, and imagery intelligence.

Metadata is data within data. It is the description of data and is used to explain the context surrounding the data. You can use metadata to summarize any additional information about the data such as publisher, status, publish year, along with other elements. These pieces of information make data easier to find and manipulate in a database.

Cartographic finishing refers to the process by which a cartographer edits the results of automated workflows to perfect a map and ensure everything displayed on the map is accurate and up-to-date.

Map features/layers are how GIS programs organize the grouping of vector and raster data used to visualize data on a map or screen. These are the features that are often shown in a Table of Contents or legend and often have options for editing and visualization. These layers can range from something as simple as roads to something as complex as a feature that represents a geographic area where a certain language is spoken. Certain features can be toggled on or off to show exactly what data you want to display at any given time.

A Digital Elevation Model (or DEM) is a 3D representation of a terrain surface.  DEM data is displayed as a grid, usually represented in meters. This data utilizes an elevation or Z value at the center point of the grid cell to indicate height above or below sea level (in bathymetry data), or an ellipsoid.  Grid cells can vary from 1km square to less than a meter square. The lower the grid spacing, the higher resolution, and thus more accurate and detailed a dataset becomes. High-resolution DEMs have many uses across all different industries, especially for different types of planning.

East View Geospatial maintains offices around the world that work directly with national mapping agencies to buy maps, charts, and geospatial data on a regular basis.

We offer topographic maps, Digital Elevation Models, Vector Data, Geological Maps, Aeronautical Charts and Nautical Charts. Associated with these major groups are terrain maps, contour maps, USGS maps, elevation maps, military maps, geospatial layers,NOAA charts, digital maps and custom maps.

Maps and Charts

Tyvek Plotting:
Tyvek is ideally suited for maps and charts where water, adverse weather, and other harsh conditions are prominent. It looks and feels like paper but is far stronger than even laminates. Its flexible, light weight, tear-proof and water-proof properties make it the most durable medium available.Due to copyright restrictions some charts and maps may not be available on Tyvek.

Georeferencing:
A coordinate system is electronically applied to digital maps to allow integration in a GIS and/or use with other data layers. Maps are georeferenced into a Geographic (latitude/longitude) projection and WGS1984 datum unless otherwise specified in the ‘shopping cart’ step that follows.

Cropping:
Georeferenced raster maps (digital maps) are cropped to the actual map area in preparation for mosaicking or use in a GIS system. The legend and area surrounding the map (marginalia elements) are excluded from the digital image.

Mosaicking:
Multiple adjacent raster maps are joined together digitally to form seamless coverage.  EVG can do mosaicking in accordance to industry leading compression algorithms (ECW, MrSID, JPEG200, CADRG).

Services for Digital Elevation Models

Data may be converted to these following formats at no additional cost:
USGS ASCII,GeoTIFF,ArcGRID,BIL,DMA DTED Lv1,ASCII XYZ

Services for Geospatial Data

Geospatial data may be converted from there original format (VPF, for VMAP0,VMAP1) to these following formats:
ESRI Shape, MapInfo, ArcInfo, DGN, DWG, DXF

All geospatial vector data come complete with a robust set of feature layers including: Boundaries, Elevation, Hydrography, Industry, Physiography, Populated Places, Transportation, Utilities, Vegetation, and each include geo-names. All are fully vectorized in-house by our expert geospatial staff, these vector maps are further verified to conform to exacting standards through our extensive quality control process.

Common GIS formats are available in the shopping cart.

FTP download notifications are provided within one business day of the order, though the notifications are typically within hours.

Map sizes vary significantly based on the type of map, the country of publication, and the scale of the map. Below is matrix of map sizes for all of our United States and Soviet global topographic maps and nautical charts series:

East View Geospatial uses the following 6 step process to georeference digital raster maps:

1.  The map is scanned as a raster .tif file
2.  The .tif file is brought into image processing software
3.  At least 13 points on each map are utilized: 1 point on each corner, 1 point at the mid-point along each side, 1 map-center point, and at least 4 additional points dispersed across the map
4.  Coordinates from the map are entered as input points
5.  The software is used to match these input points to the corresponding points on the map
6.  The map is then adjusted, pixel by pixel, into this coordinate space

“Paper Products” are defined as original lithographs or high resolution plotted copies.  East View Geospatial has built an extensive in-house collection of original lithographic prints from around the world through ongoing procurement from national mapping agencies. Over the past few years there has been an increasing trend of national mapping agencies supplementing original lithographs with plotted copies.  For this reason East View Geospatial cannot guarantee that orders for paper will be filled with original lithographic prints and will supplement with plotted copies.  This will not affect the price.

Yes, that feature is available in The Geospatial Shop search by map application.  You may also attach your .shp file to an inquiry form and our sales staff will assist you in obtaining exactly what you need.

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