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1 CURRENTDEVELOPMENTONDATAIN
E‐NAVIGATION
Data is a central part of the e‐Navigation concept:
“e‐navigation is the harmonised collection, integration,
exchange, presentation and analysis of maritime
information onboard and ashore by electronic means to
enhanceberthtoberthnavigationandrelatedservices,for
safety and
security at sea and protection of the marine
environment”
(IMOMSC85/26Annex20)
Based on this IMO e‐Navigation definition the
relevant bodies are working on a harmonized data
model. Consequently the discussions in the related
e‐Navigation Committee of the International
Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and
LighthouseAuthorities(IALA) and the International
HydrographicOrganization(IHO)haveresultedina
more consolidated
view on data architecture. The
variousworkinggroupshavecometotheconclusion
that a common data structure is necessary to
harmonizing the different data streams within the
e‐Navigation concept. While IALA was originally
looking at a new “Universal Marine Data Model”,
after further review and consultation with experts
and the IHO it was agreed that the already
established IHO concept of an “Universal
HydrographicDataModel”,knownasS‐100,willbe
thebasisofthe“CommonMaritimeDataStructure”.
S‐100isbasedontheISO19100seriesofgeographic
standards,wellestablishedintheGISworld.
Integrated Data as backbone of e-Navigation
M.Bergmann
J
eppesen,aBoeingCompany
ABSTRACT:e‐Navigation,athemeintroducedbutIMOtoimprove safetyofnavigationatsea,isstartingto
gaintractioninvariousorganizations.Astheconceptdevelops,theimportanceofdata,bothstaticaswellas
dynamic,ismoreandmorerealized.IALAandIHO,intheir
effortstohelpmakinge‐Navigationareality,have
agreedtoproposetheIHOGIRegister(oftenknownasS‐100Register)astheconceptualbasisfortheCommon
MaritimeDataStructure(CMDS).Utilizingthiscommonunderstandingofkeyplayersine‐Navigationarena,
theIMOe‐NavigationCorrespondenceGroup
hasfirmeduptheoverarchingarchitecture,enabling aseriesto
test beds proving the concept of integration of various data streams to enable improved communication
betweenthestakeholdersonshoreoratsea.
Theintegrationofpre‐composed,expertgeneratednavigationaldatawithrealtimeandsemireal‐timedatalike
VirtualAtoNs,TideGagesDataorMSItransmissionfromVTSintoasinglee‐Navigationdisplay,ifcorrectly
developed,implementedandexecuted,willbetheenablerofincreasedsituationalawareness.
http://www.transnav.eu
the International Journal
on Marine Navigation
and Safety of Sea Transportation
Volume 7
Number 3
September 2013
DOI:10.12716/1001.07.03.07
372
Figure1.S‐100UniversalHydrographicDataModel
BarryGreenslade
WiththatS‐100baseddataiscompatiblewithdata
created according to the relevant ISO standards, not
onlywithinthemaritimedomain,butalsowithother
GIS areas and is in support of the Spatial Data
Infrastructure (SDI) initiatives in various regions of
the world. This development provides the necessary
harmonized platform for integrated systems. By
agreeing on this common GI Registry concept the
maritime community prepared the ground for
harmonization and interoperability of the different
data streams necessary to make e‐Navigation a
success.
An additional dominant argument unifying all
stakeholders to move towards common structures
andtowardsthe
IHOoriginatedmodelisthefactthat
theimplementationofS‐100anditsrelatedstandards
is well underway and will materialize shortly. As a
consequence ENCs will follow this data structure,
sameasassociateddatastreams,like“InlandENCs”
or“MarineInformationOverlays”.
TheIHOhas alreadycreatedand approved
S‐100 in
January2010andthefirstProductspecificationS‐102
(Bathymetric Surface Product Specification) in April
2012.IALAhasregisteredforanowndomaininthe
IHO “GI‐Registry” and has conduct a workshop in
June2013tostartthe developmentofIALAproduct
specifications for e‐navigation.
As all stakeholders
agreethattheENClayerwillbuildthefoundationof
anykind ofadvancednavigationalsystems,itwasa
naturaldevelopmenttotrytoalignotherdatastream
with this foundation. At the same time this
development again verifies that ENCs, or better
Hydrographic Vector Chart Data Layers,
are the
necessary ingredients for any navigational display
nowandintheforeseeablefuture.
Thisdevelopmentonthedatasideisaccompanied
bythenecessaryreviewoftheregulatoryconditions.
The concept of e‐Navigation is evolving the
understanding that future navigation will need
constantinnovation,andassuchwill
needtochange
howperformancestandardsarehandled.Itiswidely
understood that the current ECDIS performance
standard is restricting innovation. Its update and
certification concept is not geared up to meet the
needsofe‐Navigation.
Thecurrentlybeingpromotednewconceptdefines
a framework in which a growing number
of data
streams are integratedand harmonized to allow the
creation of the necessary information for increased
SituationalAwarenessinanenvironmentofgrowing
complexity.
Figure2.TheregulatoryFramework–MichaelBergmann
Theonboardandashoresystemstobedeveloped
within this framework will have to create a
compellingneed fortheir usage byincreasing safety
and security of navigation (compelling need for
coastal administration) and improved efficiency of
voyage (compelling need for ship owners and
operators).
As outlined, the e‐Navigation
framework in
development through IMO, IHO and IALA is
changing the concept in how systems are managed,
type approved and more importantly how they
handleandrendercartographicdata.Thiswillchange
howhydrographyandcartographywillplaytogether.
While the changes in the regulatory framework
will need to be
developed over time in IMO, the
discussionclearlymovestowardsaconceptdefining
the conditions and regulatory requirements while
allowing room for innovation by avoiding over‐
specification.
2 STATICDATASTREAMCOMPOSITIONAND
COMPONENTS
Asshipswheresailingtheworldthecommunication
withshoreuntilrecentlywasverylimited,ifpossible
atall.Navigatorsrelayedthereforeonpre‐composed,
staticdatatosupporttheirnavigation.
Figure3. The two data pillars for e‐Navigation‐Michael
Bergmann
Thedominantproductstoprovidea marinerwith
this necessary static data are and had been
navigational charts and nautical publications. The
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HOsaroundtheworldarecompilingthoseproducts
usingtheguidelinesofIHO.
Input for those products are often generated by
HOs themselves or associated organizations by
conductingsurveys,whichprovidebathymetricdata
layers.Togetherwithinformationaboutnavigational
aidstheyarebuildingthefoundationofnavigational
data. These basic
data sets are enriched by
informationcollectingfromorganizationslikecoastal
administrations or port masters on navigational
relevant objects but also procedural and regulatory
informationneededforasafepassage.
The cartographers then are combining all of this
static data, selecting the necessary data for the
intended use of the
chart or publication they build.
They also compose the data to archive full level of
deconfliction and ease of use of their products. The
resulting charts and publication are products are
standaloneproductswithnointeroperabilityassuch.
Thisconceptwasalsoadaptedinthechartcentric
paradigm of current
ECDIS concept with associated
ENCs. HOs are preparing pre‐composed ENCs of
certainscalebands,whichhaveanintendeduseand
appropriatezoomfactors.TheWiththedifferentIHO
specificationsandtheircompositionofENCsHOsare
definingthelookandfeelaswellastheappropriate
renderingofENCs
inatypeapprovedECDIS.Anyso
call“ValueAddedData”mayforman“Overlay”but
cannotintegratewiththeENCdata.
3 DYNAMICDATASTREAMSINE‐NAVIGATION
Justinrecentyearsthecommunicationbetweenships
and shore has drastically changed. Satellite
communications at high seas as well as other
communicationmeanslike3GorWIFIwhencloserto
shore are increasingly enabling ships to receive real
time data.Thee‐Navigationconceptbuilds on these
growingcapabilities.
Figure4.e‐NavigationPrototype‐Jeppesen
Real time transmissions of tidal information are
already reality in some areas. In addition the
establishment of AIS AtoNs is under development
and is adding another real time data stream to the
mix.
These are only two examples of dynamic data
streams already available or in development. The
general concept of
dynamic data is that it allows a
view on current reality rather than a generalized
composition.Inthesamecategoryarefallingsituation
centric data like traffic situation information, on
board ship sensors like motion sensors for ship
movementorpropulsionsensors.
e‐Navigation as envisioned by IMO and under
development at IMO, IALA, IHO and others is
includingdynamicdatasetsaspartoftheconceptto
improvesituationalawareness.Withthisthesafetyof
navigationandenvironmentalprotection isintended
to be increased, which is the underlying goal of e‐
Navigation.
Dynamicdatastreamsareessentialcomponentsof
the
e‐Navigation concept. They are not only
“overlays”tosupportstaticdatasetsbutintegralpart
oftheideabehinde‐Navigation.
Itis envisioned that in additiontoreal time data
forchartdisplayenhancement,additionalrealtimeor
semi real time data will be available on demand to
further increase the knowledge of the navigators.
Communication currently transmitted via voice
communication equipment to the bridges can be
supplementedsendingkeymessagesinwritingrather
than only via voice communication. It allows the
navigatortoreviewimportantnotesonthesituation
aheadasneeded,especiallyifvoicecommunicationis
suboptimal
or language barriers are reducing
communicationefficiency.
4 INTEGRATEDDATAFORIMPROVED
SITUATIONALAWARENESS
Both static as well as dynamic data is, as described,
intended to support the mariner on the task of safe
navigation. It is important to highlight that, while
data is important for situational awareness and as
such as an aid to navigation, data by itself is not
providinganybenefit.Onlyifthedataisreceivedby
thenavigatorasinformationitisreachingtheintent.
Information brought to the mariner will enable the
expansionofknowledge,whichcreatesthenecessary
situationalawarenesstomaketheright
decisions,or
inotherwordscreatethe wisdomwhichenablesthe
navigator to master the situation on hand. We all
integratedatawithourexistingexperience.Webring
it in context if possible and use this combination as
information.
Figure5.Data‐WisdomPyramid–MichaelBergmann
In the classic chart paradigm, the hydrographers
and cartographers integrated the various raw data
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they received in a pre composed static data set as
describedearlier.Aswearenowprovidingbothstatic
as well as dynamic data sets, the different data
streams are not necessarily integrated as they may
come from different sources. The growth of data
streams are not by default leading
to more
information, better knowledge and as such wisdom,
thereisariskof“dataoverload”.The“dataoverload”
actually results in less information available to the
marinerandnotinmore.Whenlookingatthecurrent
view on data as static data sets with dynamic
overlays,thementionedrisk
ofdataoverload canat
leastbeenvisioned,inquiteafewcasesalreadybeen
experienced.
Figure6.DataIntegrationFramework‐MichaelBergmann
Tosolvethisissuethedifferentdatastreamsneed
tobeintegratedandpreparedforusetoensurethey
reach the mariner as meaningful information. For
example real time water level information will need
to be combined with static shore information, static
navigational aid information need to be combined
with AIS
AtoN information and so on. With this
concept the different incoming data streams will be
integratedinasa“nauticaldatacollection”.
The concept of data integration requires
technology to group data into mea ningful sets and
select data sets as needed. Rendering rules and
presentation guidelines will allow displaying the
selected and grouped data of the “nautical data
collection” needed at a certain situation to better
inform the navigator while the traditional “overlay”
concept would lead to a less and less informative
patchwork. In the integrated data concept the
differentavailabledata layerwill be renderedba sed
onsituationalneeds,i.e.
zoominglevelasdesiredby
the mariner, and as such will result in a situational
centricdisplay.
All of this will not reduce the importance of
hydrographic data. It is quite the opposite.
Hydrographicdatawillbecomethebasedatasetand
foundation of a situational centric e‐Navigation
display
of an integrated navigational system. But it
needstobeintegrated and enrichedbyallthe other
data streams, even those which will be available in
futureandwhicharenotyetenvisioned.
5 CONCLUSION
The current development of usage of electronic
cartography in the maritime world has taken a step
towards situational awareness and as such has
matured away from simple chart display. This
developmentwillintensifyandassuchwillrequirein
future a change in how electronic maritime
informationaredeveloped,composedandstored.The
future will focus on a variety of static and dynamic
data streams to
support data integration and
situationalcentricrendering.
Withthisdevelopmentthemarineronboardwill
receive the necessary information, which helps to
build up the knowledge needed for the wisdom to
ensureasafeandefficientjourneyatsea.
TheHydrographicdatasetsarethefoundationon
whichthisdataandinformation
conceptisbuilton.
While all of that is technically possible and well
underway,e‐Navigation needs to besupportedbya
changefromaregulatoryconceptdefiningthedetail
implementation aspects to a regulatory framework
defining the “What”, but allowing innovation to
specifythe“How”basedonstate‐of‐
the‐artandever
evolvingtechnology.
REFERENCES
e‐Navigation portal of IALA at http://www.e‐
navigation.net/
Barry Greenslade (IHO), 2012, S‐100 Universal
HydrographicDataModel,atGeoMaritimeConference
Michael Bergmann, Hydrographic Data as the Basis for
Integratede‐NavigationDataStreams,TransNav2013
IMO,2009,SOLAS(ConsolidatedEdition)
IMO,2008,MSC85/26Annex20
IALA, 2011, Navigation Architecture
ʹPictureBookʹ
InformationPaper
Jeppesen,2011,ECDIS–Whatyouneed toknow
IHO, 2010, IHO Universal Hydrographic Data Model, Ed
1.0.0
IHO,2011,OperationalProceduresfortheOrganizationand
Management of the S‐100 Geospatial Information
Registry,Ed1.0
