WHOI-90-52

in order to tae full advantage of the automation of updting implicit in the use of electronic
chars.
There wil be trals and demonstrations of updting electronic chars held in connection with
varous projects during the next few yeas that wil explore the parmeters involved in automatic
updating. Such questions as data volume, frequency of updtes, appropriate modes and formats
of radio data transmission, etc., wil all be explored in order to establish the basis for a
permanent national and international activity of this ty.
The Benefits Resulting From the ~ of Electronic Chars
The principal benefits resulting from the use of electronic char ca be summarze as follows:
Enhanced Safety of Martime Oprations. Safety is affecte in two ways: there is much more
effective communication of the tactical situation concerning ship operation and control. The
display clealy and continuously shows vessel's position relative to hazds and the safe route to
the selected destination. The increase level of effectiveness of the display wil trslate into an
enhance level of saety, espeially when the vessel is operating under difficult conditions.
The abilty to update the char display assures the existence of knowledge on the bridge of any
hazds that might have just appeed, which, if not known, might endanger the vessel.
Convenience of Opration. The electronic char is clealy a more convenient source of
information concerning the operation of a vessel. It's displays concentrte in one loction al of
the facts required for sae navigation. This is espeially the case when operation under
conditions of reduce visibilty in areas of high trffc and reduced maneuverig room. The
displays are ergonomicaly effective; color is use to differentiate between land, se and the
presence of objects in the water.
The fact that the char is generated by an on board computer adds versatility to the act of using
a nautica char. For example, the caculation of distaces and beangs -- a common use of a
paper char -- is done expeitiously on an electronic char by simply moving a cursor from one
point to another. The computer rapidly caculates and displays the course and distace between
the selected points. Similarly, the identification and storage of waypints along a desired track
is done easily and rapidly by keystroke (without the nee to measure and enter latitudes and
longitudes) and storage in the computer's memory.
Convenience of Char Storage and Use. The electronic format of the nautica char is a far more
compact form of storage and a far more convenient meas of accss to stored chars than is the
paper counterpar. A single compact disk ca store hundreds of chars in contrst to the storage
volume required for the paper varety. Moreover, more than one char area ca be studied at
once by exploiting the "window" features of modern, high-resolution electronic displays.
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