FME Desktop is software developed by Safe Software for users who work specifically for spatial data. It allows its user to transform, integrate and convert data. It has the capability of allowing its user to write and read data in as many as 300 of both non-spatial and spatial formats which include BIM, raster, 3D, CAD, database and GIS formats. It contains approximately 400 varieties of transformers and at the same time supporting more or less about 5,300 different types of coordinate systems. It allows its user to control the attributes as well as geometry of the user’s spatial data. It also offers its users with the capability of automating and quality control together with its different features in order to create a data workflow in a more simplified manner. It also offers a wide variety of features which can be found in its developer’s website.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Chart Viewer is a Flash-based online tool for displaying thousands of nautical charts. The navigational information in these charts is updated weekly to help mariners and commercial ships verify their routes through the Alaskan waters, the Gulf Coast, the Great Lakes, and the coastal areas facing the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. To view these charts, users must install the latest Adobe Flash Player plug-ins in their browsers. For offline viewing, users must download the Chart Viewer extension from the NOAA Coastal Services Center page and install it within a geographic information system (GIS), such as ArcGIS 8.x or Imagine 8, which makes use of NOAA's raster navigational charts available in BSB 3.0 format. These charts, however, do not function as replacements for full-scale navigational instruments used in real-world marine transport and provided by authorized NOAA agents.
The Chart Navigator from MapTech is software designed for boaters and amateur sailors who wanted to try their hand in plotting their navigational route through the United States' coastal waters. It displays aerial shots, topographical maps, and raster-type nautical charts taken from various sources, including navigational instruments from NOAA and other government agencies. This stand-alone viewer displays maps and charts in both 2D and 3D views. The Chart Navigator also includes full-fledged software for planning a trip around North America through its riverways. The rise and fall of the tides are provided in real time based on current information from marine monitoring agencies. It also uses GPS coordinates when charting a route over a raster map in BSB format and shows the user's current position in either the full-screen or split-screen view with satellite images or a vector two-dimensional background.
Apart from full-scale NOAA nautical maps sold by authorized agents, users of navigation tools like MapTech's marine software can also download from the Web a DVD that contains updated copies of U.S. boating charts. Consisting more than 2,200 coastal maps and over 750 maps of inland waterways, these charts include real-time information about tidal streams and ocean currents, which always include a reference station with specific coordinates, dates, and times. This software is bundled with a global positioning system function, but it needs an industry-standard NMEA 0183 GPS device attached to the laptop or desktop. For real-time positioning, MapTech U.S. Boating Charts needs a portable GPS receiver that connects through the USB port. The program needs at least one gigabyte of disk space running on a Windows XP/Vista/WIN7 system. An LCD monitor with a display resolution of 256 colors at 800 x 600, or even higher, is required.