The Cooperative Charting Manual describes Cooperative Charting: “The Cooperative Charting Agreement between the United States Power Squadrons (USPS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), first executed in 1963, describes one of the most effective user-participation programs in the federal services.”

Acts of nature and mankind take their told on the references provided by NOAA, be they aids to navigation, geodetic marks, aeronautical landmarks or narrative descriptions.  After a violent storm, massive building project or simply from the laps of time, the nagging question remains: "is that reference point still there and in good condition?"  USPS members are well qualified to help answer these questions.  Because of their extensive training in positioning and countless hours in the field and on the water, they can provide first hand knowledge of their current status.

There are five elements to the Cooperative Charting Program:

Various governmental agencies have installed over 750,00 permanent geographic reference points, at precise locations, throughout the world.  They provide a base geographic framework for mapping and charting.  Surveyors use them to determine property lines, locate roadways, railroads and buildings.  Maintaining and up-grading information about these reference points is a monumental task.  Changes occur so frequently that no amount of tax support would be adequate to supply the corrections needed to keep the documents on these references current.  As part of its commitment to civic service, USPS has agreed to observe these changes and submit corrections to the governmental agencies.

Much as is the case for geodetic markers, prominent landmarks, such as water towers, ball fields and large buildings are provided as reference points on aeronautical charts.  They help pilots “get their bearings”, and are subject to the same degradation as those for the geodetic markers.  Again, USPS members compare what is actually there, on the ground, to what is shown on the chart and report any discrepancies.

Aids to navigation, such as buoys and nuns, are the nautical reference points for over 1000 NOAA’s charts.  They are subject to the same wear and tear as are geodetic markers and aeronautical landmarks.  As USPS members use the waterways and NOAA charts, they report variances to NOAA for chart updates.  These often include changes in water depth due to recent shoaling, new or abandoned marinas and changes in shoreline features.

The Coast Pilot is the nautical guide book which provides narrative descriptions of waterway routes, harbors and anchorages.  As conditions change USPS members provide updates to NOAA and changes are made to these narratives.

The newest Cooperative Charting program, Tidal Current Predictions, is an effort by USPS members to determine if the published information on tides is accurate.  Hurricanes and other storms often change the entrances to our waterways and seaports.  Not only are the aids to navigation disturbed, often the tidal currents are effected as well.  Using equipment supplied by the National Ocean Service, USPS members take careful measurements at pre-selected locations to determine if NOS field work is needed to revise the tide tables.

USPS is proud to provide these correction as part of its commitment to civic service, knowing that not only does it save the government countless dollars but also contributes to the saving of private property and lives.

Copyright © 2000 Lake Norman Sail and Power Squadron®  and USPS®.  All Rights Reserved.  ®"United States Power Squadrons", "America's Boating Club", and "USPS",  are Registered Trademarks of United States Power Squadrons, Inc. Animation design for the USPS ENSIGN by Pascal Gross, 1999; for the LNSPS Burgee by Harriman Jett, 2000