297
1 INTRODUCTION
The International Maritime Organization (IMO)
establishes and implements e‐Navigation strategies
for maritime safety and marine environment
protection. Many electronic techniques have been
introducedfore‐Navigation,andasaresult,alotof
information has been converted to computer‐based
information. In particular, hydrographic information
is
communicated in a standardized structure called
theCommon MaritimeDataStructure(CMDS).IMO
adopted IHO S‐100 as the CMDS for hydrographic
informationexchange[1].
The International Hydrographic Organization
(IHO) has used the S‐52 and S‐57 standards for
hydrographic information representation and
exchange. The legacy standards have limitations in
expressing information, such as seafloor topography
and tide, in 3D. In addition, it is difficult to
accommodate a request to express additional
information in addition to the previously defined
information. IHO introduced the concept of the ISO
19100 series, which are geographic information
standards used on land, established by the
InternationalOrganizationforStandardization(ISO).
TheS‐100standardisthebasestandard,andeach
hydrographic information is developed as a
IHO S-100 Data Model and Relevant Product
Specification
S.Lee&H.Kim
KoreaMaritimeandOceanUniversity,Busan,Korea
ABSTRACT: The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) has established a new hydrographic
informationstandard,theS‐100standard.ThisstandardappliestheISO19100seriestothelegacyhydrographic
exchangestandardinordertoovercomethelimitationsofexistinghydrographicinformationexpression.The
firstversion
oftheS‐100standardwasreleasedin2010,andthelatestversion,5.0.0,wasreleasedin2022.The
International Maritime Organization (IMO) officially adopted the IHOʹs S‐100 for hydrographic information
exchange. The S‐100 standard is the base standard, and each hydrographic information is developed as a
document called the product specification.The product specification is being developedand led byvarious
standardizationorganizations.Theproductspecificationsdevelopedbyeachstandardizationorganizationare
based on S‐100, but they are defined in various ways according to the characteristics of information and
expressionmethods.Inthispaper,thedifferent
productspecificationsofIHOʹsS‐12xseriesandIALAʹsS‐2xx
seriesare analyzedin terms offeatures and classes from the data model point of view.The analysis of the
feature,attribute,andfeaturerelationshipofeachproductspecificationwasconductedbyreviewingboththe
Data Classification
and Encoding Guide (DCEG)and theentiredocument of theproduct specification. This
study has identified areas of overlap in S‐100 product specificationsandhas explored potential solutionsto
addresstheseissues.
http://www.transnav.eu
the International Journal
on Marine Navigation
and Safety of Sea Transportation
Volume 18
Number 2
June 2024
DOI:10.12716/1001.18.02.04
298
document called the product specification. The
product specification is being developed and led by
various standardization organizations, such as IHO,
the International Association of Marine Aids to
Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA), and
theWorldMeteorologicalOrganization(WMO).IHO
leads the development of product specifications for
electroniccharts,submarinetopography,
marine risk
areas, and maritime traffic services. IALA defines
navigational aid information and port message
protocols, such as lighthouses, buoys, and marine
facilities, as product specifications. WMO is leading
the development of product specificationsrelated to
meteorology and is developing electronic chart
standardsforiceinformationandinlandseas.
Product
specifications developed by each
standardizationorganization arebasedon S‐100, but
they are defined in various ways according to the
characteristics of information and expression
methods. Each product specificationmust ultimately
exist for one electronic chart system. Analytical
research is being conducted from various
perspectives, such as symbol expression and
data
model,andIHOdefinesitastheS‐98standard.
In this paper, the different product specifications
of IHOʹs S‐12x series and IALAʹs S‐2xx series are
analyzed in terms of features and classes from the
datamodelpointofview.Theanalysisofthefeature,
attribute, and feature relationship of each product
specification was conducted by reviewing both the
DataClassificationandEncodingGuide(DCEG)and
theentiredocumentoftheproductspecification.This
studyhasidentifiedareasofoverlapinS‐100product
specificationsandhasexploredpotentialsolutionsto
addresstheseissues.
2 CONFIGURATION
OFTHES‐100BASED
PRODUCTSPECIFICATION
TheIHO leadsthedevelopment ofoverallelectronic
charts and ocean data. S‐101 is the next‐generation
electronicchartstandardforproducingENC.S‐102is
thestandardforexpressingbathymetricinformation,
and S‐104 is a standard for expressing water level
informationduringnavigation.TheS‐111standardis
astandardforexpressingcurrentinformation[1].
Additionally, S‐121 is a standard for maritime
boundaries, zones, and boundaries. S‐122 is a
standard for marine protected areas. S‐123 is a
standard for marine wireless service navigation
communication. S‐124 is a
standard for
supplementingnavigationwarninginformationofS‐
101.S‐125isastandardforsupplementingnavigation
function. S‐126 is a standard for supplementing
environmental information of S‐101. S‐127 is a
standardforsupplementingtransportationserviceof
S‐101. S‐128 is a standard for the exchange
of
cataloguesofmarineproducts,andS‐129isdeveloped
as a standard for the management of Under Keel
Clearance.
IALAleadsthedevelopmentoftheproductionof
guides for aid to navigation information and port
messageformats.They areworkingstandardsinthe
following categories: S‐201 aids navigation
information
standard, S‐210 is an exchange format
standard between VTS, S‐211 is a port information
sharing standard, S‐212 is a VTS digital service
standard, S‐230 is an Application Specific Message
Standard, S‐240 is a satellite navigation system
encodingandexchangestandard,S‐245iseLoranASF
Data standard, S‐246 is eLoran Station Almanac
standard, and S‐247 is Differential eLoran Reference
StationAlmanacstandard,amongothers.
WMOleadsthedevelopmentofweatherandENC.
Standard S‐401 for Encoding and Metadata of ENC
Data, Standard S‐402 for Contours of Inland ENC
Data, Standard S‐411
for Encoding Extents and
CharacteristicsofGlaciers,andContentStructureand
Metadata Required for Datasets Standard S‐412 for
data,etc.
The hydrographic information based on S‐100 is
developedasaPSdocumentandconsistsofthemain
PSdocument,DCEG,FC,andPC[3].
The Data Classification and
Encoding Guide
(DCEG) was developed to encode data for S‐100‐
compliant ENC. The purpose of DCEG is to encode
datatocomplywithIMOandIHOstandards,inorder
toproperlydisplayelectroniccharts[4].
The Feature Catalogue (FC) is an Extensible
MarkupLanguage(XML)‐baseddocumentcontaining
informationabout
features.IntheS‐100standard,itis
recommended to define the waterway information
datamodelofproductspecificationsintheformofan
XML document. Create feature data using FC
structureanddatavalues.
In order to represent a feature on an electronic
navigation chart, the color or shape
of the featureis
determinedbyasetofrules.ThePortrayalCatalogue
(PC) is an XML‐based document that contains
information on how features are to be expressed,
accordingtotheserules.ThePCisusedtodefineaset
of drawing commands that determine how future
featureswillbe
drawn.
This paper is focused on the document of the
followingPS.
Table1.S‐100basedproductspecificationsandexamination
target
________________________________________________
PSNo. Edition PublishDate Examinationtarget
(DCEG/PS)
________________________________________________
S‐121 1.0.0Oct,2019 DCEG
S‐122 1.0.0Jan,2019DCEG
S‐123 1.0.0Jan,2019DCEG
S‐124 Draft2.0.0 Jul,2019PS
S‐127 1.0.0Dec,2018 DCEG
S‐128 1.0.0May,2022 DCEG
S‐129 1.0.0Jun,2019 PS
S‐211 Draft1.0.0 Mar, 2019 DCEG
S
‐212 0.6.3Nov,2020 DCEG
S‐240 1.0.0Oct,2020 PS
S‐245 Draft0.0.1 Sep,2019 PS
S‐246 1.0.0Sep,2021 DCEG
S‐247 1.0.0Sep,2021 DCEG
________________________________________________
299
3 ANALYSISOFTHEDCEGWITHDATAMODEL
POINTOFVIEW
Inthischapter,therelationshipbetweenfeaturesofPS
was identified through DCEG analysis. The analysis
targetsareIHOʹsS‐12xseriesandIALAʹsS‐20xseries.
Inthenextsection,wewillcompareandanalyze
each
PSseparately.
3.1 ComparisionS‐122andS‐127
Firstly,theIHOʹsS‐12xseriesDCEGwasexaminedas
follows.Table1and2presentthefeaturelistsforthe
S‐122 and S‐127 product specification [5, 6]. The
confirmationofasamefeaturenamebetweenthetwo
standardswasestablishedthroughanalysisofTable1
andTable 2.Itis possibleforfeatures thatsharethe
samenametopossessdistinctattributevalues.Upon
examination of the DCEG of both standards, it was
verifiedthatthe acronymused in the S‐57 standard,
an existing hydrographic information
exchange
standard,isidentical.Thisindicatesthatthefeaturein
questionisthesame.
Table2.FeaturelistofS ‐122productspecification
________________________________________________
S‐122productspecification
________________________________________________
FeaturenameS‐57acronym
MarineProtectedArea‐
RestrictedAreaNavigational RESARE
RestrictedAreaRegulatory RESARE
VesselTrafficServiceArea‐
________________________________________________
Table3.FeaturelistofS ‐127productspecification
________________________________________________
S‐127productspecification
________________________________________________
FeaturenameS‐57acronym
________________________________________________
RadioCallinginPointRDOCAL
CautionAreaCTNARE
SignalStationWarningSISTAW
SignalStationTrafficSISTAT
RadarRangeRADRNG
ConcentrationofShippingHazardArea CONSHA
PilotDistrict‐
PilotServicePLTSRV
UnderkeelClearanceAllowanceArea UKAARE
UnderkeelClearanceManagementArea‐
RouteingMeasure‐
ISPSCodeSecurityLevelSECLVL
WarterwayAreaWATARE
PilotBoarding
PlacePILBOP
MilitaryPracticeAreaMIPARE
RestrictedArea,RegulatoryRESARE
RestrictedArea,NavigationalRESARE
VesselTrafficServiceArea‐
PlaceofRefuge‐
PiracyRiskAreaPIRARE
LocalPortServiceArea‐
ShipReportingServiceArea‐
________________________________________________
3.2 ComparisionS‐123andS‐246
The S ‐100‐based product specification can be
categorized as a whole, and it is evident that there
existsacorrelationbetweentheS‐12xseriesandS‐20x
series.TheRadioStationfeatureofthesamenameis
presentinboththe
S‐123productspecificationandthe
S‐246productspecification,asdemonstratedinTables
3 and 4 [8, 10]. Upon examination of the DCEG for
each product specification, it was verified that the
acronyms for Radio Stations in each standard were
identical.
3.3 ComparisionS‐127andS‐129
The S
‐127 product specification includes two areas,
namely the ‘Underkeel Clearance Allowance Areaʹ
and‘UnderkeelClearanceManagementAreaʹ, which
are equivalent to the Underkeel Clearance
Management information addressed in the S‐129
productspecification[6,7].
Table4.FeaturelistofS ‐123productspecification
________________________________________________
S‐123productspecification
________________________________________________
FeaturenameS‐57acronym
________________________________________________
RadioStationRDOSTA
NavtexStationAreaNAVTEX
WeatherForecast/WarningAreaWETFCA
RadioServiceAreaRDOSVC
IndeterminateZoneINDZON
ForecastAreaAggregate‐
RadioServiceAreaAggregate‐
LandmarkLNDMRK
BuildingBUISGL
CoastguardStationCGUSTA
NavigationalMeteorologicalArea‐
InmarsatOceanRegionArea‐
GMDSSArea‐
________________________________________________
Table5.FeaturelistofS ‐246productspecification
________________________________________________
S‐246productspecification
________________________________________________
FeaturenameS‐57acronym
________________________________________________
RadioStationRDOSTA
‐dGNSSstation
‐dLoranstation
‐eLoranstation
eLoranStationAlmanac‐
________________________________________________
3.4 ComparisionS‐240,S‐246andS‐247
TheS‐20xseriescomprisesvariousstandards,among
which the S‐246 standard pertains to eLoran, while
the S‐247 standard pertains to dLoran [8, 9].
Furthermore, a standard exists that pertains to
Differential Global Navigation Satellite System
(DGNSS).
Table6.ComparingfeaturesbetweenS‐246andS‐247
productspecification
________________________________________________
S‐240productspecification S‐246productspecification
________________________________________________
FeaturenameFeaturename
________________________________________________
RadioStationRadioStation
<attribute><attribute>
:CategoryofRadioStation :CategoryofRadioStation
‐radiodirection‐finding‐dGNSSstation
station‐dLoranstation
‐Decca‐eLoranstation
‐LoranC
‐DifferentialGNSS
‐Toran
‐Omega
‐Chaika(Chayka)
‐radiotelephonestation
‐AISbasestation
DGNSSStationAlmanac dLoranStationAlmanac
________________________________________________
300
Upon examination of Table 3, it is evident that
both the S‐240 and S‐246 product specifications
incorporate Radio Station features and almanac
features for each station. Additionally, when
examining the DCEG of each standard, it was
observed that the Radio Station attribute is
representedbytheS‐57
acronymRDOSTA.However,
the attribute values are different, which have been
verified as a recently established category value in
accordancewiththepre‐existingS‐57standard[10].
Upon examining the feature composition
presented in Table 4, it is evident that the S‐246
product spcification has the Radio Station
feature.
Notably, the ‘Category of Radio Stationʹ attribute
comprisesdGNSSStation,dLoranStation,andeLoran
Station.AccordingtotheS‐247productspecification,
the dLoran Station is represented as a singular
feature.
Table7.SimilarfeaturesbetweenS‐246andS‐247product
specification
________________________________________________
S‐246productspecification S‐247productspecification
________________________________________________
FeaturenameFeaturename
________________________________________________
RadioStationdLoranStation
‐dGNSSstation
‐dLoranstation
‐eLoranstation
eLoranStationAlmanac dLoranStationAlmanac
________________________________________________
4 DISCUSSIONS
In this chapter, the identification of duplicate issues
was facilitated through a comparative analysis of
productspecificationspresentedinchapter3.
4.1 Case1‐Sharingthesamefeaturename
TheproductspecificationsforIHOʹsS‐122andS‐127
havethesamefeaturenames.Byexaminingthe
S‐57
acronym for the features listed in DCEG, it can be
seenthattheyarebothreferredtoasʺRESAREʺwhich
stands forʺRestricted Area.ʺ Therefore, it can be
concluded that the features of these two product
specificationsareidentical.
Furthermore, there is a feature calledʺRadio
Stationʺ between IHO
ʹs S‐123 product specification
and IALAʹs S‐246 product specification. The S‐123
productspecificationpertainstoradiostationchannel
information,whereas the S‐246 product specification
pertainstoeLoranstations.WhenlookingatDCEG,it
sharesthesameS‐57acronymasʺRDOSTAʺ.
However, even if
a feature is the same, not all
encoding values defined in the S‐57 standard are
necessarily utilized. When comparing the encoding
values ofʺRestrict Area Regulatoryʺ in the two
product specifications, the values are as follows.
However,inthecaseoftheʺRestrictAreaRegulatoryʺ
intheS‐122product
specification,onlysomeofthem
areutilized.Table8showscomarisionS‐122andS‐127
productspecification.
In addition, while the S‐123 and S‐246 product
specificationshavethesamefeaturesandattributes,S‐
246product specificationdefinesnewvaluesinstead
ofexistingones.
Table8.ComparingfeaturesbetweenS‐122andS‐127
productspecification
________________________________________________
S‐122productspecification S‐127productspecification
________________________________________________
FeaturenameFeaturename
________________________________________________
RestrictedAreaRegulatory RestrictedAreaRegulatory
<attribute><attribute>
:CategoryofRestrictedArea :CategoryofRestrictedArea
‐naturereserve‐offshoresafetyzone
‐birdsanctuary‐naturereserve
‐gamereserve‐birdsanctuary
‐sealsanctuary‐gamereserve
‐historicwreckarea‐sealsanctuary
‐researcharea‐degaussingrange
‐ecologicalreserve‐militaryarea
‐Environmentally
Sensitive ‐historicwreckarea
SeaArea(ESSA)
‐ParticularlySensitive‐navigationalaidsafety
SeaArea(PSSA)zone
‐Coralsanctuary‐minefield
‐recreationarea‐swimmingarea
‐waitingarea
‐researcharea
‐dredgingarea
‐fishsanctuary
‐ecologicalreserve
‐nowakearea
‐swingingarea
‐waterskiingarea
‐EnvironmentallySea
SensitiveArea(ESSA)
‐ParticularlySea
SensitiveArea(PSSA)
________________________________________________
Table9.ComparingfeaturesbetweenS‐246andS‐247
productspecification
________________________________________________
S‐240productspecification S‐246productspecification
________________________________________________
FeaturenameFeaturename
________________________________________________
RadioStationRadioStation
<attribute><attribute>
:CategoryofRadioStation :CategoryofRadioStation
‐circular(non‐directional) ‐dGNSSstation
Marineoraero‐marine
radiobeacon
‐directionalradiobeacon‐dGNSSstation
‐rotating‐pattern‐eLoranstation
radiobeacon
‐Consolbeacon
‐radiodirection‐finding
station
‐coastradiostation
providingQTGservice
‐aeronautical
radiobeacon
‐Decca
‐LoranC
‐DifferentialGPS
‐Toran
‐Omega
‐Syledis
‐Chaika(Chayka)
________________________________________________
4.2 Case2‐FeaturesandProductSpecificationswiththe
SameMeaning
The S‐127 product specification includes a feature
related to the clearance under the keel. This feature
displays the distance between the ship and the
seabed, which is commonly referred to as the
underkeel clearance. TheʺUnderkeel Clearance
301
Management Areaʺ feature displays information
about underkeel clearance, either statically or
dynamically,dependingonthevalueoftheattribute
called “dynamicResource”. There is also a feature
called theʺUnderkeel Clearance Allowance Areaʺ.
Thisfeaturedisplaysanareaasavariablevaluethat
canchangedependingonthefixed
valueofunderkeel
clearanceandthebeam(ordraft)oftheship.
The S‐129 product specification is for theʺUnder
Keel Clearance Management Product Specification,ʺ
which calculates the difference between the
underwatertopography and theunderkeelclearance
value for each ship. This information is used to
displaysafeareas(go
‐areas)andunsafeareas(no‐go
areas).Thisillustratesthecorrelationbetweenfeatures
and product specificationsthatare used in a similar
context.Toresolvetheambiguityshowninthis,itis
necessary to modify it to clearly understand the
meaning.
4.3 Case3‐ProductSpecificationStructure
TheS‐240,
S‐246,andS‐247productspecificationsare
usedtomanagestationinformation.However,theS‐
240 product specification includes aʺRadio Stationʺ
feature, while the S‐246 product specification also
includes aʺRadio Stationʺ feature but with different
attribute values. The S‐247 product specification
includes a dLoran station as
a feature, which is not
categorizedasaʺRadioStationʺ.
Each product specification has a different
structure. In particular, the S‐246 and S‐247 product
specifications express one side as a feature and the
other side as a corresponding attribute. Upon
examining the remaining attribute values, it can
be
confirmed that the attributes for both product
specifications are identical. Depending on the
category classification of the S‐246 product
specification,theselectionof a dLoranstation in the
ʺRadio Stationʺ feature of S‐246 can be a singular
feature of the dLoran station. It might be resolved
such
ambiguousissuesbynamingfeatureswithclear
meanings,suchastheS‐247productspecification.
5 SUMMARYANDCONCLUSION
InlinewithIMOʹse‐Navigationstrategy,IHOʹsS‐100
standard to establish a common standard for
expressinghydrographicinformation.
Various hydrographic information product
specificationsarebeingdevelopedbasedon
theS‐100
standard to digitize waterway information. In this
paper, we analyzedthe differencesbetween product
specifications based on S‐100 by comparing DCEG
andPS.Wealsodiscussedpotentialsolutionstothese
issues.
Recently, there has been active research on
autonomousships.Theanalysismethodpresentedin
this
paper has the potential to be enhanced and
utilized in the field of machine learning within the
realmofartificialintelligenceinthefuture.
REFERENCES
[1]“S‐100 based Product Specifications | IHO,” iho.int.
https://iho.int/en/s‐100‐based‐product‐specifications
[2]S. Lee et al., “A study of S‐100 based product
specifications from a software implementation point of
view: focusing on data model representation, similar
features and symbols, and ECDIS and VTS software,”
JournalofNavigation,
vol.75,no.5,pp.1226–1242,Sep.
2022,doi:https://doi.org/10.1017/s037346332200039x
[3]H. Kim, C. Mun, and S. Lee, “Design of Application
Schema and Feature Catalogue for Marine Casualty
Based on S‐100,” International Journal of u‐ and e‐
Service,ScienceandTechnology,vol.10,no.7,pp.1–10,
Jul. 2017,
doi:
https://doi.org/10.14257/ijunesst.2017.10.7.01
[4]H. CHOI, D. KANG, S.OH, and Y. KIM, “A Study on
Development of Machine‐readable Platform for S‐100
ECDIS,” Journal of Navigation and Port Research, vol.
45,no.2,pp.61–68,Apr.2021.
[5]International Hydrographic Organization (2019), “IHO
S‐122 MARINE PROTECTED AREA PRODUCT
SPECIFICATION“,
Edition1.0.0.
[6]International Hydrographic Organization (2018), “IHO
S‐127 Marine Traffic Management‐Product
Specification“,Edition1.0.0.
[7]International Hydrographic Organization (2019), “IHO
S‐129 Under Keel Clearance Management Information
ProductSpecification“,Edition1.0.0.
[8]InternationalHydrographicOrganization(2021),“IALA
S‐246 IALA eLoran Station Almanac Product
Specification“,Edition1.0.0.
[9]InternationalHydrographicOrganization(2021),“IALA
S‐247 IALA Differential eLoran Reference Station
AlmanacProductSpecification“,Edition1.0.0.
[10]InternationalHydrographic Organization(2019), “IHO
S‐123 MARINE RADIO SERVICES PRODUCT
SPECIFICATION“,Edition1.0.0.
[11]InternationalHydrographic Organization(2022), “IHO
UniversalHydrographicDataModel“,Edition5.0.0.
[12]https://themeforest.net/user/dan_fisher, “Welcome To
UMLWeb
Site!,”Uml.org,2019.https://www.uml.org/
