Periskal is already 22
years active in the production
of electronic maps. In the
early ’90 charts were
produced in various GIS formats
like Microstation DGN. Periskal
cvba developped these electronic
charts together with the VUB
– Free University of
Brussels, department Elec
of Prof. Van Biesen.
Already that time vector charts
were much more advanced than
raster charts. The layered
approach made it possible
to make intelligent applications.
A lack of standardisation
in het maritime world made
it very difficult to exchange
data between authorities
and private manufacturers
and between other players.
The need for a international
transfer standard became
more urgent. Early standards
like DX90 were not succesful
but S-57 version 3 was slowly
accepted as the means to
transfer martime data.
For use on inland waters
ECDIS S-57 was not enough.
Many symbols like buoys
and panels, used on rivers
and canals, were not available.
To fill this gap the ‘Inland
Ecdis Expert group’
was founded to establish
enhancements upon the ECDIS
S-57 standard. This became
then the Inland ECDIS S-57
standard. The support for
this standard is still growing
and various workshop between
major players over the world
were held. Eg the workshop
between EU and the US corps
of Engineers in Nijmegen.
It is foreseen that the
future ECDIS S-57 version
4 standard, nowadays called
S-100, defined by IHO will
incorporate also Inland
ECDIS.
Periskal (Wuustwezel) became
a real expert in the production
of Inland ENC data. Strategic
partnership with the company
Seven C’s in Germany
led to the installation
of Seven C’s production
tools in the offices of
Periskal. Staff was trained
and developped themselves
the skills in the field
of Inland ECDIS. Out of
various sources like DGN,
Autocad DXF, paper charts
etc… these inland
maps in Inland ECDIS format
are produced. For use within
Periskal applications and
other software developpers
charts of all inland rivers
in Europe were produced,
like Rhine, Moezel, Main
and Danube.
Several projects for authorities
in the field of ENC (Electronic
Navigation Chart) have taken
place. One of the first
was the production of the
whole Zeeland area in Inland
S-57 format for the Dutch
Rijkswaterstaat. This project
was followed by another
one for AVV, Rijkswaterstaat
in Rotterdam.
The EU Compris project became
the real breakthrough in
this field. Together with
river authorities all over
Europe new stretches of
rivers and canals were covered.
We can mention the ENC production
of the Danube in Slovakia,
the Danube in Croatia and
Serbia, the Danube in Ukraine
etc… With many port
authorities over Europe
cooperation’s have
been set up to produce up
to date electronic chart
data. E.g. Port of Amsterdam,
Port of Antwerp, Port of
Brussels, Port of Gent,
Port of Moerdijk etc…
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