# NGA Pilot Charts, URLs for direct downloads



## TradewindSailing

Please PM me any updates / broken links so I can keep this list current.

Copied from www.nga.mil:
_Pilot Charts depict averages in prevailing winds and currents, air and sea temperatures, wave heights, ice limits, visibility, barometric pressure, and weather conditions at different times of the year. The information used to compile these averages was obtained from oceanographic and meteorologic observations over many decades during the late 18th and 19th centuries.

The Atlas of Pilot Charts set is comprised of five volumes, each covering a specific geographic region. Each volume is an atlas of twelve pilot charts, each depicting the observed conditions for a particular month of any given year.

The charts are intended to aid the navigator in selecting the fastest and safest routes with regards to the expected weather and ocean conditions. The charts are not intended to be used for navigation.

The Atlas of Pilot Charts of the South Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean(NGA Pubs 105 and 108, respectively) are not yet available for download, as they are still awaiting digital conversion._

*Pub. 105 - Atlas of Pilot Charts South Atlantic Ocean*
Not yet available for download, as they are still awaiting digital conversion

*Pub. 106 - Atlas of Pilot Charts North Atlantic Ocean (including Gulf of Mexico), 2002*
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub106/106cover.pdf Cover
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub106/106synop.pdf Synopsis
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub106/106jan.pdf January
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub106/106feb.pdf February
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub106/106mar.pdf March
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub106/106apr.pdf April
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub106/106may.pdf May
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub106/106jun.pdf June
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub106/106jul.pdf July
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub106/106aug.pdf August
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub106/106sep.pdf September
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub106/106oct.pdf October
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub106/106nov.pdf November
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub106/106dec.pdf December

*Pub. 107 - Atlas of Pilot Charts South Pacific Ocean, 1998*
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub107/107cover.pdf
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub107/toc.pdf
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub107/107artcl.pdf
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub107/107jan.pdf
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub107/107feb.pdf
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub107/107mar.pdf
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub107/107apr.pdf
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub107/107may.pdf
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub107/107jun.pdf
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub107/107jul.pdf
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub107/107aug.pdf
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub107/107sep.pdf
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub107/107oct.pdf
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub107/107nov.pdf
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub107/107dec.pdf

*Pub. 108 - Atlas of Pilot Charts North Pacific Ocean*
Not yet available for download, as they are still awaiting digital conversion.

*Pub. 109 - Atlas of Pilot Charts Indian Ocean, 2001*
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub109/109cover.pdf
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub109/toc.pdf
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub109/article1.pdf
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub109/article2.pdf
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub109/article3.pdf
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub109/article4.pdf
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub109/109jan.pdf
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub109/109feb.pdf
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub109/109mar.pdf
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub109/109apr.pdf
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub109/109may.pdf
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub109/109jun.pdf
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub109/109jul.pdf
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub109/109aug.pdf
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub109/109sep.pdf
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub109/109oct.pdf
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub109/109nov.pdf
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/APC/Pub109/109dec.pdf


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## camaraderie

Sticking this too!Thanks.


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## xort

_The information used to compile these averages was obtained from oceanographic and meteorologic observations over many decades during the late 18th and 19th centuries._

If I read that right, the data is over 100 years old? I'm sure it is still pretty darn good information and I realize these are averages, but the climate has changed somewhat in the last 100+ years. Is there any updating going on?


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## TSOJOURNER

Anybody have any insight on if/when the North Pacific Charts are every going to be digitized by NGIA?
For now this guy:http://www.nomadelectronics.com/Family/Serenade/PilotCharts/PilotCharts.htm has done a portion of the N. Pacific.


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## jackdale

sailboy21 said:


> Anybody have any insight on if/when the North Pacific Charts are every going to be digitized by NGIA?
> For now this guy:http://www.nomadelectronics.com/Family/Serenade/PilotCharts/PilotCharts.htm has done a portion of the N. Pacific.


Thanks for this link. It does not quite work - it takes you to his main page.

Try North Pacific Pilot Charts for the pilot charts page.

Jack


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## TSOJOURNER

*Pilot Charts*

There are also so called "Next Generation " Pilot charts...in fact Grib files compiled from actual weather for every month from 1990-1999.

I tried to upload one here, but the forum seems to only allow pictures files

Cheers

Alan


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## TSOJOURNER

*Grib file pilot charts*

The other problem is that they are for each hour of each day of each month for 10 years...120Mb in total....so I can't email them....

If anyone has an ftp server that I could up load them to for general distribution, I'd be happy to do that

Cheers

Alan


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## Kevovniclub

Hello,
The links posted above do not seem to work anymore. Does anyone know where we can possibly download thes NGA digitalized pilot charts ?
Thanks much !


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## AdamLein

I was able to get a top-level menu from

Maritime Safety Information

And also downloaded December's North Pacific pilot chart (haven't tried any others).


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## Kevovniclub

Many thanks Adam, this is quite helpful.


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## MileHigh

UPDATE

These are now available:

Pub. 105 - Atlas of Pilot Charts South Atlantic Ocean
Pub. 108 - Atlas of Pilot Charts North Pacific Ocean

NGA - Maritime Safety Information
Maritime Safety Information
Look under Publications

Cheers!


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## ffiill

Been waiting for those-only problem if you want to print them out is origionals are larger than what most domestic printers take(A3?)
Also NGA pilots are pretty good bearing in mind that British Admiralty over here charge around about $40 for theirs!
Although some errors-being in UK I note some quite serious errors on UK version though as I recall I wrote to NGA who were quite happy to correct errors. More than can be said of British Admiralty publications who work on premise that they know best!


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## smcauliffe

*"Next Generation" pilot charts in grib format*



DivaNZ620 said:


> There are also so called "Next Generation" Pilot charts...in fact Grib files compiled from actual weather for every month from 1990-1999.


That's very interesting. If you can contact me directly, I'll sort something out to make it available to others (FTP etc). I'd be very interested in a copy of this data too.

If you prefer, email me on s.mcauliffe @ gmail.com and we'll organise something.

Thanks,

Simon.


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## Copprhead

The NG/GRIB charts sound very interesting. Any updates on their availability for download?


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## smcauliffe

Hi,

DivaNZ620 very kindly sent me the data he has.

The data contains global wind vectors for 1990-1999, non-aggregated. Unfortunately no other data like wave height, etc., but still useful.

The files are GRIB v2, so may not work with some software that only supports v1.

I have temporarily posted a bittorrent stream of the data at:
simonmcauliffe.com/downloads/Global_Wind_1990-1999_GRIB.torrent

This download is intentionally bandwidth limited, but if a bunch of people download it simultaneously, it should speed things up. So go for it!

I will look at putting the data up somewhere more convenient if there is demand for it or if bittorrent is too bit a problem.

I believe this data is originally sourced from NOAA.


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## Copprhead

Thank you smcauliffe and DivaNZ620 for sharing.
Any chance we can get 2000-2009 as well? 
I could make this available for download via HTTP if there is a need.


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## Copprhead

In what format are the .grb files? I cannot open them in MacENC or GPSNavX.


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## smcauliffe

*.grb file format*



Copprhead said:


> In what format are the .grb files? I cannot open them in MacENC or GPSNavX.


As I mentioned, these are GRIB v2 files. Some software isn't capable of viewing GRIB2, just check your documentation.

I have opened and tested the files though, and they are valid GRIB files.

For example, here's a screenshot from Jan 5 1990 around New Zealand showing valid data.


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## Copprhead

I'm trying to find a tool to convert v2 to the "legacy" GRIB format and/or use it with the JGRIB library. Then I could write some code that calculates averages of all this data to give wind info similar to that on pilot charts.

If anybody has experience working with these files, please let me know.


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## jackdale

smcauliffe said:


> Hi,
> 
> I have temporarily posted a bittorrent stream of the data at:
> simonmcauliffe.com/downloads/Global_Wind_1990-1999_GRIB.torrent


I cannot find a program to make use of these files. I downloaded FinalTorrent2011Setup.exe but it will not run.

Thanks

Jack


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## AdamLein

jackdale said:


> I cannot find a program to make use of these files. I downloaded FinalTorrent2011Setup.exe but it will not run.


I use uTorrent, from http://www.utorrent.com/. Good luck.


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## jackdale

Thanks Adam

Any tsunami out there? Last I heard was .4 - .6 meters forecast on the west side, but a concern for current.


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## mdi

Kevovniclub said:


> Many thanks Adam, this is quite helpful.


Very Helpful - Thanks!


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