Coast Survey to remove “state plane tick marks” from charts
The state plane marks, indicated at 40,000 foot intervals on this nautical chart, are circled in red.
In a nod to the accuracy of modern geo-referencing tools, Coast Survey will remove “state plane” tick marks from future nautical charts. The state plane is a coordinate system, and the tick marks have historically helped cartographers geo-reference some of NOAA’s nautical charts to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers blueprint data.
“NOAA studies have concluded that the state plane tick marks offered very little value to the mariner, so we are opting to remove them from future charts,” said John Nyberg, chief of Coast Survey’s Marine Chart Division. “Better geo-referencing tools, and improved data exchange between Coast Survey and the Corps of Engineers, make the tick marks unnecessary.”
The state plane tick marks are not on every chart. This change will be in effect for new chart editions.