Sub-Theme
Navigation Aids and Obstacles
Location, height and description of infrastructure, markers or other devices on land which may aid travellers in determining their position or safe course.
National Datasets in this Sub-Theme
Purpose
This dataset is also known as vertical obstructions or vertical obstacles due to the importance of this information for aeronautical safety as pilots must chart courses that maintain a lowest safe altitude above on-ground obstacles.
Navigation aids and obstacles on land include:
- Transmission lines
- Buildings
- Radio towers and masts
- Skyscrapers and other tall structures
- Chimneys on power plants
Dataset Uses
Aeronautical navigation and safety
- Shows the location of obstacles which determine the safest lowest altitude for flying, in particular within 45km of an airport
- Freedom of manoeuvre in airspace for defence purposes
Land-based navigation and safety
- Used as a landmark for terrestrial navigation and in the delivery of emergency services in rural and remote areas
Standards and Specifications
Access and Licensing
Quality
Shown with an accuracy of between 20m and 100m.
The position of navigation aids and obstacles may have been moved for clarity on topogrphic maps.
Generally captured as landmark features with a height.
Current Status
The current national dataset is part of the 1:250,000 scale topographic mapping program. Sourced from satellite imagery and information supplied by CASA-endorsed publications, local government, tourist information and other volunteered information.
The database being brought up to date through funding and resources from Airservices Australia and Geoscience Australia expected release in mide 2014.
Captured and revised between 2011 and 2012 for a number of Geoscience Australia programs, including the Australian Solar Energy Information System, the National Exposure Information System and other energy infrastructure programs. Similar data is captured by state and territory mapping agencies in collaboration with local energy infrastructure owners and operators.
There is currently no single vertical integration of all transport datasets, as listed, for the national coverage.
Future Status
Short-term objectives
Airservices Australia is funding the redevelopment of a new vertical obstacles dataset based on that previously maintained by RAAF. This is expected to be completed by mid-2014.
Custodianship of the new national dataset is:
- Airservices Australia, due to its role in the provision of aeronautical information for safe and economic aeronautical transport
Other significant stakeholders include:
- Civil Aviation & Safety Authority, as regulator of the Civil Aviation Safety Act and Regulations 1996
- Department of Infrastructure & Regional Development, as responsible for the Airports Act 1996
- Geoscience Australia, due to its role as the national mapping authority and its close collaboration with state and territory agencies in maintaining all topographic information, its role in maintaining information on exposure of infrastructure to hazards, and its underpinning role in providing spatial advice to other parts of Australian Government.
Medium-term objectives
- Compliance with CASA Regulation 175 when it comes into force in 2014.
- Other sources of vertical obstacles, such as the Geoscience Australia infrastructure datasets and the ACMA datasets, will be linked to the Airservices Australia dataset.
- Delivery of information products by web services.
Long-term objectives
- Maintenance and compliance with CASA Regulation 175.