VMAP Level 1
The VMAP Level 1 database is a unique effort by the NATO community to create a worldwide GIS database at medium scale. It represents a global project which has been executed through participation of regional military mapping agencies around the world. The database is primarily based on 1:250,000 scale JOG maps. VMAP1 divides the globe into 234 distribution rectangles or tiles, of which 74 tiles are publicly available.
For subscribers to the VMAP Level 1 standing order program East View Cartographic provides new VMAP1 tiles and updates to existing VMAP1 tiles once they are released to the public.
The VMAP1 dataset is divided into 10 thematic layers:
- Boundaries
- Data Quality
- Elevation
- Hydrography
- Industry
- Physiography
- Population
- Transportation
- Utilities
- Vegetation
VMAP1 data can be easily viewed or imported with a number of software programs including ESRI's suite of products (ArcInfo, ArcGIS, ArcView) and MapInfo.
The original data structure is Vector Product Format (VPF) to US Military Standard (MIL-STD-2407), which is compliant with the international standard, Digital Geographic Information Exchange Standard (DIGEST) Annex C. The VMAP Level 1 feature and attribute content is defined in the US Military Specification for VMAP Level 1 (MIL-PRF-89033).
