FAA VFR Raster Charts

Introduction

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) digital-Visual Chart series is designed to meet the needs of users who require georeferenced raster images of FAA Visual Flight Rules (VFR) charts. An Aeronautical Raster Chart is a digital image of an FAA VFR Chart. All information that is part of the paper chart is included in the file. The area inside the neat line is georeferenced to the surface of the earth. Only the main body of the chart is accurately georeferenced.

Data Source Characteristics

  • Data files: GEO-TIFF (zip) files scrapped from the Website below.

  • Format: zip

  • Size: about 420 GB

  • Update frequency: After 56 days (e.g.: September 05, 2024).

  • URL: VFR Raster Charts

  • Website hint: see VFR Raster Charts

Data Target Characteristics

  • Database management system: PostgreSQL

  • Database name: io_xpa_db

  • Database tables:

    • io_ts_map

    • io_ts_tile

Data Processing

  • Repository: io-xpa-core

  • Script: run_io_xpa_core_aws

  • Task: l_v (Load VFR Raster Charts)

Processing Steps:

  1. Scrap and download the current GEO-TIFF zip files from the url VFR Raster Charts and store them in a temporary directory.

  2. For each downloaded GEO-TIFF zip file, perform the following processing steps:

    1. The GEO-TIFF zip files are named as follows: Albuquerque.zip.

    2. Unzip the GEO-TIFF zip file.

    3. Convert the GEO-TIFF files to XYZ tiles.

    4. Store the information related to XYZ tiles in the database tables io_ts_map and io_ts_tile.

    5. Store the tile files in the tile server.

  3. Optionally create a S3 bucket GZIP file with new and modified tiles of a given zoom_level: vfr_raster_charts_zoom_level_delta_map_res_<yyyy-mm-ddThh:mi:ss.mseZ>.zip

  4. Repeat step 2 with the following configuration parameters:

    • ts_vfr_raster_charts_low_xres_mult = 4

    • ts_vfr_raster_charts_low_yres_mult = 4

    • ts_vfr_raster_charts_low_zres_max = 8

  5. Optionally create JPD or WebP tiles for the new or modified PNG tiles. .

  6. Create a S3 bucket GZIP file with all tiles of a given zoom_level: vfr_raster_charts_zoom_level_full_<yyyy-mm-ddThh:mi:ss.mseZ>.zip

  7. Optionally create a S3 bucket GZIP file with new and modified tiles of a given zoom_level: vfr_raster_charts_zoom_level_delta_low_res_<yyyy-mm-ddThh:mi:ss.mseZ>.zip

For detailed processing steps, refer to the external repository: io-xpa-core

Configuration Parameters:

ts_vfr_raster_charts_aws = false
ts_vfr_raster_charts_aws_region = "us-east-2"
ts_vfr_raster_charts_cache_reuse = false
ts_vfr_raster_charts_cleanup = true
ts_vfr_raster_charts_cropping = true
ts_vfr_raster_charts_jpg_compression = 50
ts_vfr_raster_charts_jpg_transform = true
ts_vfr_raster_charts_limit_all = true
ts_vfr_raster_charts_limit_local = false
ts_vfr_raster_charts_low_xres_mult = 4
ts_vfr_raster_charts_low_yres_mult = 4
ts_vfr_raster_charts_low_zres_max = 8
ts_vfr_raster_charts_processes = 16
ts_vfr_raster_charts_s3_bucket = "data/temp_test"
ts_vfr_raster_charts_s3_delta = false
ts_vfr_raster_charts_s3_file = "vfr_raster_charts"
ts_vfr_raster_charts_s3_zoom_level = 7
ts_vfr_raster_charts_tile_server = "data/ts_vfr_raster_charts"
ts_vfr_raster_charts_tilesdir = "tiles"
ts_vfr_raster_charts_tilesize = 256
ts_vfr_raster_charts_timeout = 10
ts_vfr_raster_charts_url = "https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/flight_info/aeronav/digital_products/vfr/"
ts_vfr_raster_charts_vrcdir = "data/vfr_raster_charts"
ts_vfr_raster_charts_webp_compression = 50
ts_vfr_raster_charts_webp_transform = true
ts_vfr_raster_charts_work_dir = "data/temp"
ts_vfr_raster_charts_xyz = false

Contact Information