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THE FIRST SLOVENIAN NAUTICAL CHART - DIGITAL ON WGS 84 
Igor Karnicnik, M.Sc. Dalibor Radovan, M.Sc. Dusan Petrovic, 
Institute of Geodesy, Cartography and Photogrammetry, Ljubljana, Slovenia 
KEY WORDS: nautical charting, hydrographic survey 
ABSTRACT: 
The Gulf of Koper chart is the first Slovenian nautical chart. This paper contains a description of 
hydrographic education procedures, geodetic and hydrographic survey, terrain control of aids to navigation, 
processing of hydrographic fair sheets and digital cartographic design. The chart was produced at a scale of 
1 : 12000 in accordance with the hydrographic and cartographic standards of the International Hydrographic 
Organization. In order to assure satellite navigation, its contents was presented in a Mercator projection on 
WGS 84 ellipsoid. 
ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: 
Die erste slowenische Seekarte 
Die Karte Golf von Koper ist die erste slowenische Seekarte. In dem Artikel werden die Prozeße der hydro 
graphischen Ausbildung, geodätischen und hydrographischen Vermessung, Kontrolle von Landmarken, 
Bearbeitung des hydrographischen Originals und digitalen Herstellung der Karte dargestellt. Die Karte wird 
nach hydrographischen und kartographischen Normen der Internationalen Hydrographischen Organisation 
hergestellt, im Maßstab von 1:20000. Wegen der Satellitennavigation ist der Inhalt der Karte in Mercator- 
projektion auf dem Ellipsoid WGS 84. 
Stichwörter: nautische Kartographie, hydrographische Vermessung 
INTRODUCTION 
The Slovenian sea is a small, but economically and 
strategically very important part of the northern 
Adriatic. Daily traffic includes many pleasure-boats, 
super tankers and merchant ships with dangerous 
goods. Occasionally there are foreign naval ships, 
and other contributors to the very dense traffic are 
the many fishing vessels and of course the 
proximity of Trieste harbour. International transport 
in the port of Koper is of vital importance for 
Slovenia due to its connection to Central Europe by 
railway and roads. 
Slovenian sea has depths up to 30 m, which is 
deeper than the lowest draft of the larger ships. 
However, the Koper harbour has depths up to 18 
m, which means that some ships are navigating 
only a few decimeters from the bottom. In addition, 
especially in the winter, safe navigation is hindered 
by the wind and fog. 
The main reason for the production of nautical 
charts is safety of navigation. Charts, in 
combination with modern satellite navigation 
systems in the ships and harbours, are very 
important aspect of safe navigation. The production 
of nautical charts comes under the supervision of 
the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), 
because just one wrong piece of information on the 
chart can lead to disaster. A harbour without an 
official nautical chart is unreliable especially from 
an insurance point of view. 
Until the first Slovenian chart was published, rather 
outdated charts were in use. The production of 
nautical charts of Slovenian sea in the past was 
carried out by Hydrographic Institute of the 
Yugoslavian Navy. After the independence of 
Slovenia and Croatia, the legacy of Yugoslavian 
Hydrographic Institute was carried on by Croatian 
State Hydrographic Institute. They continued to 
produce the latest charts use in Slovenia. Slovenia 
became an associated member of IHO after 
independence. At this time the Maritime Affairs 
Office at the Ministry of Transport and 
Communications was established. Due to the facts 
mentioned above, the production of our own 
nautical chart proved necessary. 
HYDROGRAPHIC COURSE 
A substantial knowledge of cartography, navigation 
and hydrography is required for nautical chart 
production. A number of different courses, 
organized abroad, provide the appropriate 
education and training. With the intervention of the 
Ministry of Transport and Communications, the 
Institute of Geodesy, Cartography and 
Photogrammetry (IGF), as a producer of new