The National Imagery Transmission Format (NITF) was created as a file format to help simplify the transfer of images and associated image support data (ISD) by reducing the number of independent files associated with a given data product. To meet this requirement, NITF was designed as a container format that can store a variety of data types together, including images, ancillary data such as shapefiles and tables, and associated ISD. By using a container format, all the data used to support a specific data product can be packed into an NITF file container. The United States Department of Defense (DoD) and Intelligence Community (IC) have standardized on NITF to ensure that data products include everything needed to support of a variety of exploitation workflows.
Note:
Data supplied as part of humanitarian efforts that are supported by the DoD and IC are often delivered as NITF files.
Learn more about NITF
The primary reference document for the NITF 2.1 file format standard is MIL-STD-2500C. It is recommended that you become familiar with the MIL-STD-2500C document and the appropriate implementation specifications when you use a National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) or DoD imagery product that is delivered as an NITF file.
Imagery products have unique implementation standards, such as the commercial imagery standard.
By default, the NITF layer is listed in the Contents pane and is named based on the value in the NITF FTITLE field, which can be up to 80 characters. If the FTITLE field is not available, the label switches to the NITF file name.
For United States partners, especially countries included in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the NATO Secondary Imagery Format (NSIF) is also based on the NITF standard. While NSIF and MIL-STD-2500C standards are very similar, it is important to note that NATO countries have their own implementation standards when building imagery products.
For more information on the NITF standard, see NITF Technical Board (NTB).