About Coast Survey

The Nation's Nautical Chartmaker

Rear Adm. Ben Evans
Director, Office of Coast Survey
(bio)

President Thomas Jefferson created the U.S. Coast Survey in 1807 to provide nautical charts that would help the young nation with safe shipping, national defense, and maritime boundaries. Two centuries later, Coast Survey - now an office within NOAA - continues to provide navigation products and services that ensure safe and efficient maritime commerce on America's oceans and coastal waters, and in the Great Lakes.

The value of Coast Survey's electronic navigation charts alone—just one of the many products and services we provide to the public—is estimated to be between $2 and $3.5 billion annually.

Cutting edge research and advancements give Coast Survey tremendous opportunities to help the nation meet the challenges of the changing environment beyond just navigation. Applying the newest advancements for survey and detection, we can contribute more data and information to our scientific knowledge of the coastal seafloor. With this knowledge, we can select alternative energy sites, identify geological hazards, simulate sea level effects on coasts and ecosystems, identify sensitive marine habitats, and predict the impact of environmental conditions on species and habitats.