Coast Survey responds to Hurricane Matthew
Dan Jacobs, NRT4, in Brunswick, Georgia, coordinating field
operations with Lucy Hick stationed in Silver Spring, Maryland.
It’s been a busy week for Coast Survey. As soon as we received word that Hurricane Matthew was going to reach Florida and travel up the coast to Georgia and the Carolinas our planning and positioning of assets began.
Russ Proctor, chief of Navigation Services Division (NSD), and
Holly Jablonski, chief of NSD’s Navigation Response Branch, coordinated daily check-in calls with our navigation managers, NRTs, NOAA ships
Ferdinand R. Hassler and
Thomas Jefferson and
Corey Allen, acting chief of the HSD’s Operations Branch. Our Southwest navigation manager,
Kyle Ward, and Central Coast Gulf navigation manager,
Tim Osborn (who was embedded at Port Canaveral, Florida), coordinated marine transportation system recovery priorities with the U.S. Coast Guard and port stakeholders in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. NRT4,
Dan Jacobs,
Mark McMann, and
Starla Robinson responded to requests for hydrographic surveys in Port Canaveral, Florida, and Brunswick, Georgia. NRT2,
James Kirkpatrick,
Lucas Blass, and
Ian Colvert responded to requests for hydrographic surveys in Savannah, Georgia. After surveying in Charleston, South Carolina, NOAA Ship
Ferdinand Hassler traveled to respond to the ports in Savannah and Brunswick. And finally,
Lucy Hick and
Mike Davidson in Silver Spring, worked with NRT2 and NRT4 to ensure the assigned areas were clear and not duplicating efforts with USACE.
Dawn Forsythe summarized the current state of operations in latest our
blog post.
NOAA’s nowCOAST update in time for Hurricane Matthew’s arrival
NHC's first potential storm surge flooding map for
Hurricane Matthew on nowCOAST.
As of September 28,
nowCOAST™ now provides access to the National Hurricane Center’s (NHC) potential storm surge flooding map which depicts the risk associated with coastal storm surge flooding resulting from tropical cyclones. This update was made just in time for the arrival of Hurricane Matthew, a storm whose potential storm surge was a significant threat to the coast of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina coasts. Two tweets announcing the nowCOAST update fell within the top fifty most engaging tweets put out by the entire federal government on
9/29 (#23) and
10/4 (#32), potentially reaching a combined 1.7 million people. The new version and subsequent update of nowCOAST was a joint effort among Coast Survey Development Lab (
John Kelley, Jason Greenlaw, Micah Wengren [IOOS], and
Edward Myers), the National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service Integrated Dissemination Program and National Centers for Environmental Prediction. Thanks to all for the incredible effort!
Coast Survey joins international effort to determine continental shelf boundaries
Map showing the Eastern Gap of the Gulf of Mexico.
Representatives from the United States, Mexico, and Cuba met September 28 to 30, 2016, in Mexico City to continue negotiations to determine boundaries of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles in the so-called Eastern Gap of the Gulf of Mexico. As a member of the U.S. delegation led by the U.S. Department of State, Coast Survey’s
Leland Snyder was responsible for technical analysis of relevant coastlines and maritime boundaries between the U.S. and each of Mexico and Cuba. The goal of the consultations is to develop agreed maritime boundaries consistent with international law, which in conjunction with existing maritime boundary treaties would create seamless bilateral maritime boundary lines in the entire Gulf of Mexico, stretching from the Rio Grande River to the Straits of Florida.
Coast Survey Leads U.S. Delegation at 6th Meeting of Arctic Regional Hydrographic Commission
Iqaluit, Canada.
Coast Survey led the U.S. delegation–including representatives from NOAA, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and the U.S. Navy–to the 6th meeting of the
Arctic Regional Hydrographic Commission (ARHC) in
Iqaluit, Canada. The ARHC provides a forum for collaboration to ensure safety of life at sea, protect the increasingly fragile Arctic ecosystem, and support the maritime economy. Two important themes resulted from discussions at the meeting. First, navigation in the Arctic today is focused on community resupply–reaching remote locations that need goods and services by sea and air; and second, there is an opportunity to engage with indigenous and local populations in the Arctic to build a capacity for science (including hydrography). On a related note, thank you to
LCDR Mike Gonsalves for serving as the chair of the ARHC Technical Committee for the past two years. Congratulations to
LCDR Sam Greenaway for being selected as the next chair of the committee.
Navigation Services:
Darel McCormick (NOAA Small Boat Program) behind the
wheel during speed trials.
The fourth vessel (S3008) built as part of the NRT vessel recapitalization project recently underwent acceptance testing in Superior, Wisconsin. NSD’s
Mike Davidson met with representatives from Lake Assault Boats and
Darel McCormick from the NOAA Small Boat Program to ensure the S3008 met all performance specifications of the contract.
Alan Bunn received the vessel in good condition after its delivery in Galveston, Texas, on October 1. NRT 4 will maintain the vessel in a state of survey readiness until the end of hurricane season. At the conclusion of hurricane season, the new boat will be outfitted for survey and will be ready to begin the 2017 survey season.
NOAA Ships, NRTs, and Contractors:
NOAA SHIP FAIRWEATHER
Planning to complete ship repairs and conduct sea trials this week at Virgo Shipyard and in Seward, Alaska, respectively. Depart Seward to resume work on Behm Canal in southeast Alaska.
NOAA SHIP THOMAS JEFFERSON
Plans to get underway today and swing the ship’s compass and conduct training. They will also conduct sonar acceptance trials on the new sonar transducer suite that includes Kongsberg EM710 and EM2040 multibeam echo sounders.
NOAA SHIP RAINIER
Continues survey operations on the north coast of Kodiak Island, Alaska.
NOAA SHIP FERDINAND HASSLER
Surveyed Charleston, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia, in response to Hurricane Matthew. Attempting to survey in Brunswick, Georgia, awaiting tolerable sea conditions.
Bay Hydro II
On standby for Hurricane Matthew Response in Maryland.
NRT 1
Currently unavailable with crew augmenting for Hurricane Matthew response.
NRT 2
Surveying Savannah, Georgia, as part of Hurricane Matthew response.
NRT 3
Currently unavailable with crew augmenting for Hurricane Matthew response.
NRT 4
Completed surveying Port Canaveral, Florida, and currently surveying Brunswick, Georgia, as part of Hurricane Matthew response.
NRT 5
On standby for Hurricane Matthew response in New York.
NRT 6
Vessel is offline, but crew is standing by for NRT crew relief or or mobile integrated survey team (MIST) operations.
E-Trac
No Report.
Ocean Surveys, Inc.
No Report.
Fugro
No Report.
David Evans and Associates
No Report.
Leidos
Demobilization of the Atlantic Surveyor has commenced and the Sabine, Louisiana, surveys are being processed.
Staff updates
Amanda Phelps joined the resource management services group in the front office and will be working on budget formulation and strategic planning. Amanda comes to us from NOS where she worked for seven years in the Formulation and Planning Division. Amanda is completing her MS degree in environmental biology from Hood College and will graduate in December.
Ed Wernicke retired from NSD after 28 years of federal service. Ed started his NOAA career as the sole engineering technician for NOAA’s Pacific Hydrographic Party, a six-person mobile survey field unit. In the decades that followed, Ed has been the solid foundation of PHP/NRT6. Throughout that time, Ed’s work has consistently earned the confidence of his teammates, especially as he supported, trained, and kept safe generations of NOAA personnel. His ingenuity in devising improvements for vessel maintenance and survey operations will benefit navigation response for years to come.
Workplace bullying workshop
Coast Survey's EEO & Diversity Committee is pleased to announce an upcoming workplace bullying workshop. During this workshop, you will learn to recognize workplace bullying, harassment and social aggression and gain knowledge on how to prevent these behaviors in the future. Participation in this workshops may also count toward the Training, Professional Development and Corporate Responsibility (Professional Conduct and EEO) element of your FY17 performance plans. Two sessions will be offered on-site in Silver Spring (details below). A third session will be offered via webinar for AHB, PHB, and field employees (details upcoming).
- When: Wednesday 11/16/2016 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. or Thursday 11/17/2016 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
- Where: 4th Floor Conference Room (SSMC3 4527)
- Who: All Coast Survey employees and contractors
- How: Sign-up sheets are available outside cube 6360 (NSD corner)
- Questions: Contact Lucy.Hick@noaa.gov
Annapolis Boat Shows
Saturday, 10/16, is the last day of the Annapolis Boat Shows. Over the course of almost two weeks, hundreds of people strolled by the NOAA exhibit booth. Thanks to the Coast Survey staff who volunteered their time to set-up, pack-up, and share some of the important data and tools that NOAA offers: Chris Hare, Sarah Chappel, Sam DeBow, Laura Jeffery, Laurie Bennett, Rachel Medley, Kristen Crossett, Julio Castillo, Brittney Gaeta, Edward Kingman, Megan Bartlett, Jennifer Walden, Lori Powdrell, Patrick Hansen, Lei Shi, Tom Loeper, Steve Soherr, Neil Weston, Martha Bakry, and Lynne Mersfelder-Lewis.
