Coast Survey Biweekly Newsletter

Collaborative effort to create new nautical chart returns recreational boaters to Haverhill, Massachusetts

New 1:12,000 scale ENC (a) compared to the existing
1:80,000 ENC (b) of the Haverhill area on the Merrimack
River.

Coast Survey released a new electronic navigation chart (NOAA ENC®) of Haverhill, Massachusetts, and the Merrimack River, at the request of the Greater Haverhill Foundation. The historic town of Haverhill has recently undergone urban renewal with federal, state, and private investments in the downtown and waterfront areas. Recreational boaters did not have a chart at an appropriate scale for navigation safety, so the foundation asked NOAA to create a new, larger-scale chart. The foundation also privately funded a hydrographic survey to collect data for the new chart. Coast Survey created the ENC by using U.S. Army Corps of Engineers data, NOAA LIDAR data, and the privately funded survey data. The new chart gives mariners a clearer picture of overall conditions and dangers to navigation. U.S. Representative Niki Tsongas thanked NOAA, saying, “I greatly appreciate NOAA’s responsiveness and dedication to Haverhill and communities all along the Merrimack River.” Thank you to Meghan McGovern, Steve Soherr, James Miller, Carson Gray, Jesse Friedmann, Sean Legeer, and Allison Wittrock for making this all happen! Read more on our blog.

Coast Survey leadership attend stakeholder meetings in Philadelphia and along the Delaware River

Current MAC chairman,CAPT J.Stuart Griffin, Rachel Medley,
and former MAC chairman, CAPT Jon Kemmerley.

RDML Smith and Acting Deputy Hydrogapher Rachel Medley were hosted this past week by the Delaware River Maritime Exchange—inviting the RDML to speak at their quarterly board of directors meeting in Philadelphia. The Exchange also arranged for multiple stakeholder visits with various maritime interests along the Delaware River. Stakeholders included the Delaware River Pilots Association, several terminal operators, and the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority. RDML Smith also spoke at the Maritime Advisory Committee (MAC) quarterly meeting on the National Charting Plan, USACE and Coast Survey partnerships, and port optimization potential with the streamlining of NOAA data.

Coast Survey hydrographers learn to make survey workflow more efficient

photo of staff taking CARIS training in Norfolk, VA

Training session on CARIS' implementation of variable
resolution grids in Norfolk, Virginia.

Janice Eisenberg, from Hydrographic Surveys Division’s Hydrographic Systems and Technology Branch recently trained hydrographers from the Atlantic Hydrographic Branch and NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson on CARIS' implementation of variable resolution grids. Variable resolution grids will simplify the modeled representation of the seafloor by replacing the multitude of depth-dependent bathymetric grids produced for any given survey to one single surface that represents the seafloor for the whole survey area. They will to make the survey workflow more efficient and less complicated.

U.S. Government Accountability Office review

At the request of the Chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) began a review of hydrographic survey data. This review covered all aspects of our hydrographic survey data program, from prioritization of our survey areas, detailed survey planning, and asset identification, to the tracking of survey costs and survey deliverables and how Coast Survey can enhance its hydrograhpic survey contracting program. The review spanned an entire year (February 2016 to February 2017) and was led by Megan Greenaway and Kathleen Jamison. A report of the GAO findings will be published in late May 2017. Thank you to all those who helped with the documentation and review for this effort. A special thanks to Megan and Kathleen for their dedicated efforts and diligence in managing this critical task.

Coast Survey joins Florida to survey sensitive site

Screenshot of Hydrographic Survey Season Story Map

NRT members James Kirkpatrick and Lucas Blass and
archaeologists with the Florida Division of Historical
Resources Ryan Duggins, Melissa Price, and Tim Parsons
depart for survey operations.

NRT2, James Kirkpatrick (acting hydrographer-in-charge) and Lucas Blass, recently responded to a request by the State of Florida, who needed help surveying a submerged prehistoric archaeological site located offshore of Sarasota County. Last week’s survey and investigation were necessary to map the full extent of the site and the surrounding area. Florida’s Division of Historical Resources learned of the possible offshore site several months ago, and began working with their contacts at Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. The combined federal/state team, working with their resources and experts, then contacted NOAA for assistance. Read more on our blog.

Staff Updates

Caroline Cooper started at AHB in early March.

ERT Caroline Cooper started at the Atlantic Hydrographic Branch on March 1, 2017. She earned a BS from the College of Charleston in 2015 (in the Benthic Acoustic Mapping and Survey Program) and interned with NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration. Caroline will be helping with compilation of GeoPDFs, processing of backscatter data, and compilation and processing of outside source data. Welcome Caroline!

Opportunities

Application deadline for chief of the Pacific Hydrographic Branch detail as been extended
Hydrographic Services Division is accepting applications for a detail opportunity as branch chief of the Pacific Hydrographic Branch in Seattle. Applications are due March 24, 2017. The expected start date of the 150-day detail is June 5, 2017. If interested, please contact CDR Ben Evans, chief, Pacific Hydrographic Branch at benjamin.k.evans@noaa.gov.

did you know?

Coast Survey IT has an approved password manager!

It's called KeePass and allows users to store various passwords in a secure fashion. You only need to remember one password to open the application which stores your password information in an encrypted database. In order to get KeePass installed and configured on your workstation, just submit an Coast Survey IT services help desk ticket.

coming up

3/20-3/23 - U.S. Hydro 2017 Conference

3/22 - 3/23 Office reconfiguration - first phase of moving begins (see emails from Kathleen Jamison for details)

4/18-4/20 - Hydrographic Services Review Panel meeing in Seattle, WA

blog

Coast Survey joins Florida to survey sensitive site

Collaborative effort to create new nautical chart returns recreational boaters to Haverhill, Massachusetts

NOAA releases 2017 hydrographic survey season plans

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