Presentation of the new INT chart 4149 and satellite-derived bathymetry workshop are highlights of the recent MACHC meeting in Brazil
John Nyberg and Kathryn Ries present INT chart 4149 at the
MesoAmerican Caribbean Sea Hydrographic Commission
meeting in Brazil.
Last week, Coast Survey deputy director,
Katie Ries, along with
John Nyberg,
Jesse Friedmann,
Dr. Shachak Pe’eri, and
LT Anthony Klemm, led a U.S. delegation to a meeting of the International Hydrographic Organization’s regional arm, the MesoAmerican Caribbean Sea Hydrographic Commission in Belem, Brazil. One of the highlights of the meeting was the presentation of the new INT chart 4149 that Coast Survey is producing with collaborative data contributions from Cuba and the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office. INT charts are specifically designed to be incorporated into global charting suites, so they require INT specific symbology and standards.
Ken Forster, branch chief in the Marine Chart Division, has been responsible for producing the new chart, with
Tangdi Yang,
Carson Gray,
Christie Ence,
Mike Gaeta, and
Sean Legeer leading the charge. Prior to the meeting, Dr. Pe’eri gave a workshop on satellite-derived bathymetry, which provides an important reconnaissance tool—particularly for developing countries—that allows them to identify priority survey areas and apply limited resources more efficiently. Thank you to
Julio Castillo and
Maria Cici for translating the course documents.
About Coast Survey’s involvement in MACHC
Coast Survey participates in the MACHC because of its significance to the safe transport of people and goods through ports, the importance of cruise line tourism, and the importance of the sensitive marine environment to the economy throughout the region.
John Nyberg (chair),
Jesse Friedmann (technical coordinator),
LT Anthony Klemm, and
Erich Frey manage one of the principal and most productive committees in the commission, the Integrated Charting Committee (MICC). The MICC serves to eliminate duplication and fill gaps for electronic and paper charts in the regional charting scheme. The MICC also manages an online ENC viewer that displays small scale ENCs from six member states in the region. This viewer is a first step towards a vision to ultimately build a regional marine data infrastructure to serve non-navigation uses to support the marine economy in the region. There are currently no alternative methods for viewing ENC data in the region without paying for a navigation service. Thanks to
Leland Snyder for managing the online viewer for the MICC.
The leadership of the commission rotates among the member countries every two years. Currently chaired by the Netherlands, Mexico was chosen to become the new chair of the commission, and the U.S./Coast Survey,
Katie Ries, was chosen as the new vice-chair of the commission. Coast Survey will lead the commission starting at the end of 2018. The last time the U.S. chaired was in 2002 by the U.S. Navy.
Collecting "lessons learned" on bathymetric databases from international counterparts
CAPT Rick Brennan participated in the Forum for Arctic Modelling and Observational Synthesis (FAMOS) working group meeting on bathymetric databases in Riga, Latvia. FAMOS is an international effort with participants from Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, seeking to develop common standards for better integration and collaboration around the Baltic Sea. NOAA's purpose in attending this meeting was to learn how other nations are developing bathymetric databases and see if there are "lessons learned" that we can incorporate into our efforts to develop a bathymetric database in support of our nautical charting program. Presentations and discussions focused on metadata, future products, data storage, and off-the-shelf data management systems.
Setting global standards for navigation products
With more than 80 countries developing navigation products used by ships circumnavigating the globe, it is important to have product standards that provide universal access to all products from appropriate systems. At the widely attended eNavigation Conference, Julia Powell, acting deputy chief of the Coast Survey Development Lab, gave a presentation explaining how the International Hydrographic Organization—with expert leadership from NOAA—is providing a standardized framework to create various navigation-related product specifications. The standards will improve public access to electronic navigation charts, ocean forecasts, high-resolution bathymetry, and maritime boundary information.
Staff updates
Kathleen Jamison has accepted the position of chief of Coast Survey's Resource Management Staff. Kathleen will also serve as Coast Survey's business manager. Since 2012, Kathleen has worked for the Resource Management Staff, formulating the President’s Budget narrative submissions and other budget scenarios for different funding levels, developing performance metrics for the Annual Operating Plan, preparing testimony for the director, and in general helping the office strategically position itself for the changing world of nautical charting and hydrographic surveying. Kathleen started at Coast Survey as a nautical cartographer in 2006 before moving into managing hydrographic survey projects, primarily in the Gulf of Mexico. More recently, Kathleen participated in NOAA's Leadership Competency Development Program from 2014 to 2016. Kathleen will assume the duties of chief starting January 4, while her permanent appointment is pending final processing by Workforce Management. Congratulations, Kathleen!
Mary Erickson, currently director of NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Sciences, will become the deputy director of the National Weather Service later this month. Mary has a long history with NOAA, having started her career in the NWS Office of Science and Technology as a research meteorologist. In 2005, she moved to the National Ocean Service, where she joined Coast Survey as chief of the Coast Survey Development Laboratory. She became acting director of the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science in April 2013 and director in March 2014. We look forward to working with her in her new position.
Lucy Hick, technical advisor for the Navigation Services Division (NSD), has been selected to be the acting deputy chief of NSD for the next three months. Lucy brings a wealth of experience to the position, having worked in the Coast Pilot branch, as a team lead for one of the navigation response teams, and has worked closely with our navigation managers. Congratulations, Lucy!
Ship stores
Running low on NOAA logo-wear? Get your t-shirts, hats, and other gear from our survey vessels' ship stores! New items are added when available so check back often.
New features in ArcGIS Online
The ArcGIS Online December update wraps up a great year with new software that features advanced GIS capabilities, more improvements to the user experience, and better ways to manage your account and share work. For those who use Story Maps, Esri now provides the ability to drag and drop images.
To learn about more updates included in the December release, visit the ArcGIS Online
What’s New page and check out the
ArcGIS Online blog.
New Course offerings from the Commerce Data Academy
The Commerce Data Academy is offering two free courses in January at the DOC building:
- Deep Learning -- January 10, 2017, 1:00-4:00pm EST
- Intro to Object Oriented Programming -- January 24, 2017, 1:00-4:00pm EST
These courses are available to Department of Commerce employees and contractors only. To register, please go to the Commerce Learning Center and for more information, visit the
Commerce Data Academy Website.
