Coast Survey Biweekly Newsletter

February 24, 2021

Hello Coast Survey,

Last week I had the honor of representing you at a few international and interagency meetings, and as usual, I was really proud of what you have accomplished in recent years, and the direction we are going. I was particularly struck by how much Coast Surveyors have contributed to an impressively active and forward-leaning period in international work.

I know that few of you follow this closely, and some don't see the direct link between these activities and the core work of Coast Survey, and mostly hear a bewildering alphabet soup of acronyms. I will leave them out of this summary.

The navigation risk assessment we conducted for the Arctic laid the groundwork for hydro health, and has become a key talking point within the broader Arctic policy discussion. (M. Gonsalves, S. Greenaway, C. Allen)
The standards we have designed and implemented not only for charting, but for a broad range of services, are the basis for the future of navigation, through our Precision Navigation program and similar services around the world. (J. Powell, R. Brennan)
The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) stood up a new council to accelerate the pace of decisions and to modernize its strategic direction. Under NOAA leadership, the council developed a broad new strategic plan for the IHO that is also a blueprint for the world's hydrographic offices. This mirrors our own work to develop next generation navigation services, to make our data available and usable for other ocean and coastal stakeholders, and to engage more broadly in ocean policy, governance and science forums. (S. Smith, J. Justi, J. Nyberg)
The regional hydrographic commission for the Caribbean region is leading the world in development of a regional roadmap for Seabed 2030, using our own programs as reference. (K. Ries, E. Frey, P. Pacheco, A. Maxwell)
We have led the development of a global framework for service coordination and delivery for next generation navigation services. (J. Nyberg)
We contributed to the rapid development and approval of the next generation of specifications for hydrographic surveys, which our own hydro specifications and deliverables reference. (M. Greenaway, N. Weston)
While a global consensus has yet to develop, our own priority shift toward electronic navigational charts and away from paper has led to a global reckoning on the issue, and several large hydrographic offices are following our lead. The U.S. Defense community is building their transition under NOAA guidance and training in our offices.
Our unique global chart distribution agreement not only increases the reach of our electronic navigational charts, but has also improved thier quality, and pays for two of our employees to conduct quality assessments. (J. Nyberg, S. Legeer, MCD)
Coast Survey modeling goes global! With the launch of the Global Extratropical Storm Surge and Tide Operational Forecast System at the end of last year, we now have global modeling services for water levels and storm surge. This model is useful on both sides of the coast – for water levels in navigation and inundation on land. (G. Seroka, S. Pe’eri, N. Weston)

The Hydrographic Survey’s Division (HSD) is currently hosting NOAA's annual Basic Hydro School. This year's training is being held remotely, with attendees throughout the contiguous United States, Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. This intensive course includes the fundamentals of underwater acoustics, sonar theory, positioning and datum information, theory-based training, and includes an introduction to the technical aspects of NOAA's hydrographic mission. Personnel from NOAA ships Rainier, Fairweather, Thomas Jefferson, Pisces, Reuben Lasker, Nancy Foster, and Ronald H. Brown, HSD operations, and navigation response teams, are among the students. Attendees also include the U.S. Coast Guard, Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, Navy, and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Instructors from across the hydrographic community include personnel from the Atlantic Hydrographic Branch, the Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Service, National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, NOAA ships Fairweather and Thomas Jefferson, Coast Survey, and Pacific Hydrographic Branch. Training began on February 1, and will run through February 26. For more information contact Gabriella.E.McGann@noaa.gov.

Lucila Bloemendaal is a coastal geologist working on her PhD at Boston University, where she studies salt marsh erosion and the impacts of large storms on marsh resilience. Growing up, she spent time in various locations including New Orleans, Houston, and the Netherlands, before landing in North Carolina for college. She received her bachelor of science in Earth and Ocean Sciences at Duke University, where she enjoyed exploring the world through the lens of geoscience, including field trips to Yellowstone and Ireland. Her research subjects at Duke varied from plant epigenetics to paleoceanography, and she interned at the National Geodetic Survey through the Hollings scholar program. While not working, she enjoys baking, exploring the outdoors, and spoiling her housemate’s pet. Lucila is happy to be (virtually) back at the National Ocean Service and very excited to support Coast Survey during her fellowship year.

Long time Coast Survey staff member Kristen Crossett has accepted a position with the Office of Ocean Exploration and Research and will be starting there on March 1. Kristen’s dedication to Coast Survey during her time here has been exemplary. Kristen worked to ensure that Coast Survey stakeholders have the latest information distributed through the blog and social media accounts (having recently added LinkedIn to the portfolio). Kristen was instrumental in reviewing materials, copy-editing documents, creating graphics, and assisting with cover designs on many Marine Chart Division initiatives including the National Charting Plan, transforming electronic navigational charts and sunsetting traditional NOAA charts. She has truly been central to all Coast Survey initiatives, including contributions to a National Ocean Mapping Strategy, Seabed 2030, enhancing the communications profile of the International Hydrographic Organization, along with countless presentations and talking points, rollout plans, and infographics. Kristen is a kind and pleasant person who has gone above and beyond with every task that she is assigned and has performed her duties with such professionalism. It has been an honor and pleasure to work with her, and she will be missed as a colleague and a friend.

Andrew H. Stevens, a University of New Hampshire computer science graduate student within the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping/Joint Hydrographic Center (CCOM/JHC), has successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation titled, “An Empirical Evaluation of Visual Cues for 3D Flow Field Perception.” Drew’s research focused on studying the underlying human visual perception cues that influence the effectiveness of various data visualization techniques that are used to convey flow direction and magnitude within large 3D oceanic and atmospheric flow datasets—including those being generated by NOAA’s modelling and simulation programs. Drew will continue his work in CCOM/JHC’s Data Visualization Research Lab as a research scientist, where he will apply his skills and experience to exploring new methods for interactive visual analysis of oceanographic data and increasing the safety of marine navigation.

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