Category: bathymetry

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New NOAA precision navigation program increases safety, efficiency for maritime commerce

Mariners face complex decisions as ever-larger vessels make their way through congested U.S. ports.

By Capt. Liz Kretovic, deputy hydrographer of the Office of Coast Survey

Nowadays, many cars have sensors, video cameras, and other technology installed to help drivers park in tight spaces. Now imagine you are trying to parallel park a tractor-trailer on an icy hill, against a strong crosswind, with millions of dollars of products that depend on your precise execution. Dynamic conditions, tight spaces, and high stakes are exactly the scenario that many commercial vessels face as they move 95 percent of the United States’ foreign trade in and out of U.S. ports and waterways. In a manner comparable to the way car technology supports drivers, NOAA has launched a new program to develop the next generation of marine navigation tools that provide mariners with the information they need to safely and efficiently transport maritime commerce. This next generation of products is referred to as precision navigation.
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The world of S-100: Updated framework of maritime data standards to be released in 2018

Navigation products that follow the updated S-100 framework will allow many aspects of maritime navigation to be better connected. Image credit: Korea Hydrographic and Oceanographic Agency

By Julia Powell, deputy chief of the Coast Survey Development Lab

As e-Navigation becomes more popular, mariners are provided with streams of maritime data from multiple sources that allow them to more safely and efficiently navigate the seas. However, as the amount of information and number of sources grows, there is a need to standardize the data so it can be easily integrated and seamlessly displayed on navigation systems. Later this year, the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) will publish edition 4.0.0 of S-100 – Universal Hydrographic Data Model. S-100 is the IHO’s framework for the standardization of maritime data products such as high resolution bathymetry, surface currents, marine protected areas, and the new standards for electronic navigational charts (ENCs).
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NOAA announces launch of crowdsourced bathymetry database

The crowdsourced bathymetry database, displayed in the IHO Data Centre for Digital Bathymetry Data Viewer, has an updated user interface.

By Lt. Cmdr. Adam Reed, Integrated Oceans and Coastal Mapping (IOCM) assistant coordinator

Today NOAA announces the end of a testing phase in the development of a new crowdsourced bathymetry database. Bathymetric observations and measurements from participants in citizen science and crowdsourced programs are now archived and made available to the public through the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) Data Centre for Digital Bathymetry (DCDB) Data Viewer. The operationalized database allows free access to millions of ocean depth data points, and serves as a powerful source of information to improve navigational products.
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First U.S. federal channel using USACE survey data receives improved quality classification from NOAA

By Rachel Medley

The U.S. federal channel in the Delaware Bay is vital to maritime commerce, leading deep draft vessel traffic to and from the major ports of Wilmington, Delaware,  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Camden, New Jersey. To navigate this federally maintained waterway safely and efficiently, mariners rely on the surveyed depths displayed on nautical charts. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Philadelphia District regularly surveys this area, utilizing sophisticated techniques and equipment to map the depths of the seafloor. NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey, in turn, adds quality classifications to these channel depths and displays them on the nautical chart.
The portion of the federal channel from Newbold Channel Range down to the mouth of the Delaware Bay is the first waterway in the U.S. to have an improved quality classification assigned to USACE survey data—category of zone of confidence (CATZOC)  A2. Improving survey quality and upgrading the CATZOC classification allows operators to accommodate smaller margins of error while still ensuring that navigating maritime approaches and constrained environments remain safe. These decreased tolerances allow ships to maximize their loads, ultimately increasing inbound and outbound cargoes.
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Poster symposium marks milestone for inaugural class of the NOAA certification program in nautical cartography

NOAA’s Christie Ence (left), Megan Bartlett (third from left), and Noel Dyer (right) explain their posters to attendees of the poster symposium at the University of Maryland.
NOAA’s Christie Ence (left), Megan Bartlett (third from left), and Noel Dyer (right) explain their posters to attendees of the poster symposium at the University of Maryland.

Students of NOAA’s certification program in nautical cartography completed their final projects and presented them along with other Master of Professional Studies in GIS students during a poster symposium at the University of Maryland’s Department of Geographical Sciences. At the event, NOAA students explained their capstone projects and described how their research benefits nautical charting at NOAA. Project topics included:

  • Improving Shoreline Application to NOAA Electronic Navigational Charts, Megan Bartlet
  • An Automated Approach to Generate Nautical Vector Features from Raster Bathymetric Attributed Grid Data, Noel Dyer
  • Developing a Rasterization Procedure for Vector Chart Data, Christie Ence
  • NOAA Chart Discrepancies: A Temporal and Spatial Analysis for Navigation Response Teams, Lt. Cmdr. Matt Forney
  • Airborne Lidar Bathymetry’s Impact on NOAA Charts, Andres Garrido
  • Validating and Refining the Proposed Rescheming of NOAA Electronic Navigational Charts, Colby Harmon
  • High Resolution Bathymetry as an Alternative to Charting Controlling Depths in U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Channels, Craig Winn
  • Satellite Derived Bathymetry: An Alternative Analysis to Nautical Chart Updates, Aleah Worthem

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NOAA adds grid overlay to chart anchorage areas in Port of New York and New Jersey

A grid overlay of anchorage grounds in the updated Port of New York and New Jersey ENCs, US5NY19M and US5NY1CM

NOAA Coast Survey recently released updates for two NOAA electronic navigational charts (NOAA ENC®) in the Port of New York and New Jersey, which added a permanent grid system overlay to anchorages in Bay Ridge, Graves End, and Stapleton. Coast Survey performed the update at the request of the Harbor Operations Steering Committee and collaborated with the Sandy Hook Pilots Association and U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Sector New York’s Vessel Traffic Services (VTS). 
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Online NOAA Custom Chart lets boaters create their own charts

NOAA Custom Chart makes it easy for users to create a personalized chart.

A prototype version of a powerful new online tool, NOAA Custom Chart, is now available for boaters and other nautical chart users. The application enables users to define the scale and paper size of custom-made nautical charts centered on a position of their choosing. Once the functionality of this prototype is fully developed, NOAA Custom Chart will be an easy way for boaters to create a paper or digital back-up for the electronic chart system or other GPS-enabled chart display that they are using on board.
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NOAA mobile integrated survey team prepares for hurricane season

NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey is the federal leader in emergency hydrographic response. Consecutive strong storms during the 2017 hurricane season made response efforts challenging, and emphasized the importance of having a well-trained and versatile staff. Coast Survey’s regional navigation managers, navigation response teams (NRTs), and mobile integrated survey team (MIST) worked with partners before and after the storms to quickly and safely reopen ports and waterways.
The MIST equipment is a mobile, quick-install side scan and single beam sonar kit that can be quickly set up on a vessel of opportunity. Recently, Coast Survey sent the MIST team to Astoria, Oregon to conduct a hydrographic survey of the Mott Basin area, which the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) requested to confirm charted depth and obstruction data. Continue reading “NOAA mobile integrated survey team prepares for hurricane season”

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NOAA navigation response team investigates hazardous shoal off Rockaway Point, NY

Recently, NOAA navigation response team 5 (NRT5), responded to a survey request from U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Sector New York following several groundings near Rockaway Point in Queens, New York. Waves and currents often influence the size and shape of nearshore sandbars, and the USCG was concerned that a sandbar may have expanded beyond the area depicted on the nautical chart. Lt. j.g. Dylan Kosten, Eli Smith, and Michael Bloom traveled from New London, Connecticut, to Jersey City, New Jersey, to launch their vessel and start the survey of the area.
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NOAA navigation response team locates sunken vessel before nor’easter strikes

Multibeam Imagery of the vessel

On March 12, 2018, NOAA Coast Survey’s navigation response team 5 (NRT5) located the T/V Captain Mackintire, an 80-foot towing vessel that sank off the coast of Kennebunkport, Maine. The U.S. Coast Guard requested assistance finding the vessel, citing concerns of environmental hazards due to an unknown amount of fuel remaining onboard.
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