Uncategorized – Office of Coast Survey

November 20, 2024November 21, 2024

NOAA contributes to Empowering Women in Hydrography through at-sea experience, part 8

The Empowering Women in Hydrography project is a global effort led by the International Hydrographic Organization and Canada that seeks to initiate, organize and track a series of activities and initiatives which will enable more women to participate equitably in the field of hydrography and to assume leadership roles within the hydrographic community. NOAA is contributing to the project via an ‘at-sea experience’ on NOAA hydrographic ships for three women each year over the lifespan of the project. After a global call for nominations, three women were selected to join NOAA ships for the 2024 survey season. Lieutenant Beltran Liced, from the Columbian Navy, joined NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson from 23 September to 2 October 2024, while conducting surveys off the coast of South Carolina.

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October 3, 2024December 3, 2024

NOAA’s nowCOAST improves BlueTopo access

A screen capture of the BlueTopo data layer displayed in NOAA's nowCOAST showing the entrance to Long Island Sound.

NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey produces and maintains several types of data models and products, from operational forecast systems to nautical charts. One of these models comes from the office’s National Bathymetric Source, or NBS, program which creates and maintains high-resolution bathymetry composed of the best available data. Bathymetry is a term that refers to the depths and shapes of underwater terrain and is a visualization of the “beds” or “floors” of water bodies, including the ocean, rivers, streams, and lakes. This data model is available to the public in a product called BlueTopo.

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August 20, 2024August 20, 2024

Data dissemination web interface supports navigation

Waves on the sea beach on a cloudy rainy day

Imagine navigating a vessel along the coast and planning the approach to your destination, whether that be a local marina or large vessel berth in a harbor. What factors affecting the movement of the vessel should you be aware of once underway and in transit through the entrance and into the port? These may include observations on the present and forecasted weather, water current speed and direction, water depths and tidal direction, and any anomalies or warnings that may exist. Knowing what these factors are will assist you in preparing your vessel for safe passage to the destination.

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August 31, 2022

Help keep nautical charts up to date through citizen science

A graphic showing an artistic Citizen Science banner.

NOAA maintains a suite of nearly 2000 electronic navigational charts (NOAA ENC®), as well as the ten volume United States Coast Pilot®. The seafloor and coastline are dynamic environments, which means that our products are constantly scrutinized for possible changes. Each year we make thousands of updates to ENCs, ensuring we are providing the most accurate products possible. The source data for most of these updates comes from NOAA or contractor surveys or from our federal partners, such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Coast Guard. However, we also rely on many other data sources to help keep our ENCs up-to-date.

November 22, 2021March 23, 2022

Backscatter and oil platforms – a Channel Islands adventure

Image showing Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, oil platforms, and the sheets covering the project area.

By HAST Bailey Schrader, Operations Officer Lt. Shelley Devereaux and HST Adriana Varchetta

After enjoying the California sunshine in San Francisco Bay, NOAA Ship Fairweather began its transit down the coast towards Santa Barbara, California. The ship would not anchor for the next sixteen days, leaving all crew on 24-hour rotations. Thankfully, the already attenuated crew was visited by augmenting scientists and hydrographers – Physical Scientist Devereaux from the Pacific Hydrographic Branch, HHST Arboleda from NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson, and HAST Schrader from NOAA Ship Rainier. Together, they traveled south to complete one of the last projects of the season, the area in and around Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary.

June 30, 2021March 23, 2022

Collecting aerial images on the Chesapeake’s Western Shore

U.S. Naval Academy bridge crossing the Severn River

By Tom Loeper

Early in the morning of June 15, John Doroba and Tom Loeper met with Anne Arundel Park Ranger Adam Smith to collect aerial oblique images of several rivers on the Western Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. These images will be used to update existing content in the United States Coast Pilot 3, Atlantic Coast: Sandy Hook, New Jersey to Cape Henry, Virginia. In addition to acquiring images, experience gained during the field exercise will be used to update aerial photography specifications in the Coast Pilot manual.

May 21, 2021March 23, 2022

Remembering Rear Admiral Richard T. Brennan

It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Rear Admiral Richard “Rick” Brennan, Director of NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey. Rick passed away the evening of Thursday, May 13, 2021. A loyal and deeply empathetic leader, Rick served the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps and nautical charting community for nearly three decades. Rick will be remembered for his passion for NOAA’s mission, as a role model for countless employees, a talented and knowledgeable hydrographer, and a man dedicated to family and friendship.

May 7, 2021March 23, 2022

Coast Survey to shut down the Raster Navigational Chart Tile Service and other related services

NOAA will shut down its Raster Navigational Chart (RNC) Tile Service and the online RNC Viewer on October 1, 2021. The NOAA Seamless Raster Navigational Chart Services will be shut down on January 1, 2022. This is part of a larger NOAA program to end production and maintenance of all NOAA traditional paper and raster nautical charts that was announced in the Federal Register in November 2019.

November 24, 2020March 23, 2022

NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson returns to survey approaches to Chesapeake Bay during the 2020 field season

By Hydrographic Assistant Survey Technician Sophia Tigges

For the first portion of the 2020 field season, NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson surveyed approaches to Chesapeake Bay. Thomas Jefferson’s 2020 field season consisted of two 45-day “bubble” periods. A “bubble period” is the time a ship closes to personnel transfer while they shelter in place for seven days and undergo COVID-19 testing per NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operation’s COVID-19 protocol to mitigate exposure. The ship spent the entire first bubble working off the coast of North Carolina and Virginia for this project. These surveys served as a continuation of the ship’s work in the area in the 2019 season. (To learn more about Thomas Jefferson’s work in this area last year, read the 2019 post titled, “NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson tests innovative DriX unmanned surface vehicle.”

October 22, 2020

NOAA electronic navigational charts reduce accidents and provide benefits, study finds

NOAA ENC visible on a portable tablet on the bridge of a ship while navigating on the Mississippi River.

A nautical chart is one of the most fundamental tools available to the mariner. For nearly two centuries, they have provided the critical information for safe and efficient use of our nation’s waterways and for protection of our marine environment. Needless to say that most, if not all mariners have held a nautical chart in their hands, relying on the data to help them navigate safely. That confidence, the ability to avoid accidents, injury, and damage to property, has value, and this value provides the justification for chart production.