NOAA hosts first open house on nautical cartography

NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey hosted the first NOAA open house on nautical cartography on Friday, July 7th. The event featured posters, presentations, and tours focusing on nautical cartography, highlighting the field of charting and GIS. Industry partners such as ESRI, CARIS, Fugro Palegos, Inc., and IIC Technologies, international mapping groups such as Cartography and Geographic Information Society (CaGIS) and General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO), government agencies such as U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Navy, and many international charting offices were in attendance. The open house welcomed a total of 200 visitors, representing 24 countries.
Karen Marks, a geophysicist with NOAA’s Center for Satellite Applications and Research, and Rochelle Wigley, project manager for the GEBCO at the University of New Hampshire’s Center for Coastal & Ocean Mapping/Joint Hydrographic Center, kicked off the event with an overview on current and future ocean mapping projects. Sessions that followed fell within four main themes: From Hydrography to Cartography, Nautical Products, Marine Spatial Data Infrastructure and Databases, and Innovative Cartography. Sessions provided a forum to report on current and future activities within these themes. A highlight of the day was the lightening round poster sessions where participants had the opportunity to present their projects as well as establish connections with other cartographers in the field of nautical charting.

John Nyberg (right), acting director of Coast Survey and Coast Survey’s Marine Chart Division chief, fields questions with Robert Greer (left), U.S. Navy, and Denise LaDue (center), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, during the From Hydrography to Cartography session.
John Nyberg (right), acting director of Coast Survey and Coast Survey’s Marine Chart Division chief, fields questions with Robert Greer (left), U.S. Navy, and Denise LaDue (center), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, during the From Hydrography to Cartography session.

Over 25 posters were displayed along with NOAA current and historical nautical charts, and NOAA Chart Tile Service in NOAA’s Science Center.
Over 25 posters were displayed along with NOAA current and historical nautical charts, and NOAA Chart Tile Service in NOAA’s Science Center.

Coast Survey values the work being done through our private sector partners, other government agencies, and international counterparts,” said John Nyberg, acting director of Coast Survey and Coast Survey’s Marine Chart Division chief. “It is events like these that allow us to share ideas, learn from each other, and better prepare for the future.”
NOAA Administrator, Ben Friedman, was also in attendance and noted to Dr. Shachak Pe’eri, chief of Marine Chart Division’s Chart Standards Branch and organizer of the event, that the open house was a great way to bring international colleagues together and he hoped to see this for years to come.
Dr. Shachak Pe’eri guides Ben Friedman, NOAA Administrator, through the poster session.
Dr. Shachak Pe’eri guides Ben Friedman, NOAA administrator, through the poster session.

Sean Legeer talks about NOAA nautical charts past, present, and future with Ben Friedman, NOAA Administrator.
Sean Legeer talks about NOAA nautical charts past, present, and future with Ben Friedman, NOAA administrator.

Dr. Shachak Pe’eri, Sladjana Maksimovic, and Megan Bartlett of Coast Survey’s Marine Chart Division, demonstrate Coast Survey data on Science on a Sphere.
Dr. Shachak Pe’eri, Sladjana Maksimovic, and Megan Bartlett of Coast Survey’s Marine Chart Division demonstrate Coast Survey data on Science on a Sphere.

This one-day event, held in the Science Center on NOAA’s Silver Spring, MD, campus, was planned in conjunction with with the 28th annual International Cartographic Conference 2017 (ICC) in Washington, D.C. where NOAA also had a presence with an exhibit booth and presentations. Following the open house, many international participants plan to stay for a 3-day chart adequacy workshop similar to the workshop held at this time last year.

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