Office of Coast Survey – Page 16

July 30, 2019October 13, 2023

NOAA hosts 2019 Nautical Cartography Open House and Chart Adequacy Workshop

Sean Legeer shows a digital cartography display to visiting students.

Last week, NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey held its third annual Nautical Cartography Open House welcoming over 250 attendees from the U.S. and abroad. Government agencies, industry and academic partners, and members of the public attended. The open house featured posters, presentations, tours, and exhibits centered around four themes: Bathymetric Databases, Custom Charting, Innovative Cartography, and Precision Navigation. Dr. Shachak Pe’eri, organizer of the event and chief of the Cartographic Support Branch in the Marine Chart Division, welcomed attendees in the morning and John Nyberg, chief of the Marine Chart Division, gave the keynote speech.

July 29, 2019October 13, 2023

NOAA completes hydrographic surveys following Hurricane Barry

Lt. j.g. Patrick Lawler and Lt. j.g. Michelle Levano remove the side scan sonar from the water.

By Lt. j.g. Michelle Levano

Seven tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean have been named Barry, with the first storm making landfall in 1983. In 2019, Hurricane Barry reached Category 1 status on July 13, becoming the first hurricane of the 2019 season.

On July 11, Office of Coast Survey’s Gulf Coast Navigation Manager, Tim Osborn, received requests from U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and local ports for resources to confirm navigational depths in Louisiana waters. Once a navigation manager receives requests for hydrographic surveys, Coast Survey formulates logistics to complete these requests. In the case of Hurricane Barry, Coast Survey’s navigation response team (NRT)- Stennis mobilized to respond to Port Fourchon, Louisiana’s southernmost port. Port Fourchon supports significant petroleum industry traffic coming in from the Gulf of Mexico, furnishing about 18% of the U.S. oil supply.

July 22, 2019October 13, 2023

NOAA releases new navigational chart viewers

On July 20, 2019, NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey unveiled two new GIS viewers — NOAA ENC® viewer and NOAA RNC® viewer — allowing users to seamlessly interact with NOAA’s various chart products.

July 16, 2019October 13, 2023

From historic air disasters to hurricane response, NOAA uses cutting edge science to survey the seafloor

NOAA ships Rude and Whiting's search limits off Martha’s Vineyard.

By Christine Burns

Hydrographic surveying continually evolves to improve safety, efficiency, and accuracy in data collection. From using side scan sonar equipment during hydrographic survey response efforts following air disasters in the late 1990s, to recent hurricane response efforts to re-open ports to maritime commerce, our science always strives to be cutting edge.

June 26, 2019October 13, 2023

A dynamic river calls for dynamic collaborations

Lt. j.g. Shelley Devereaux monitors survey collection near Price Island on the Columbia River.

By Lt. j.g. Michelle Levano, Officer in Charge, Navigation Response Team-Seattle

Navigation response team (NRT)-Seattle continued hydrographic survey work on one of the West’s most relentless rivers, the Columbia. The Columbia River is the lifeblood of the regional economy, expanding far beyond the natural divide it provides between the states of Oregon and Washington.

June 16, 2019December 11, 2024

Coast Survey spotlight: Meet Kurt Mueller

Ever wonder what it’s like to be a member of the NOAA Coast Survey team? We use the Coast Survey spotlight blog series as a way to periodically share the experiences of Coast Survey employees as they discuss their work, background, and advice.

Kurt Mueller, physical scientist

“The hydrographic data we acquire and review adds to the scientific knowledge of the seafloor and is valuable to other agencies to simulate sea level effects on coasts, identify sensitive marine habitats, and select alternative energy sites, among many other uses.”

June 10, 2019

Register for NOAA Nav-cast webinar – S-100 for System Implementers

NOAA Nav-cast announcement for S-100 System Implementers presentation

Join us for our first NOAA Nav-cast, a quarterly webinar series that highlights the tools and trends of NOAA navigation services.

S-100 for System Implementers
Learn about the S-100 Universal Hydrographic Data Model and what navigation system developers need to know in order to implement various S-100 based product specifications. Also, gain insight into NOAA’s work in the S-100 product development space for S-111 surface currents.

Date and time: Tuesday, June 18, 2019 at 11 a.m. (EDT)
How to register: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7354579801420345345

June 7, 2019October 13, 2023

Centennial anniversary of aerial surveying and mapping

By Kevin Mackenzie

A year after Coast and Geodetic Survey (C&GS) Director Ernest Lester Jones returned from World War I, he took the Survey’s mission to the sky. From his time in war, Jones understood the advantages that airplane photography had for locating military features of the enemy. In his 1919 annual report to Commerce Secretary William C. Redfield, he noted, “The same principle employed in the military work can be used in surveying and mapping.” The following months would produce a series of tests and research in cooperation with the Air Services of the Army and Navy.

May 22, 2019March 24, 2025

NOAA releases 2019 hydrographic survey plans

NOAA Hydrographic Survey Projects 2019 story map cover

NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey is the nation’s nautical chartmaker, and maintains a suite of more than a thousand nautical charts. Coast Survey is responsible for charting U.S. waters and Great Lakes covering 3.4 million square nautical miles (SNM) of water and 95,000 miles of coastline.

NOAA’s hydrographic survey ships along with hydrographic contractor vessels, recently kicked off the 2019 hydrographic survey season. These surveys not only update the suite of nautical charts, but also help to maintain the safety of maritime commerce, recreational boaters, natural ecosystems, and much more. Operations are scheduled for maritime priority areas around the country and are outlined in Coast Survey’s “living” story map. Here is a list of where they are headed this year:

May 7, 2019October 13, 2023

NOAA releases new edition of nautical chart symbol guide

Edition 13 of U.S. Chart No. 1 is now available to download for free on Coast Survey’s website. Paper copies may also be purchased from any of four NOAA Chart No. 1 publishing agents.

This 130-page book describes the symbols, abbreviations, and terms used on paper NOAA nautical charts and for displaying NOAA electronic navigational chart (NOAA ENC®) data on Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS). The document also shows paper chart symbols used by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and symbols specified by the International Hydrographic Organization.