Office of Coast Survey – Page 19

September 12, 2018September 29, 2025

NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson presents survey work to Puerto Rico South Coast stakeholders

By Cmdr. Chris van Westendorp, Commanding Officer of NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson

Almost one year following the passage and destruction of Hurricane Maria, NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson has returned to Puerto Rico. Following the storm, Thomas Jefferson deployed in September 2017 for hydrographic hurricane response work in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (PR/USVI). The ship and crew surveyed 18 individual port facilities to ensure safety of navigation and help re-open the region for maritime commerce. Thomas Jefferson’s second major project of 2018 has brought the ship back to Puerto Rico from August to November, conducting follow-up survey work along the north and south coasts.

September 11, 2018April 24, 2026

NOAA readies survey response teams ahead of Hurricane Florence

Hurricane Florence is due to make landfall on Friday morning, September 14, on the coast of North Carolina. While it creeps its way toward the East Coast, NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey is prepared to deploy its hydrographic survey assets to help speed the resumption of vessel traffic in our nation’s ports following the storm.

September 5, 2018April 24, 2026

NOAA surveys support safe anchorage in the Columbia River

By Lt. j.g. Michelle Levano

Starting in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, the Columbia River flows through Washington state and turns west to form the border of Washington and Oregon, serving as the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region.

The river and its tributaries are central to Pacific Northwest culture and the lifeblood of the regional economy. The Columbia River is the West Coast’s leader in foreign trade supporting 50 million tons of dry bulk, mineral bulk, wood, and auto imports and exports. It is also the nation’s leading wheat export gateway and second for corn and soybean exports.

August 14, 2018January 21, 2026

Coast Survey spotlight: Meet Lt. Bart Buesseler

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.

Lt. Bart Buesseler, navigation manager

“It is extremely rewarding to interact with our users and see how important our products are to their livelihoods. I’ve always known our work was “important”, but to actually get that feedback on a daily basis from the users motivates me to come to work every day.”

August 6, 2018April 24, 2026

From NOAA Ship Fairweather to Mt. Fairweather: Commanding officer summits ship’s namesake

The high camp, at an elevation of 10,400 feet on the Grand Plateau Glacier.

By Cmdr. Mark Van Waes, former commanding officer of NOAA Ship Fairweather

Mount Fairweather stands tall above Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, dominating the skyline for miles around (when weather permits visibility). Only about 12 miles inshore from the Gulf of Alaska and soaring to 15,325 feet, it is one of the highest coastal peaks in the world.

August 3, 2018April 24, 2026

NOAA researches autonomous survey system in the Arctic

The unmanned surface vehicle BEN launched from NOAA Ship Fairweather. Photo by Christina Belton, NOAA.

By Rob Downs, Office of Coast Survey unmanned systems projects lead

A team composed of research engineers and a graduate student from the University of New Hampshire Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping/Joint Hydrographic Center (UNH CCOM/JHC) and personnel from NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey are aboard the NOAA Ship Fairweather to test UNH’s BEN (Bathymetric Explorer and Navigator) unmanned surface vehicle (USV). On Saturday, July 28, the Fairweather made the first successful launch of a USV for an operational hydrographic survey from a NOAA vessel in the Arctic. The team conducted four additional deployments, including an extended overnight survey made in coordination with the ship.

July 30, 2018April 24, 2026

NOAA welcomes local and international attendees at 2018 Nautical Cartography Open House

RDML Tim Gallaudet (Navy, ret.) with Sean Leger of Coast Survey

Last week NOAA Coast Survey welcomed approximately 170 attendees representing 17 countries to the 2018 Nautical Cartography Open House. Industry partners, members of the public, and other government agencies attended, including the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Naval Hydrographic and Oceanic Service (SHOM) from France, Canadian Hydrographic Service, Dalian Naval Academy, National Taiwan Ocean University, and the Joint Hydrographic Center/Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping (JHC/CCOM).

July 25, 2018April 24, 2026

NOAA hosts 2018 Chart Adequacy Workshop

On July 23, NOAA Coast Survey hosted a three-day Chart Adequacy Workshop that included participants from 13 countries. This is the fourth Chart Adequacy Workshop held at NOAA’s Silver Spring, Maryland campus.

The participants of the 2018 Chart Adequacy Workshop.

The main goal of the workshop is to provide training for professional cartographers and hydrographers on techniques for assessing nautical chart adequacy using publicly-available information, such as satellite images and maritime automatic identification system (AIS) data. The participants received an overview on Coast Survey datasets, processes, and requirements for nautical charts. They also learned about preprocessing hydrographic data, such as loading charts, uploading imagery, and applying electronic navigation charts (ENCs) and AIS point data. Through a series of lab units, the attendees practiced performing the concepts they learned.

July 20, 2018April 24, 2026

NOAA surveys the unsurveyed, leading the way in the U.S. Arctic

President Thomas Jefferson, who founded Coast Survey in 1807, commissioned Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery Expedition in 1803, the first American expedition to cross the western portion of the contiguous United States. Today there remains a vast western America territory that is largely unknown and unexplored – the U.S. waters off the coast of Alaska. As a leader in ocean mapping, NOAA Coast Survey launches hydrographic expeditions to discover what lies underneath the waves.

Alaska is one-fifth the size of the contiguous United States, and has more than 33,000 milesof shoreline. In fact, the Alaskan coast comprises 57 percentof the United States’ navigationally significant waters and all of the United States’ Arctic territory. Alaskan and Arctic waters are largely unchartedwith modern surveys, and many areas that have soundings were surveyed using early lead line technology from the time of Capt. Cook, before the region was part of the United States. Currently only 4.1 percent of the U.S. maritime Arctic has been charted to modern international navigation standards.

July 17, 2018December 11, 2024

Coast Survey spotlight: Meet Erin Weller

Erin Weller, a data manager for Coast Survey.

Erin Weller, Data Manager

Our hydrographic data contributes to safe navigation, and I ensure data integrity is maintained during data transfers. The data and products we create are made available to the public on NCEI’s website and can be used for other research including fisheries habitat studies, tsunami modeling, and digital mapping.

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