Posts

Posted on

NOAA surveys for recreational boat traffic safety in Tampa Bay

Multibeam echo sounder coverage. Credit: NOAA

NOAA’s navigation response team 2 (NRT2), homeported in Fernandina Beach, Florida, conducted a survey around the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, which spans Tampa Bay. The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and additional members of the Tampa Bay Harbor Safety Committee requested the work and expressed interest in establishing alternate routes for recreational boating traffic. Alternative routes will alleviate increasing congestion where the main ship channel passes beneath the bridge. This area is naturally restrictive to navigation and, as a result, there have been multiple accidents and near accidents here in the past. Continue reading “NOAA surveys for recreational boat traffic safety in Tampa Bay”

Posted on

The second launching of the first Coast and Geodetic Survey ship PATHFINDER

Capt. Skip Theberge, NOAA ret., Rear Adm. Shepard Smith, NOAA, and ear Adm. Tim Gallaudet, USN ret., unveil the Pathfinder painting.

Today the NOAA Central Library unveiled the newly restored painting, Pathfinder, painted in 1899 by renowned maritime artist, Antonio Jacobsen. Included as part of the NOAA Central Library Rare Books collection, the painting is the oldest extant painting of a NOAA ancestor ship in the possession of NOAA.
Continue reading “The second launching of the first Coast and Geodetic Survey ship PATHFINDER”

Posted on

Introducing New Gulf of Maine Operational Forecast System

Sample display of the Gulf of Maine Operational Forecast System’s nowcast output of the surface current field (white arrows) and water levels (background color) on 12:00 UTC, January 10, 2018.

This month, NOAA unveiled the new Gulf of Maine Operational Forecast System (GoMOFS). This system provides users with real-time and forecasts of surface water levels, 3-D fields of water currents, water temperature, and salinity out to 72 hours. GoMOFS predictions support safe and efficient marine navigation, allowing mariners to plan their routes and avoid accidents. The system’s nowcasts and forecasts can also aid in emergency response, ecological applications, coastal management, and harmful algal bloom forecasts. Continue reading “Introducing New Gulf of Maine Operational Forecast System”

Posted on

Surveyor Spotlight: NOAA navigation response team member, Erin Diurba

Erin Diurba, hydrographic surveyor on NOAA navigation response team 4, homeported in Galveston, Texas.

Have you ever wondered what it is like to work on a NOAA navigation response team (NRT) or what makes our team members experts in their field?

The Office of Coast Survey deploys NRTs across the country to conduct emergency hydrographic surveys requested by the U.S. Coast Guard, port officials, and other first responders in the wake of accidents and natural events that create navigation hazards. In their day‐to‐day, non‐emergency role, the NRTs work in the nation’s busiest ports, surveying for dangers to navigation and updating nautical chart products.

Meet Erin Diurba, a NOAA navigation response team member homeported in Galveston, Texas. Her self-described “survey wanderlust” has taken her across the globe to gain hydrographic surveying expertise on diverse teams and in unique environments. She tells her story here in this story map.

Continue reading “Surveyor Spotlight: NOAA navigation response team member, Erin Diurba”
Posted on

NOAA navigation response team responds after ferry strikes submerged object

By Lt. j.g. Dylan Kosten

On November 27, 2017, a New York City ferry departing from Pier 11 in the East River struck an underwater pylon, stranding over 100 passengers. The pylon was most likely from the remains of an old pier demolished several years earlier. At the request of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), NOAA’s navigation response team 5 (NRT 5), homeported in New London, Connecticut, assisted in the investigation.
Continue reading “NOAA navigation response team responds after ferry strikes submerged object”

Posted on

NOAA Corps officers play important role in hydrography at NOAA

ENS Michelle Levano helps guide a launch back to NOAA Ship Rainier during a hydrographic surveying project in Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, California.

By Nick Perugini

In 2017, we celebrated the NOAA Corps Centennial, marking 100 years of valued service to the nation. Today’s NOAA Corps officers play an important role in the Office of Coast Survey. Officers serve as field hydrographers, technical experts, and managers throughout the charting organization. There is a distinct career path for NOAA Corps officers in Coast Survey that provides the opportunity to develop technical expertise in hydrography and at the same time, advance in rank in the NOAA Corps.  
Continue reading “NOAA Corps officers play important role in hydrography at NOAA”

Posted on

NOAA Office of Coast Survey wraps up a busy 2017 hurricane season

The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season was powerful, with the strongest storms occurring consecutively from late August to early October. The sequential magnitude of four hurricanes in particular—Harvey, Irma, Maria, and Nate—made response efforts challenging for NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey. Coast Survey summarized this season’s response efforts along with the efforts of NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson (operated by NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operations) in the following story map. Continue reading “NOAA Office of Coast Survey wraps up a busy 2017 hurricane season”

Posted on

NOAA completes multi-year ocean mapping project off the Olympic Coast

In September 2017, NOAA’s Integrated Ocean and Coastal Mapping Program completed a multi-year ocean mapping project off the coast of Washington in Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary. This project grew out of a seafloor mapping prioritization exercise led by NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science on behalf of the State of Washington in May 2015. The prioritization exercise integrated the priorities of coastal stakeholders representing numerous federal and state (Oregon and Washington) agencies, coastal treaty tribes, and academic institutions to determine where to concentrate future survey efforts. One identified priority was the need for a better understanding of the bathymetry and habitats of Washington’s submarine canyons, particularly three offshore areas in need of enhanced data collection efforts. Continue reading “NOAA completes multi-year ocean mapping project off the Olympic Coast”