{"id":185445,"date":"2026-02-19T13:26:45","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T13:26:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nauticalcharts.noaa.gov\/updates\/?p=185445"},"modified":"2026-02-19T13:34:56","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T13:34:56","slug":"office-of-coast-survey-2025-year-in-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nauticalcharts.noaa.gov\/updates\/office-of-coast-survey-2025-year-in-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Office of Coast Survey: 2025 Year in Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Since 1807, Coast Survey has endured to keep mariners safe and maritime commerce flowing, under the leadership of now 32 superintendents and directors<\/a>. 2025 was Coast Survey\u2019s last under Rear Admiral (lower half) Benjamin K. Evans, who was relieved as Director in early 2026<\/a> by Rear Admiral (lower half) Christiaan van Westendorp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coast Survey is excited for what\u2019s to come under RDML van Westendorp\u2019s leadership\u2013the continued evolution of the National Bathymetric Source program, two new hydrographic ships built from the keel-up to incorporate uncrewed systems, more S-100 rollouts, and more\u2013but wanted to first look back on everything the office accomplished in 2025 to build a strong foundation for a safer, more efficient marine economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Accomplishments detailed below are organized in line with Coast Survey\u2019s Strategic Plan<\/a>, which sets our course towards the following goals:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Expand and strengthen U.S. capabilities to acquire high-value ocean and coastal geospatial data.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Deliver products and services that advance safe navigation, increase coastal resilience, and support data-driven decision making.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Enhance and sustain a highly skilled workforce.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Evolve Coast Survey\u2019s systems and processes to improve timely product development and delivery.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    \"An<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Expand acquisition of high-value ocean and coastal geospatial data<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    2025 Hydrographic Survey Projects<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Hydrographic survey ships, navigation response teams, and contractors began their survey season in March 2025. The ships and survey vessels collected 68,090 linear nautical miles of bathymetric data to support nautical charting, modeling, and research, but also collect other environmental data to support a variety of ecosystem sciences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Visit the 2025 ArcGIS StoryMap<\/a> to learn more about these mapping projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"A
    Time lapse of bathymetric coverage collected by NOAA Ship Fairweather for the Approaches to Revillagigedo project<\/a> in Alaska. (LT Airlie Pickett and HST Cynthia Tong\/NOAA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Progress on Mapping U.S. Waters<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    In 2025, the Federal Interagency Working Group on Ocean and Coastal Mapping released the sixth annual report on progress made in mapping U.S. ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes waters<\/a>. Adding roughly 71,500 square nautical miles of new, publicly-accessible, bathymetric data to the analysis in calendar year 2024, the report showed that 46% of U.S. waters remain unmapped as of January 2025. This annual report is used to track progress toward national goals<\/a> to fully map U.S. ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes waters by 2040. Previous reports may be found at the webpage, Status of Seafloor Mapping Within U.S. Waters<\/a>. The next annual assessment of unmapped U.S. waters will be published in March 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"A
    A map showing areas of unmapped seafloor (red) within U.S. ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes waters as of January 2025. (NOAA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Hydrographic survey data supports DCA aircraft collision recovery efforts<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    On January 29, 2025, a commercial jetliner and a U.S. Army helicopter collided in midair over the Potomac River, near Washington\u2019s Ronald Reagan National Airport. On February 2, the U.S. Coast Guard and District of Columbia Fire Department requested NOAA Coast Survey\u2019s expertise in hydrographic surveying to locate wreckage from the incident<\/a> using multibeam and side scan sonar technology. Once Coast Survey arrived, the incident command team turned over virtually all survey operations, particularly in the shallow water debris field, to our field units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Coast Survey navigation response teams worked alongside the National Transportation Safety Board, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DC Fire and EMS, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and other partners for eight straight days until the recovery effort was largely complete. In total, the navigation response teams acquired 32 linear nautical miles of multibeam echosounder data and 26 linear nautical miles of side scan sonar data. From these data, the location and acoustic imagery of 58 objects were provided directly to Navy, DC Fire, and FBI divers to focus their salvage efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Four
    Scenes from the Navigation Response Team\u2019s recovery efforts after the DCA Mid-Air collision (NOAA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Port of Valdez Seafloor is Fully Mapped via the Brennan Ocean Mapping Fund<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Coast Survey successfully partnered<\/a> with the City of Valdez, Alaska to complete hydrographic surveys in Port Valdez. The project focused on obtaining modern data on the unconsolidated sediments in Valdez basin to better inform landslide and tsunami models from earthquakes, as well as to update nautical charting products in the area. Responding to local needs for additional data to improve hazard forecasting models, the project area included Valdez Glacier lake, which is located above the City of Valdez, and a significant data gap in both City and U.S. Geological Survey models for landslides. The project resulted in high resolution bathymetry and backscatter data over approximately 34 square nautical miles, establishing a contemporary baseline to help city emergency managers understand and prepare for potential impacts of submarine landslides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Valdez project was selected as part of the FY25 Brennan Ocean Mapping Fund opportunity. The Brennan Ocean Mapping Fund<\/a>, which was established by statute in 2022 (33 U.S.C. \u00a7 3504a, 3506), is one way that NOAA seeks to increase the coordinated acquisition, processing, stewardship, and archival of new ocean and coastal mapping data in U.S. waters. With this funding opportunity, NOAA matches selected non-Federal partners at a 70:30\/NOAA:partner ratio for projects proposing to contract for ocean, coastal, and\/or Great Lakes mapping data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Gemini
    With funds pooled under the Brennan Ocean Mapping Fund program, the image depicts the bathymetry collected by the Office of Coast Survey, the City of Valdez, and NOAA contractors in FY25. (Woolpert\/NOAA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Data Released for Long Island Sound Partner Project via the Brennan Ocean Mapping Fund<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Selected as part of the FY24 Brennan Ocean Mapping Fund opportunity, new seafloor mapping data from a Long Island Sound partnership project was posted to NOAA\u2019s National Centers for Environmental Information<\/a> (under surveys  H13926 \u2013 H13931). The data were the result of a successful partnership<\/a> between NOAA and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CTDEEP). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    NOAA contractors collected approximately 170 square nautical miles and over 4,500 linear nautical miles of full-coverage, multibeam bathymetry and backscatter data. The Long Island Sound Seafloor Habitat Mapping Initiative, which is managed by CTDEEP and administered by the Long Island Sound Cable Fund Steering Committee (consisting of Federal, state, and academic partners from Connecticut and New York), will use these data to support domestic energy development and production and the routing of electric transmission cables through Long Island Sound. NOAA will use the data to support maritime commerce and other interests by improving nautical charts and other mapping products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"A
    Multibeam point cloud image of the identified obstruction (Credit: Ocean Surveys, Inc.\/NOAA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    New U.S. Mapping Coordination Site<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    To enable cooperative mapping efforts as prescribed by the Ocean and Coastal Mapping Integration Act (33 U.S.C. \u00a7 3501) and make the most of every survey mile, the mapping community requires an awareness of mapping priorities, near- and long-term data acquisition plans, and current data availability. For 10 years and running, NOAA\u2019s Integrated Ocean and Coastal Mapping (IOCM) team has hosted the U.S. Mapping Coordination Site<\/a>. In March 2025, the IOCM team released an updated version of the website with expanded capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The U.S. Mapping Coordination site is a key pillar of Federal efforts to facilitate cost-effective mapping data acquisition, particularly for partners of USGS\u2019s 3D Elevation Program<\/a>, members of the Interagency Working Group on Ocean and Coastal Mapping<\/a>, and non-Federal partners within U.S. regional mapping campaigns and the Academic Research Fleet. On the site, users can share upcoming mapping plans and priorities for lidar (topographic, bathymetric, and topobathy), sonar (hydrography, bathymetry, water column, etc.), digital imagery (airborne and satellite), and more via a Submit Your Areas Form<\/a>. Also available are collection footprints submitted by others and the ability to submit data to inform preliminary mapping data acquisition plans, supporting the motto \u201cMap Once, Use Many Times.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"A
    The U.S. Mapping Coordination website, where users can look up plans and priorities of the mapping community to inform cost-effective data acquisition activities (NOAA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Deliver products and services that advance safe navigation, increase coastal resilience, and support data-driven decision making<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Multi-year efforts result in critical navigation product updates in Mississippi and Alaska <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    NOAA continues to engage closely with stakeholders to further refine navigational products that meet unique local needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In the Lower Mississippi River, working with the local marine pilots, Coast Survey concluded a multi-year effort to update the clearances for the seven bridges<\/a> between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, ensuring the safety and efficiency of maritime navigation. By leveraging advanced lidar technology and aligning clearance data with modern surveying standards, NOAA equips mariners with precise, real-time information to navigate one of the Nation\u2019s busiest and economically significant waterways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"A
    A graphic showing the pictorial representation as it appears in the NOAA ENC for the Crescent City Connection Bridges. (NOAA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Meanwhile, in Alaska, Coast Survey and the National Geodetic Survey developed a new process for updating Yukon River charts<\/a> with the most current shoreline information. The Yukon River is frozen more than half the year, limiting the window for barges to deliver fuel, building materials, heavy equipment, and other supplies that cannot be transported by air. When it does thaw, ice and strong runoff shift the navigable channel. Working with tug companies that operate on Alaskan rivers, NOAA developed a process to update the shoreline data and nautical charts each year before the shipping season commences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    See an example of these updates along the Yukon River near Sunshine Bay, below:
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\t\t\n\t