NOAA announces new progress report on mapping U.S. ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes waters “The progress made in mapping U.S. waters through 2019 represents the cumulative work of federal and state agencies, nongovernmental organizations, private contracting partners, and crowdsourced contributions,” said Rear Adm. Shepard Smith, director of NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey. “Partnerships and advances in technology are key to making significant progress toward our common goal of completely mapping U.S. waters.” Pulling from an analysis of publicly available bathymetry, the report presents the percentage of unmapped U.S. waters by region and shows our progress towards filling these basic bathymetry data gaps with each passing year. At the end of 2019, the latest analysis yielded the following results: Percent of U.S. waters that remain unmapped in 2019: - U.S. total – 54% of 3,592,000 square nautical miles (snm)
- Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico – 43% of 472,200 snm
- Great Lakes – 95% of 46,600 snm
- Caribbean – 42% of 61,600 snm
- Alaska – 72% of 1,080,200 snm
- Pacific (California, Oregon, Washington) – 24% of 239,700 snm
- Pacific Remote Islands and Hawaii – 50% of 1,691,700 snm
Multibeam and lidar surveys are the two primary sources of bathymetry needed to fill these gaps. In support of the integrated ocean and coastal mapping goal to “map once, use many times,” all of the data collected in this effort are publicly available to benefit numerous user communities. For the latest status on these efforts and how you can contribute, visit http://iocm.noaa.gov/seabed-2030.html. | |
NOAA Office of Coast Survey is the nation’s nautical chartmaker. Originally formed by President Thomas Jefferson in 1807, Coast Survey updates charts, surveys the coastal seafloor, responds to maritime emergencies, and searches for underwater obstructions that pose a danger to navigation. # # # |
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