NOAA recently installed a new sensor on the Delaware Memorial Bridge that helps ships navigate safely underneath. The Delaware Memorial Bridge connects Delaware and New Jersey and large ships pass underneath it on a regular basis. This new air gap system is part of the Delaware River and Bay Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTSⓇ) and measures the distance between the water’s surface and a predetermined reference point on the bridge. NOAA has 18 of these bridge clearance systems across it’s network of 33 PORTS. PORTS is a successful public-private partnership that provides an integrated system of sensors concentrated in seaports, which supplies commercial vessel operators with reliable real-time information about environmental conditions.

 

NOAA recently released its last edition of the downloadable print Tide and Tidal Current Prediction Tables. These tide tables are formatted by region and sent to publishers each year. They are also available to download online. These predictions are produced in the form of six annual publications that cover discrete domestic and international regions, and were required by mariners to meet the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) requirements for 33 CFR 164.33 Charts and Publications and 46 CFR 28.225 Navigational Information. These publications have been printed and distributed by licensed commercial publishers, a practice started in 1996 to eliminate costly printing and distribution costs by the government. 

 

Since 2008, NOAA has been able to provide more accurate, up-to-date, and location-specific tide and tidal current predictions via its website than can be provided in the printed documents. In consultation with NOAA, the USCG has recently updated its interpretation of its CFR requirements to accept digital tide and current predictions from NOAA’s website to be used by mariners to meet carriage requirements. This follows similar updates that allow electronic navigational charts to be used in lieu of paper charts, and electronic copies of U.S. Coast Pilot® and other navigational publications to be used instead of printed copies. International predictions – apart from some Caribbean, Central American, and Pacific Island locations – will not be available through digital NOAA products or services after this change, though users may still get this data directly from the country of origin. 

 

Access to NOAA’s online tide predictions can be found here and access to NOAA’s online tidal current predictions can be accessed here.

NOAA’s Hydrographic Service Review Panel (HSRP), a federal advisory committee, met in New Orleans August 27-29, to hear views from stakeholders and partners on NOAA’s navigation products and services, and topics including subsidence, sea level rise, and coastal inundation. The meeting included special sessions on Precision Navigation and unmanned systems, particularly how they pertain to the Mississippi River and navigation in the region. The panel will consider information from this meeting as it makes recommendations to the NOAA administrator. Speakers included Lt. Gov. William H. Nungesser of Louisiana, Rear Adm. Tim Gallaudet, assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and deputy NOAA administrator, and Nicole LeBoeuf, acting director, National Ocean Service. HSRP is a federal advisory committee that advises the NOAA administrator on products and services related to navigation services, water levels and currents, and global positioning. The director of Coast Survey serves as the designated federal official of the panel.