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Podcast: The future is here for NOAA's nautical charts

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nautical charts and maps

This image shows what the NOAA Custom Chart looks like for the area near San Francisco, California. With this free online tool, it's easy to zoom in and explore this region, or any area covered by NOAA's 3.2 million square nautical miles of charts. And once you find what you're looking for, it's just as easy to download a printable digital copy.

NOAA begins transition exclusively to electronic navigation charts

February 26, 2021

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nautical charts and maps

Chart 18665 of Lake Tahoe is the first traditional paper chart to be fully supplanted by an electronic navigational chart as part of NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey Raster Sunset Plan. Shown is the lake's northern shore.

Three datum updates for an ever-changing Earth

November 23, 2020

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nautical charts and maps

NASA/NOAA satellite view of the United States at night. 2015 image.

NOAA survey teams respond to Hurricane Delta

October 15, 2020

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October 13, 2020: Launch Boat 2904 from the NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson conducts a hydrographic survey of the Calcasieu Ship Channel in Louisiana to search for navigational hazards after Hurricane Delta came through the area. An offshore oil platform in the background.

Mapping the seafloor for signs of tsunami risk in Alaska's waters

September 11, 2020

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nautical charts and maps

A view of Barry Glacier, Alaska. (undated photo.)

NOAA panel seeks feedback on implementing coastal and ocean mapping strategies

September 11, 2020

Cargo container operation at the Port of Anchorage, Alaska

NOAA improves marine navigation near Georgia and New Hampshire naval bases

September 10, 2020

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The ballistic missile submarine USS Tennessee entering Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia.

NOAA issues new strategy to map the ocean

August 17, 2020

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nautical charts and maps

The unmanned surface vehicle BEN ( seen in yellow, bobbing on the ocean surface) launched from NOAA Ship Fairweather in U.S. Arctic waters, July 28, 2018.

NOAA, U.S. Navy will increase nation’s unmanned maritime systems operations

An autonomous surface vehicle is launched in the Port of Gulfport, Miss., during the U.S. Navy's Advanced Naval Technology Exercise on November 6, 2019.

Guiding cargo ships safely through port

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A container ship safely enters a seaport

NOAA embarks on 2020 coastal survey season

January 30, 2020

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nautical charts and maps

An illustration of a NOAA ship using sonar (a multibeam echo sounder) to map the seafloor.

Searching for WWII-era aircraft lost in the Great Lakes

January 9, 2020

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nautical charts and maps

The U.S. Navy launches the TDN-1 Drone while steaming off Traverse City, Michigan, during flight tests on August, 10, 1943. This plane has assumed an excessive nose-up attitude and is probably about to stall. The Navy used these aircraft to train and certify pilots to take off and land from aircraft carriers during World War II. As this was a training site, crashes and emergency water landings were frequent. The U.S. Coast Guard operated small yard patrol craft to rescue the pilots and drop a buoy over the downed plane to mark the location for recovery. Not all planes were recoverable, however, and more than 100 remain on the bottom of Lake Michigan.

A tale of two feet: NOAA moves to more precise positioning

October 7, 2019

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measurements and observations

NOAA surveyors Charles Geoghegan and Benjamin Erickson conducting a geodetic surveying project in Colorado in the summer of 2017. NOAA and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are retiring the U.S. survey foot and standardizing to now use the international foot.

Coast Survey field test shows potential of unmanned surveys

August 19, 2019

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nautical charts and maps

An autonomous survey launch (RA-3). Red circles drawn over photo of vessel identify newly installed radios and cameras for autonomous (unmanned) operation.

Advisory panel to focus on precision navigation, subsidence and sea level rise

August 15, 2019

The New Orleans Baton Rouge Steamship Pilots Association uses a portable pilot unit displaying NOAA ENC® data as it guides a tanker running upriver from New Orleans to Baton Rouge.

Podcast: Heard of meteotsunamis? Tune in to our chat with a NOAA oceanographer

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Stormy weather over the ocean can sometimes fuel the development of meteotsunamis, a series of waves typically much smaller and less destructive than those associated with seismically generated tsunamis.

NOAA offers free nautical products for boating fun and safety

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nautical charts and maps

Marina.

New nautical chart symbol guide available for free download

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nautical charts and maps

U.S. Chart No. 1.

Podcast: Navigating the sea with digital charts

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Electronic navigational chart.

Meet a navigation response team member

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Navigation Response Team responds to a sunken vessel.

NOAA nautical guides now offer Coast Guard 'rules of the road'

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nautical charts and maps

Recreational boaters.

NOAA scientists are revolutionizing how we measure accurate heights

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measurements and observations

Collecting height data over Alaska.

Mapping the seafloor to protect marine resources

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Spiny lobster.

New marine pathogen forecasts for Gulf of Maine, Chesapeake Bay

February 22, 2019

nowCOAST.

NOAA improves Etolin Strait data with new chart layout

February 14, 2019

NOAA Ship Fairweather.

Meet a NOAA hydrographic surveyor

February 7, 2019

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John Doroba, NOAA hydrographic surveyor.

A NOAA holiday salute to Donald Duck's distant cousin

December 17, 2018

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Drones for science: Flying high to better map our shorelines

December 7, 2018

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technology & innovation

Navigating with NOAA's Electronic Chart Display Information System.

How does NOAA make nautical charts?

November 30, 2018

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nautical charts and maps

Navigating with NOAA's Electronic Chart Display Information System.

Decoding the GIS in GIS Day

November 14, 2018

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science and technology

Environmental Response Management Application.

Aerial photography aids shoreline mapping

November 8, 2018

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Aerial imagery taken after Hurricane Michael.

NOAA preserves Washington, DC history with reproduced L’Enfant maps

November 2, 2018

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charts and maps

Copper plate.

Scientists get more for less with unmanned systems

October 25, 2018

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technology & innovation

Z-Boat.

NOAA detects navigation hazards following Hurricane Michael

October 18, 2018

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A partially submerged vessel.

New PORTS in Corpus Christi and Toledo bring safety, economic benefit

October 4, 2018

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Buoy.