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1. Home
2. About
3. NOS Fiscal Year 2021: Year in Review
4. Office of Coast Survey

**Office of Coast Survey** NOS Fiscal Year 2021 Year in Review *The Office of Coast Survey (OCS) provides navigation products and services that ensure safe and efficient maritime commerce on America’s ocean and coastal waters and in the Great Lakes.*  NOAA Upgrades Global Surge and Tide Forecast System **SUPPORTS NOS PRIORITY:** PREPAREDNESS AND RISK REDUCTION  In  July  2021, the Global Extratropical Surge  and Tide Operational Forecast System (Global 
  ESTOFS)  upgrade to version two was implemented into operations on the National  Weather 
Service’s  (NWS) Weather and Climate Operational Supercomputing System. Global ESTOFS  provides model forecast guidance of the combined water level caused by storm  surge and tides globally, and is the highest resolution global operational  storm surge modeling system available today. The forecast guidance from the  model is used by the marine navigation and disaster mitigation communities,  including forecasters at NWS offices and NOAA’s Ocean  Prediction Center, to generate storm surge and flood forecasts during storms,  including Nor’easters along the East Coast. Thanks to close collaboration  with the University of Notre Dame, version two of the ESTOFS includes many  enhancements to improve model performance, resolution, and coverage, including  implementation of levees in Louisiana and improved spatial resolution for  Puerto Rico. The model has four forecast cycles per day, providing water level  forecast guidance out to 71⁄2 days. Users can expect greatly improved water level  forecast guidance with this upgrade.  Images showcasing the Global ESTOFS upgrade.*The major upgrade of Global ESTOFS to version two includes the implementation of federal levees in Louisiana and Mississippi (yellow, left), and significant improvement in spatial resolution and inclusion of a floodplain for Puerto Rico (right).*  NOAA Transitions Away from Paper, Raster Navigational Charts **SUPPORTS NOS PRIORITY:** SAFE AND EFFICIENT TRANSPORTATION AND COMMERCE NOAA began to  implement its transition plan away from paper nautical charts in February 2021,  starting with paper chart 18665, Lake Tahoe. After August 2021,  NOAA’s Electronic Navigational Chart (ENC®) was the only NOAA nautical chart of the  area. These electronic charts are easier to update and maintain, keeping  mariners safer with up-to-date information on marine hazards. A new option for  paper nautical charts is available through the NOAA Custom Chart application. The application, released in April 2021, is a dynamic map tool that allows users to create their own paper and PDF nautical charts derived from the official  NOAA ENCs. NOAA Custom Chart uses the best available data, delivers an improved  service for users, and ensures consistency between ENCs and NOAA Custom Chart  PDFs, resulting in an up-to-date chart regardless of the final format.  Lake Tahoe navigational charts.*Chart 18665, Lake Tahoe, is the first traditional paper chart to be fully supplanted by an ENC. Shown left: chart 18665 Lake Tahoe. Center: the NOAA ENC with the same coverage. Shown right: a NOAA Custom Chart derived from the ENC data for Lake Tahoe.*  NOAA’s PMN Program Issues First Major Data Update, New Website **SUPPORTS NOS PRIORITY:** SAFE AND EFFICIENT TRANSPORTATION AND COMMERCE NOAA's  Precision Marine Navigation (PMN) program released two new visualization  resources in January 2021. The program also completed the first update of its prototype  navigation data service, adding the PMN Data Gateway and the PMNdata processing and dissemination  system in April 2021. The data processing and  dissemination system provides surface current forecast guidance from NOAA’s  forecast systems in a prototype marine navigation data format. The Data Gateway allows users to visualize predictions and their locations. These  services will support users across the maritime industry to help them make  safe, efficient   decisions regarding navigation. The PMN  program also launched a new website in September 2021 that will improve  the use and accessibility of NOAA’s marine navigation products and services.  The website, Marine Navigation, includes links and short descriptions to NOAA’s various  navigation resources, providing a one-stop shop that mariners can visit to get  the data that they need.  Two cargo ships and a smaller boat on the water.*Cargo vessels navigating into the Port of Los Angeles-Long Beach, California.*  Progress on Mapping U.S. Waters and Data Archiving **SUPPORTS NOS PRIORITY:**  SAFE AND EFFICIENT TRANSPORTATION AND COMMERCE According to the second annual progress report on unmapped U.S. waters, 53% of U.S.  waters remain unmapped as of January 2021. Data  on the depth, shape, and composition of the seafloor is necessary to explore,  sustainably develop, conserve, and manage our coastal and offshore ocean  resources. This progress report, compiled by NOS and released by the  Interagency Working Group on Ocean and Coastal Mapping, shows that roughly  36,000 square nautical miles of new bathymetric data have been published in  NOAA archives since the last analysis. The 2020 National  Strategy for Mapping, Exploring, and Characterizing the United States Exclusive  Economic Zone (NOMEC) and the global Seabed 2030 initiative make comprehensive ocean mapping a  priority for the coming decade. In addition, OCS’s  external source data team recently partnered with the Office of Marine and  Aviation Operations and National Centers for Environmental Information to  archive bathymetric and oceanographic data held by the NOAA fleet. The progress report and fleet  data rescue project support important mapping initiatives such as NOMEC,  Seabed 2030, and the National Bathymetric Source.  Graphic showing unmapped areas within U.S. ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes waters.*Geographic distribution and extent of the unmapped areas within U.S. ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes waters. Analysis conducted in January 2021.*  IOC Endorses OCS UN Ocean Decade Contribution **SUPPORTS NOS PRIORITY:** SAFE AND EFFICIENT TRANSPORTATION AND COMMERCE OCS submitted a United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for  Sustainable Development contribution on promoting Seabed 2030 and ocean mapping, which  was officially endorsed by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC)  in July 2021. This contribution highlights many ongoing OCS efforts, including  on NOMEC and the Seabed 2030 project,   modeling and forecasting, the S-100 universal hydrographic model, and mapping the Arctic. The contribution calls for a bottom-up  approach for collecting data, which encourages better science and decision-making.  It also promotes advancing areas that can benefit from new data, while also  supporting good ocean governance, resource management, the Blue Economy and  other U.N. Decade of Ocean Science programs. Follow-up activities on the  contribution have started, including a satellite activity focused on  hydrography and mapping for the U.N. Predicted Ocean Laboratory.  Colorful image of the Brothers Volcano north of New Zealand.*Hydrography and mapping are essential to the U.N. Decade of Ocean Science. Hydrographic data helps us visualize and understand the features of the seafloor, as in this high-resolution map of the Brothers submarine volcano north of New Zealand.*
 OCS **Highlights** NOAA Upgrades Global Surge and Tide Forecast System NOAA Transitions Away from Paper, Raster Navigational Charts NOAA’s PMN Program Issues First Major Data Update, New Website Progress on Mapping U.S. Waters and Data Archiving IOC Endorses OCS UN Ocean Decade Contribution
  NOS **Accomplishments** NOS by the Numbers 2021  Browse by Hurricane: General Hurricane Accomplishments Hurricane Ida  Browse by Office: Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services Coral Reef Conservation Program U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science National Geodetic Survey NOS Management and Budget NOS Information Management Office for Coastal Management Office of Coast Survey Office of National Marine Sanctuaries Office of Response and Restoration   **Search** Our facts    Get **Social** Social
  **Last updated:** 01/10/22 **Author:** NOAA How to cite this article Contact Us


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