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NOAA Custom Chart

Podcast: How electronic nautical charts are the future, but easy-to-print charts are here to stay with NOAA Custom Chart.

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This image shows a rip current using a harmless green dye.
NOAA Launches First National Rip Current Forecast Model

For the first time, NOAA is launching a national rip current forecast model, aimed at saving lives of beach-goers around the country. This new model can predict the hourly probability of rip currents along U.S. beaches up to six days out. Similar to predicting weather or precipitation, the model predicts the likelihood of dangerous seaward currents on a sliding scale - from 0 to 100%.

A NASA satellite view of Chesapeake Bay's Eastern Shore created with images acquired by Landsat 7 during the period of 1999-2002.
Studies Show That Conserving Land Brings Economic, Ecological Bonuses

The mainly rural nature of Virginia’s Eastern Shore differs significantly from the state’s fast-developing James City and New Kent Counties, which are part of the Lower Chickahominy River Watershed. Yet a pair of economic studies show that land conservation action in each region funnels millions of extra dollars into local coastal economies while it also safeguards migratory songbird habitat and boosts water quality.

Ørsted's Gode Wind turbines in a wind energy farm off the coast of Germany. (Ørsted/With permission.)
NOAA Signs Agreement With Offshore Wind Energy Company

NOAA has announced a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Ørsted Wind Power North America LLC, an offshore wind development company, to share physical and biological data in Ørsted-leased waters subject to U.S. jurisdiction. The MOA is the first of its kind between an offshore wind developer and NOAA, and it paves the way for similar data-sharing agreements with other developers.

A digital elevation model of the Florida Keys area from a topobathy lidar system. Green represents higher elevations and dark blue/purple represents lower elevations.
Podcast: Laser Lesson

Lidar stands for light detection and ranging. We explore how this popular remote sensing method supports NOAA’s mission and enables scientists and mapping professionals to examine both natural and manmade environments with accuracy, precision, and flexibility.

Satellite image of Cape Hatteras National Seashore on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Credit: NASA’s Earth Observatory.
What is a barrier island?

Barrier islands form as waves repeatedly deposit sediment parallel to the shoreline. As wind and waves shift according to weather patterns and local geographic features, these islands constantly move, erode, and grow. They can even disappear entirely. NOAA supports natural and nature-based infrastructure projects that restore and protect barrier islands and the benefits they provide to coastal communities and ecosystems.

coastal flooding in South Carolina
Spring High Tide Bulletin

There are some factors that cause the tides to be higher than what is "normally" seen from day to day. View our bulletin to see when you may experience higher than normal high tides for the period of time between March and May, 2021.

A line of clean-up workers hose off oil from a rocky shore using hot water following the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Photograph credit: Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council
30 Years of Restoring Waterways After Pollution

2021 marks 30 years of NOAA’s Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program (DARRP) working to hold polluters accountable for the impacts of oil spills, hazardous waste, and ship groundings in waterways. NOAA has worked with co-trustees and industry to recover $10.4 billion from polluters to fund restoration projects that help ecosystems and coastal communities recover.

cover of the 2020 NOAA Science Report

The 2020 NOAA Science Report celebrates NOAA’s vital ocean, weather, Great Lakes, and atmospheric research, and how it works to protect lives and property, support a vibrant economy, and strengthen national security.

Around the Ocean Service
  • Using Citizen Science to Understand Marine Debris
    marine debris
  • Settlement Proposed for Restoration at Metal Bank Superfund Site in Pennsylvania
    response and restoration
  • New Coastal Forecast Models for West Coast, Gulf of Mexico

    tides and currents

  • Research Reserve Restoration Funds Strengthen Tribal Partnership
    coastal management
  • SanctSound: Listening to the (Not So) Silent World
    sanctuaries
  • Using Citizen Science to Understand Marine Debris
    marine debris
  • NOAA Begins Transition Exclusively to Electronic Navigation Charts

    nautical charts

  • New Tools Address Threats to Anchialine Pools in Hawaii

    coastal ocean science

  • U.S. ATN: Expanding the Reach of Biology in Ocean Observations Technology
    ocean observing
  • NOAA Grants to Advance Coral Reef Conservation Science and Management
    coral reef conservation
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