NOAA’s charting mandate authorizes NOAA to provide nautical charts and related hydrographic information for the safe navigation of maritime commerce for U.S. territorial waters and the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), a combined area of 3.4 million square nautical miles (snm), which extends 200 nautical miles offshore from the nation’s coastline. Many areas portrayed on nautical charts have never been adequately surveyed because of the limitations of historical technology.
Originally named as the “National Survey Plan” (NSP) in November 2000, the “NOAA Hydrographic Survey Priorities” (NHSP) was developed to identify and prioritize areas within NOAA’s scope of navigation safety responsibilities in greatest need of modern hydrographic surveys. NOAA Hydrographic Survey Priorities provides a snap shot of areas depicting the current hydrographic needs of the nation. The NHSP prioritizes areas in need of surveying in order to maximize the efficiency of the limited resources available for conducting hydrographic surveys.
The NHSP identifies 500,000 square nautical miles of the EEZ as Navigationally Significant. The Navigationally Significant areas are then further prioritized through research regarding shipping tonnage, vintage of survey data, requests from the marine community and other factors to establish Critical Areas and Priority Areas 1-5. Critical Areas are the areas of highest priority followed by Priority 1 through Priority 5; with 5 representing the lowest priority. Please refer to the current 2009 edition of the document for complete classification and area calculations.
Due to the dynamic nature of the trends in waterborne commerce, the increasing size and draft of commercial vessels, and sea-floor changes due to natural and man-made processes, the prioritization of the nation’s survey requirements need to be revised periodically NOAA will review the priority assignments in the NHSP and publish new editions annually. The priorities outlined by location below were established in the 2009 edition.
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