NOAA surveys Block Island Sound shipping lane

NOAA surveys Block Island Sound shipping lane    The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's vessel Thomas Jefferson will conduct a three-month survey of the sea floor off the coast of New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
   The survey is part of a multiyear effort to update nautical charts for Block Island Sound and keep large ships and commerce moving safely. Data acquired by the hydrographic survey vessel will also support a seafloor mapping initiative by Connecticut and New York.
   'With bigger ships, crowded sea lanes, and more uses of ocean areas, shipping today is increasingly a task of precision and accuracy,' said NOAA Corps Cmdr. Lawrence Krepp, commanding officer of Thomas Jefferson and the ship's chief scientist, in a statement.
   'This area is seeing an increase in the numbers of deep draft vessels requiring depths of more than 60 feet, and the pilots need precise and up-to-date depth measurements as they navigate,' he said. 'Our task is to measure the ocean depths, search for dangers to navigation, and give mariners the information they need to protect lives and the environment, while also increasing shipping efficiencies.'
   Equipped with the latest scientific instrumentation for checking channel seafloors for shoaling and debris, Thomas Jefferson is an emergency responder providing data needed for reopening ports after hurricanes. The ship was in place and prepared to help speed the resumption of maritime commerce after Hurricane Irene blew through the Port of New York and New Jersey last weekend.
   The survey project is managed by NOAA's Office of Coast Survey, which produces and maintains the nation's nautical charts. Coast Survey first charted the New York area in the mid-1800s, after President Thomas Jefferson tasked the agency with creating maps of the coastal waters so that the young nation's shipping industry could thrive. Today's data is increasingly valuable for other applications as well.
   NOAA's survey effort of the area began in 2009, when Thomas Jefferson surveyed 174 square nautical miles in Block Island Sound. This year's effort, from August through November, will survey 228 square nautical miles.