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Maritime Operations in the Pacific Northwest
The coastal and inland waters of the Pacific Northwest have a long history of being used as transportation routes. Now, Oregon and Washington are home to over 20 ports that support many industries including:
- Commerce, trade, and shipping
- Commercial fishing
- Military facilities (Navy and Coast Guard)
- Cruise lines
- Ferry systems
- NOAA West Coast Ship Operations
- Renewable marine energy
- Recreational boating
Puget Sound, the Columbia River, and multiple other locations along the Washington and Oregon coastline are essential hubs to these industries, which are vital not just for the security, safety, and economy of Washington and Oregon, but for the whole country.
The Role of Ocean Observing in Maritime Operations
There are three areas of maritime operations that ocean observing efforts can support by providing relevant and timely ocean and weather data.
- Safe and efficient marine commercial shipping, fishing, ferry crossings, and recreational boating. Mariners need accurate observations and forecasts of ocean and weather conditions to assist with route planning to reduce shipping or fuel costs and improve safety while underway.
- Search and Rescue (SAR) and Hazardous Material (HAZMAT) operations and missions. Emergency responders rely on real-time and forecasted surface and bottom ocean currents and winds, plus additional ocean conditions such as waves and swell to effectively respond to man-overboard or hazardous material spills.
- Renewable marine energy planning, including siting and operations related to wave energy. Entities involved with planning utilize synthesis products that provide regional-scale baseline environmental data and use a Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning process to identify areas where other maritime operation activities exist.
Maritime Operations and NANOOS
Shipping and maritime operations are one of NANOOS’s top stakeholder communities. The infrastructure developed and supported by NANOOS allows for continuous measurements of the regional ocean and estuaries. These data permit better-informed trip decisions by ocean-going vessels and response decisions by SAR, HAZMAT, and resource management personnel. Currently, NANOOS is providing real-time data and forecasts for weather and water conditions needed by these groups, including wave, wind, and surface current speed and direction, tides, sea surface temperatures, and fine scale information on a limited number of ports.
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Maritime Operations Special Topics
Coastal & Marine Spatial Planning
Related NANOOS Products
Boater Information System (BIS)
Predictions of wind speed and direction, air temperature, surface currents, and tides in Puget Sound. Boaters can display multiple weather and oceanographic products concurrently to study the interactions among the data.
Product Page
Forecast Information and Data Products for Tuna Fishers
Information and data products oriented towards commercial and recreational albacore tuna fishing communities.
Product Page
NOAA NOS/CO-OPS Tide Prediction
Tide predictions from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Science (NOAA) National Ocean Service (NOS)/Center for Operational Oceanographic Products & Services (CO-OPS).
View in NVS
OSU Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) Surface Fields
Forecast map of water temperature and surface currents for the Oregon and SW Washington Coast.
Product Page | View in NVS
Probability Weather Forecasting
Weather forecasting of winds, water temperature, and precipitation based on the probability of an expected weather event in a very user-friendly interface.
Product Page
WaveWatch III Wind and Wave Model
Forecasts for winds and waves in the North Pacific. Forecasts are updated every 6 hours starting at 13:00 PDT. Forecasts provided by the NOAA National Weather Service (NWS)/National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP).
Product Page | View in NVS
High-Frequency (HF) Radar Surface Currents
Observations of daily averaged ocean surface current speed and direction for the Oregon coast.
Product Page | View in NVS
X-band Wave Imaging Marine Radar
Real-time wave observations in Newport, OR to investigate wave breaking and wave/current interaction processes at the inlet to Yaquina Bay.
View in NVS
NOAA National Data Buoy Center (NDBC)
NOAA NOS/CO-OPS
Observations of water level, air and water temperature, barometric pressure, and winds from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Science (NOAA) National Ocean Service (NOS)/Center for Operational Oceanographic Products & Services (CO-OPS).
Seattle, WA View in NVS
Neah Bay, WA View in NVS
Grays Harbor, WA View in NVS
Astoria, OR View in NVS
Newport, OR View in NVS
Port Orford, OR View in NVS
NANOOS members involved in this effort include:
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