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For the latest forecasts and critical weather information, visit weather.gov.

Data and Reports Explorer

Explore our library of NCCOS Technical Memos and various data sets. Filter by the type of publication, research category, region or contact. To access data and reports predating 2017, please visit the Legacy Publications Explorer.

Comprehensive Seafloor Substrate Mapping and Model Validation in the New York Bight

Prior to this study, NOAA NCCOS has conducted previous efforts to characterize the ocean floor offshore NY. For example, as part of the NY Department of State’s renewable energy planning efforts and its Offshore Atlantic Ocean Study, released in July 2013, NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) developed ...

Connectivity of Pulley Ridge with remote locations as inferred from satellite-tracked drifter trajectories

Using historical (1994–2017) satellite-tracked surface drifter trajectory data, we conduct a probabilistic Lagrangian circulation study which sheds light on the connectivity of Pulley Ridge with other locations in the Gulf of Mexico and adjacent areas. The analysis reveals that Pulley Ridge is connected with the North Atlantic, the Caribbean Sea, ...

Contaminants in Marine Resources of Vieques, Puerto Rico

Pollution in the marine environment has the potential to negatively impact ecosystem health, including adverse effects on fisheries species. This can occur through direct impacts, food web effects and habitat degradation. Vieques is an island municipality of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, located 11 km off the east coast of ...

Contributions of organic and inorganic matter to sediment volume and accretion in tidal wetlands at steady state

A mixing model derived from first principles describes the bulk density (BD) of intertidal wetland sediments as a function of loss on ignition (LOI). The model assumes that the bulk volume of sediment equates to the sum of self-packing volumes of organic and mineral components or BD = 1/[LOI/k1 + ...

Coordinated sampling of dynamic oceanographic features with underwater vehicles and drifters

We extend existing oceanographic sampling methodologies to sample an advecting feature of interest using autonomous robotic platforms. GPS-tracked Lagrangian drifters are used to tag and track a water patch of interest with position updates provided periodically to an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) for surveys around the drifter as it moves ...

Coral Disease and Health Workshop: Coral Histopathology II

The health and continued existence of coral reef ecosystems are threatened by an increasing array of environmental and anthropogenic impacts. Coral disease is one of the prominent causes of increased mortality among reefs globally, particularly in the Caribbean. Although over 40 different coral diseases and syndromes have been reported worldwide, ...

Coral Reef Activity Book

An activity book designed to introduce elementary school children to coral reefs ...

Coral reef ecosystems of Reserva Natural La Parguera (Puerto Rico): Spatial and temporal patterns in fish and benthic communities (2001-2007)

The report provides a spatial and temporal characterization of the fish and benthic communities of southwestern Puerto Rico, primarily within the La Parguera Natural Reserve. The reserve is a multiuse area that spans the continental shelf from the extensive mangrove forests fringing the shoreline to the complex shelfedge coral reefs ...

Coral reef ecosystems of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands: Spatial and temporal patterns in fish and benthic communities (2001-2009)

This technical memorandum contains analysis of nine years of data (2001-2009) from in situ fish belt transect and benthic habitat quadrat surveys conducted in and around the Virgin Islands National Park (VIIS) and the Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument (VICR). The purpose of this document is to: 1) Quantify ...

Coral reef restoration monitoring guide: Methods to evaluate restoration success from local to ecosystem scales

This Guide should be used to measure and describe the progress of coral restoration projects towards meeting restoration goals. The CRC Monitoring Working Group has also developed a Coral Restoration Database and Evaluation Tool to be complementary to this Guide and used together. The Coral Restoration Database allows the input ...

Correlation and Prediction of Land-Based Pollution Impacts on Sediment Contaminant Concentrations within National Estuarine Research Reserves of the Southeastern US and Selected Chesapeake Bay Watersheds

OpenNSPECT is a raster-based GIS model that estimates runoff, pollution and erosion in a GIS setting. NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) has conducted a series of regional ecological assessments throughout many estuarine and coastal shelf areas of the southeastern U.S. aimed at evaluating condition of living resources ...

Corrigendum to “Status, Causes and Controls of Cyanobacterial Blooms in Lake Erie”

The authors regret that, during analyses of various data sets, we inadvertently used TKN (Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen) in place of TN (Total Nitrogen) for the Maumee River tributary. We now present the corrected data from the original Fig. 5 (as Fig. 5 (corrected) in this article) which demonstrates that our ...

Council Monitoring and Assessment Program (CMAP) Compilation of Existing Habitat and Water Quality Monitoring, and Mapping Assessments for the Gulf of Mexico Region

The Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act (RESTORE Act) was signed into law on July 6, 2012. The RESTORE Act calls for a regional approach to restoring the long-term health of the valuable natural ecosystem and economy of the Gulf Coast ...

Council Monitoring and Assessment Program (CMAP): Inventory of Existing Habitat and Water Quality Monitoring, and Mapping Metadata for the Gulf of Mexico Programs

Under the Resources and Ecosystem Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act of 2012 (RESTORE Act), the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council (RESTORE Council or Council ) is required to report on the progress of funded projects and programs. Systematic monitoring of restoration at the ...

Coupling centennial-scale shoreline change to sea-level rise and coastal morphology in the Gulf of Mexico using a Bayesian network

Predictions of coastal evolution driven by episodic and persistent processes associated with storms and relative sea-level rise (SLR) are required to test our understanding, evaluate our predictive capability, and to provide guidance for coastal management decisions. Previous work demonstrated that the spatial variability of long-term shoreline change can be predicted ...

Coupling ecology and GIS to evaluate efficacy of Marine Protected Areas in Hawaii

In order to properly determine the efficacy of marine protected areas (MPAs), a seascape perspective that integrates ecosystem elements at the appropriate ecological scale is necessary. Over the past four decades, Hawaii has developed a system of 11 Marine Life Conservation Districts (MLCDs) to conserve and replenish marine resources around ...

Cruise report : assessment of ecological condition and stressor impacts within Great Lakes region areas of concern (AOCs) : Ashtabula River and Milwaukee estuary

This cruise report is a summary of a field survey conducted within two Great Lakes Region Areas of Concern (AOCs), Ashtabula River and Milwaukee Estuary, August 18 – 25, 2012. Synoptic sampling of multiple ecological indicators was conducted in the benthos and the water column at each of 30 stations ...

Cruise report for deepwater sediment sampling: Cruise M/V IRISH : Leg 1, 29 May to 10 June 2014, to assess potential benthic impacts from the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) Oil Spill

To meet the objectives of the Deep Benthic Work Plan Addendum, a cruise was conducted to assess potential effects of the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill on deep-sea (>200 m) sediments and resident benthic fauna. Leg 1 of the cruise was conducted on the M/V IRISH, 29 May - 10 ...

Cruise Report for Patterns in Deep-Sea Corals Expedition 2016: NOAA ship Shearwater SW-16-08

The 2016 Patterns in Deep-Sea Corals expedition set out aboard the NOAA Ship Shearwater in August to study the distribution, ecology, and health of deep-water (30-300 m) gorgonian corals in response to the 2015 El Niño event. The research team consisted of staff from NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean ...