The National Ocean Service monitors, assesses, and forecasts conditions in the coastal and oceanic environment to support effective management, promoting a healthy, safe, and economically productive coastal and oceanic environment for present and future generations.
NOS is the primary civil agency within the Federal Government responsible for the health and safety of our nation's coastal and oceanic environment. As part of NOAA, the National Ocean Service provides a wide range of products and services, established on the best scientific basis, for the protection of life, property, and the environment. NOS is composed of four Operational Units:
Coast and Geodetic Survey
Office of Ocean and Earth Sciences
Office of Ocean Resources Conservation and Assessment
Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management
NOS produces a wide variety of publications and reports on the many aspects of its ongoing work. For more information on the National Ocean Service or specific information on one of the aforementioned programs, contact
Dr. W. Stanley Wilson, NOAA Assistant Administrator for Ocean Services and Coastal Zone Management.
Through its Coast and Geodetic Survey (C&GS), NOS is responsible for producing nearly 1000 nautical charts of U.S. coastal and oceanic waters. These charts, produced to many different scales and in a number of different formats, are used by commercial mariners, recreational boaters, local and state agencies, builders, and coastal planners. C&GS is also responsible for producing the Nation's vital aeronautical charts, used by all aircraft within U.S. airspace as well as the special charts used by air traffic controllers to manage the airspace around busy airfields. C&GS also maintains the national geodetic control network, which is the reference point for all surveying done in the antion. The network provides basic geographic location, elevation, and gravity starting points for land surveys, cartography, engineering, construction, environmental control measures, geographic information systems, and earth studies. C&GS is the Nation's oldest scientific agency, established as the Survey of the Coast in 1807 by President Thomas Jefferson.
The Office of Ocean and Earth Sciences is the center for oceanographic and earth science at NOS. OES is active in multinational efforts to establish a Global Ocean Observing system (GOOS), which will be a key component of the worldwide, multinational earth monitoring system now being developed for the 21st century. OES conducts advanced studies on global sea level using satellite data, maintains a national network of water-level observing stations, and is pioneering the development of real-time monitoring of water levels in harbors and ports. In addition to providing vital tide and current information to the Nation's mariners, this work provides the foundation data for tidal prediction throughout the Nation and is used by the National Weather Service in its storm surge warning program.
The Office of Ocean Resources Conservation and Assessment (ORCA) provides decisionmakers with comprehensive scientific information on the resources of the nation's coastal areas, estuaries, and oceans. ORCA program activities include: conducting a wide range of information synthesis activities to identify and evaluate strategies for conserving coastal and ocean resources and maintaining large databases on the characteristics of coastal areas; measuring the status and trends of environmental quality of U.S. coastal areas and the biological consequences of pollutants and other stresses on living organisms and coastal ecosystems; coordinating research, evaluation, and planning efforts to minimize the environmental effects of oil and hazardous materials spills and hazardous waste sites; conducting assessments to support the recovery of monetary damages resulting from injuries to natural resources to be used for planning, implementing, and monitoring restoration alternatives.
Within NOS, the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) has the primary responsibility to develop rational resource management plans for the Nation's coastal zone. OCRM administers the provisions of The Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, which established a vigorous partnership with the states to develop comprehensive management programs for our coastal resources. OCRM is also responsible for designating and managing the Nation's network of Marine Sanctuaries, a string of 13 nationally significant marine sites that preserve recreational, ecological, cultural, educational, historical, aesthetic, commercial, and research resources. The sanctuaries harbor a wide array of plants and animals from great whales to brightly colored sea snails, and in many cases provide secure habitats for species close to extinction. The challenge for these areas is to balance the multiple uses of natural resources to provide for their long-term sustainability. (OCRM also administers the National Estuarine Research Reserve System) and the National Ocean Minerals and Energy Program.
March 1, 1995, jct