
Probing the Unknown
NOAA partnerships and smart technology will map our understanding of the deepest and darkest ocean regions.
Companion story map (508 compliant)
America’s waters are largely unknown, with vast areas still unmapped. Only 46 percent of U.S. ocean, coastal and Great Lakes waters are mapped to modern standards.
New and expanded NOAA partnerships can help fill these gaps, supporting a national strategy to completely map U.S. deep water by 2030 and nearshore waters by 2040. This year, NOAA and eight ocean partners agreed to explore, characterize and share ocean data, helping to close gaps in mapping the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and build understanding about remote global areas.
Little is known about these remote areas. Just five to 10 percent of the ocean has been explored since the U.S. Exploring Expedition set sail in the Pacific in the mid-1800s.
Filling the gaps is vital to human and marine health, safe navigation and national security. It's key to balancing use of ocean resources, learning how the ocean influences climate, and unlocking immense ecological and economic potential.
As this story map shows, new and expanded partnerships will accelerate NOAA advances in ocean science, yielding societal benefits in ways yet unimagined.
Filling Data Gaps
NOAA’s partnership with Vulcan, Inc. recognizes that filling data gaps is a call to action. Since sound data underlie sound policy, robust data are essential to knowing how well ocean strategies and policies are working.
Seeing foundational data as a game-changer, NOAA and Vulcan look forward to jointly pursuing research aimed at advancing technologies to better understand the deep ocean.
Shared interests include NOAA science and data-collection capabilities and Vulcan's investments in incubating technologies and tackling a range of environmental issues.
Scientists deploy a Deep Argo float, which profiles 3.7 miles deep, taking temperature and salinity on the way down. Other Argo floats measure on the way up to the surface. Some also measure nitrate, oxygen and other chemical elements.
NOAA and Vulcan have collaborated before, deploying an array of deep ocean floats in a key area off Brazil's coast in 2017. This year, 27 Deep Argo floats began reporting back, providing insight into how changes in the bottom half of the ocean may influence weather, climate and sea-level rise.
Argo global ocean array
This interactive map identifies worldwide sites of the Argo array. As shown by blue dots, the U.S. provides about half of this array, funded mostly by NOAA with contributions from partner agencies. Green dots reflect the contributions of other nations.
Each year, in real-time, nearly 4,000 floats report about 140,000 measurements. Data are publicly available, and a wide range of stakeholders uses the data to predict climate, weather, fisheries and ocean conditions.
Bound for New Depths
How deep is the ocean? We’re still not sure, although estimates are nearly seven miles below the surface. In June, Victor Vescovo, a new NOAA partner, dove to the bottom of the Marianas Trench in the western Pacific to find a more precise answer. He returned from what is considered the deepest spot on Earth with vital data.
In several parts of NOAA, the numbers are now being crunched to produce the most accurate information yet about the depth of the ocean and the identity of the deepest spot.
Working with Vescovo's company, Caladan Oceanic, NOAA aims to investigate the world's deepest, darkest and coldest ocean regions, characterizing and mapping new areas for the first time.
The Limiting Factor submersible is a platform for science, exploration and filmmaking. With a pilot and two passengers, it can travel to any depth from any properly equipped ship. In the past two years, it has traveled to the deepest trenches of the world's five major oceans.
Limiting Factor, a full ocean depth-capable submersible, will be a major asset. In 2018 and 2019, Vescovo piloted Limiting Factor to the deepest trenches of all five of the world's major oceans.
"During a dive in the Marianas Trench," he told Live Science, “I just sat back, ate a tuna fish sandwich, and enjoyed the view.”
In June, he made six more dives to the bottom of Challenger Deep in the Marianas Trench. This video captures the first of those dives.
Deep-water Marvels
NOAA and Ocean Infinity hope to deliver ocean information from largely unknown areas. Plans call for developing new robots and other deep-water autonomous technologies to collect ultra-high resolution information.
Innovative new technology also can advance NOAA's drone systems and artificial intelligence , both critical to better understanding deep waters and fully mapping the U.S. EEZ.
Ocean Infinity’s marine robots dive to a depth of nearly four miles. Utilizing these uncrewed systems substantially reduces the fuel required for mapping, resulting in a far lower impact on the environment.
With new methods of collecting and processing data, the aim is to rapidly characterize and communicate information about some of the world's most remote ocean areas.
Telepresence will bring the value and wonders of the ocean to the public and academia. Real-time video and other information will connect the ocean and its relevance to the life above it.
New on the Great Lakes
In 2022, when Viking inaugurates expeditions on the Great Lakes, NOAA scientists will be aboard, expanding extensive research already being conducted in waters containing 95 percent of our nation's freshwater supply.
Visits to Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve will be regular stops on the cruise agenda.
The F.T. Barney schooner, sunk in 1868, lies 160 feet deep in Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary waters. With masts and deck gear intact, it's among the most complete wrecks of its kind.
Viking passengers can also be hands-on, joining scientists in the ship’s laboratory and adding to citizen science projects.
As this rendering shows, Viking's new ship, Viking Octantis, will be equipped with sensors and small boats for surveying and sampling. Because it will sail the same route around the Great Lakes, waters along its path can be monitored long-term.
Glimpse Into the Future
Uncrewed systems aren’t new at NOAA, but a strategy released this year will significantly increase their use across the agency. NOAA and Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego are partnering on aspects of the strategy to improve how the systems collect ocean observations and improve forecasts.
One of the first collaborations includes designing, outfitting and testing an unattended and uncrewed surface vessel with a meteorological and oceanographic payload. NOAA and Scripps aim to transition technologies such as this to operational platforms that collect critical environmental data.
The L3Harris FVR-90 combines vertical take-off and landing with the speed and range of a fixed-wing aircraft. NOAA is testing it to launch from a ship for fishery and mammal surveys, weather data, climate studies, and more.
Innovating and increasing the use of uncrewed marine and aircraft systems will benefit many NOAA programs by strengthening safety; decreasing risk, especially in remote and extreme areas; and expanding data collection and use, often at lower cost.
This hexacopter, a remote-controlled, helicopter-like drone, collects photos of endangered beluga whales in Cook Inlet, Alaska. Measurements from many hundreds of photographs help determine birth and death rates and other health markers. Annual late summer surveys help compare birth rates to factors such as the strength of salmon runs. Salmon are a vital food source for beluga whales.
Frontiers of Science
For years, NOAA and Schmidt Ocean Institute have worked at the frontiers of ocean exploration, jointly characterizing and mapping the deep ocean and educating the public about the value of the work. This year, the partnership was expanded to accelerate the missions of both organizations.
During prior joint explorations, the work of one expedition has often leveraged the work of another. Live seafloor broadcasts, ship tours and education campaigns added to data collection and mapping achievements in the Pacific Ocean.
This Bubblebox estimates the amount of gas leaking from the seafloor by measuring the shape, size and speed of the bubbles moving through it. Developed by GEOMAR, the data help determine how much food is available to area marine life and the amount of methane carbon leaking into the ocean. When paired with other information, the data provide estimates of the volume of gas being released, not just at a given point, but over time.
Expanding the partnership opens dynamic new opportunities to advance scientific discovery, promote understanding about the mostly unknown ocean, and innovate and leverage ocean technologies, especially now, during what is often called “a technological revolution.”
Robots Head to Sea
NOAA, the U.S. Navy and academic partners plan to expand the development and use of uncrewed systems in U.S. coastal waters and the global ocean. Naval Oceanography has pioneered the use of these systems for over 20 years, giving NOAA extensive expertise, infrastructure and training to leverage.
Gliders collect data and transmit it via satellite. These intrepid robots can survive hurricanes and shark attacks.
Uncrewed systems are already working to chase hurricanes. Equipped with sensors to measure temperature and salinity down to a half mile below the ocean surface, sturdy robots are collecting data and transmitting it via satellite for use in hurricane forecast models.
Data pinpoint whether surface warm water pools can feed and increase the intensity of a passing storm, or whether cool, saltier water churned up from the deeper ocean may help weaken it.
In 2019, NOAA gliders collected about 10,000 ocean profiles in the Caribbean Sea and Tropical North Atlantic. Because of more collaboration and additional gliders, scientists expect to collect up to 50 percent more observations in 2020.
Deepwater Exploration of Marianas, NOAA & Partners, 2016
This year, NOAA welcomed eight new or expanded ocean partnerships.
Each partner is committed to discovering the deep ocean and returning with insights to enrich life within and above its waters, and to communicating broadly about the value of this fascinating hidden world. More extraordinary explorations and revelations advancing ocean science lie ahead.
We hope that by uncovering the mysteries of the ocean and demonstrating its essential connection to all life, we will inspire people to treasure this dynamic ecosystem.
NOAA Story Maps
NOAA at 50 , September 2020
Our Dynamic Marine Economy , June 2020
NOAA in Seattle , December 2019
NOAA Supports a Healthy Nation , September 2019
Inside Tornado Alley (NOAA Norman) , July 2019
A Healthy Return on Investments , April 2019
The Arctic: Closer Than You Think , March 2019
NOAA Boulder , October 2018
Play It Safe , August 2018
Our Ocean , June 2018
The Power of the Crowd (Citizen Science), April 2018
Farming in Water , February 2018
NOAA Mitigates the Impact of Killer Waves , (Tsunamis), December 2017
Hurricanes Punched Hard this Season , October, 2017
Ready for Hurricanes , May 2017