The National Geodetic Survey is collecting aerial damage assessment images in the aftermath of Hurricane Isaias.

Satellite radar altimeter measurements reveal the sea surface signature of oceanic Kelvin waves. Sea level anomalies show where the ocean surface is higher or lower than its long-term average. The ...

New cooperative agreements will enable U.S. IOOS regional associations to operate regional coastal observing systems throughout U.S. waters.

The most famous glass sponge is a species of Euplectella, shown here in the northwestern Gulf of America (formerly Gulf of Mexico). Commonly called the “Venus flower basket,” this sponge builds its ...

Sea ice is frozen water that forms, expands, and melts in the ocean. It is different from icebergs, glaciers, ice sheets, and ice shelves, which originate on land. For the most part, sea ice expands ...

Whales are the largest animals on Earth and live longer than all other mammals in the contemporary animal kingdom. While many ocean lovers can easily identify the iconic sperm whale, the charismatic ...

The term "bathymetry" originally referred to the ocean's depth relative to sea level, although it has come to mean “submarine topography,” or the depths and shapes of underwater terrain. In the same ...

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-16 (GOES-16) is the first of NOAA's next generation of geostationary weather satellites. Among the many missions of this satellite, it will ...

Satellite photograph of the Great Barrier Reef situated off the northeastern coast of Australia. Stretching for 1,429 miles over an area of approximately 133,000 square miles , the Great Barrier Reef ...

Soundings, or water depth measurements, are represented by numbers on nautical charts. Water depths are measured by soundings usually acquired by hydrographic surveys. The depths may be in either feet ...

Reef-building corals cannot tolerate water temperatures below 64° Fahrenheit (18° Celsius). Many grow optimally in water temperatures between 73° and 84° Fahrenheit (23°–29°Celsius), but some can ...