NOAA CELEBRATES 200 YEARS OF SCIENCE, SERVICE AND STEWARDSHIP
Survey of the Coast Established in 1807

March 9, 2007 — In 1807, President Thomas Jefferson created the nation’s first physical science agency, the United States Survey of the Coast, which now resides in NOAA. Add the establishment in the 1870s of the Weather Bureau, precursor to today’s NOAA National Weather Service, and the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, now the National Marine Fisheries Service, and it is easy to see that much of the nation’s scientific heritage is firmly rooted in the NOAA.

“The Survey of the Coast has evolved dramatically over its 200 year history. But its primary mission still remains — to provide accurate and up-to-date information to the maritime community for safe passage through U.S. ports and along our nation’s extensive coastline,” said retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “NOAA’s 200th Celebration will highlight the rich history of science, service and stewardship we provide to the American public.”

Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, the realized that the fledgling nation’s success depended on the sea for efficient maritime commerce and border defense. Ships were the most cost-effective mode of transport — there were no railroads or interstate highways. Jefferson, a surveyor himself, realized the tools needed to succeed were accurate charts showing the nuances of the coastline, tides and currents and hazards to safe navigation.

Congress agreed with Jefferson and on February 10, 1807, passed an act authorizing what was then called the Survey of the Coast. A grand total of $50,000 was allocated for the task — “a survey to be taken of the coasts of the United States, in which shall be designated the islands and shoals, with the roads or places of anchorage, within twenty leagues of any part of the shores of the United States.”

The 1807 Act authorized the President “to cause proper and intelligent persons to be employed” in the Survey. Jefferson selected Ferdinand Hassler, a Swiss immigrant and accomplished geodesist and mathematician.

Hassler decided to create a geodetic network along the edge of the continent that would be the foundation for mapping the coast and propelling the Survey as a serious scientific agency. To accomplish this, he trained an entire generation of American geodesists to design and build instruments not found in the entire western hemisphere. He also had to convince the Congress to fund it all.

After being delayed by the War of 1812 and a trip to Europe to get the best available survey tools, Hassler began the first survey in New York Harbor in 1817.

Hassler was extremely successful in creating an enterprise that brought together mathematicians, cartographers, geodesists, meteorologists, hydrographers, topographers, sailors, laborers and administrators in an effective agency, and later died while doing the work he loved on an observatory hilltop in a thunderstorm in 1843.

The Survey Grows with the Nation
“The Survey remains successful because, it has adjusted well to changing times,” said Teresa Christopher from the NOAA Office of Coast Survey. “Not only did the Survey lay the groundwork for a legacy of products and services to enhance the safe and efficient navigation of the nation's waterways, but as the nation grew, so did the Survey.”

As the country extended westward in the 19th century, it also conducted surveys needed to establish a common reference system so that maps and charts would align with one another. Following the high standards for accuracy and scientific integrity established by Superintendent Ferdinand Hassler along the coast, a national geodetic control network was built. Today, NOAA manages this network, the National Spatial Reference System, providing a consistent coordinate system for position (latitude and longitude), elevation, distance and direction between points, and how these values change over time.

Later the Survey expanded away from the coasts and into the ocean depths, exploring the unknown and discovering key features of the ocean environment, such as the Gulf Stream and seamounts.

For a short time, the charting responsibility even took to the sky with the nation’s first aeronautical charts, until that mission was turned over to the Federal Aviation Administration in 2001.

Finally, the descendants of the Survey entered the space age with the arrival of the Global Positioning System (GPS) and communications satellites; NOAA makes GPS positioning data far more accurate, and uses satellites to make its navigation data available in real time.

The Survey Then and Now
Where 200 years ago sailors tossed lead lines overboard to measure water depth, and location was determined by observing the stars, NOAA now uses multibeam and side scan sonar technology to fully map the sea bottom, Global Positioning System satellites for centimeter-accuracy positioning both on land and sea, tide stations that report water levels every six minutes, and advanced computers for compiling data into electronic nautical charts and other useful products. Where 200 years ago the Survey was directed to map 20 leagues offshore (roughly 70 miles), NOAA is now responsible for the entire Exclusive Economic Zone, 200 nautical miles out from the shoreline.

Navigation data is still as important now as it was 200 years ago, as waterborne commerce remains the backbone of the U.S. economy even today. “Waterborne cargo alone contributes more than $742 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product and creates employment for more than 13 million citizens,” said Lautenbacher. “Commercial shipping, fisheries, recreational boating, tourism, national defense, emergency responders and coastal management rely on NOAA’s navigation tools to get where they need to go safely and efficiently.”

The debris left in Gulf waters after the 2005 hurricanes is a stark reminder of the changing hazards facing mariners navigating between U.S. ports, and the importance of accurate NOAA hydrographic surveys, nautical charts and real-time water level and positioning data. As ships grow in size and number, and waterway congestion increases, NOAA’s information about the uncertain environment in which mariners must operate will become ever more critical.

Today, 200 years later, components of this early organization, including the NOAA Office of Coast Survey, NOAA National Geodetic Survey, NOAA Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services, NOAA Office of Marine and NOAA Aviation Operations and NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps, are alive and well as parts of NOAA. And though the goal is still the same, NOAA’s means to achieve it are much more sophisticated.

NOAA Coast Survey
The Survey is also known for several other noteworthy accomplishments:

• The men of the Survey were not only at the forefront of science, but also at the forefront of war (the Civil War, World War I and World War II). They helped develop the science used to steer and pilot the military.
  
• In 1917 during World War I, the forerunner to today’s NOAA Corps — the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Commissioned Corps — was created by E. Lester Jones to guide Survey personnel into war service at higher ranks and better pay than they would have gotten otherwise. Today, the Corps is one of the nation’s seven uniformed services.
  
• The Coast Survey was also the first government agency to develop mathematical models for predicting future states of geophysical phenomena such as tides, currents and geomagnetic declination.
  
• Not only did the Survey create NOAA’s 200 year legacy of science, service and stewardship, but it also helped shape the infrastructure and build the foundation of American science.
  
  • Through its portals have come some of the finest minds. James McNeill Whistler the artist, Admiral Leland Perry Shidy the explorer, Benjamin Pierce the philosopher, Charles Wilkes the geographer-explorer, George Davidson the explorer/astronomer and Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler, Alexander Dallas Bache, Otto Hilgard Tittmann and Thomas Corwin Mendenhall, all great leaders of the Survey. All of these men and many more gave America a place of honor in the international scientific community.
    
  • The Survey influenced formation of the American science community, as well the early work of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the formation of the National Academy of Sciences and the Smithsonian Institution.
    
    The Survey division responsible for standards units of measure, the office of Weights and Measures, was spun off as the independent National Bureau of Standards, which later became the national Institute of Standards and Technology. This influence continued into the twentieth century when the Bureau of Standards formed from an office within the Coast and Geodetic Survey. Later it played a significant role in forming the American Geophysical Union.

NOAA 200th Celebration
The 200th celebration is an opportunity for NOAA to honor its heritage by celebrating its innovative and dedicated people, programs and services. Throughout the year, NOAA will look back and celebrate its past, take stock of where it is now and consider the possibilities that lie in its futurer. The celebration is also an opportunity for NOAA to share its story with the American people, linking our past, present and future contributions to the health and vitality of the nation.

Please join NOAA in this nationwide celebration that continues through December 31, 2007. Throughout the year, you can participate in a variety of events and happenings and obtain outreach and educational materials, all to learn about how NOAA has impacted our everyday lives throughout its 200-year history.

Relevant Web Sites
NOAA’s 200th Celebration

About the Celebration

NOAA 200th Celebration Events and Activities

NOAA 200th Feature Stories

NOAA 2200th Collections

NOAA Historical Resources

NOAA 200th for For Kids and Educators

NOAA 200th Celebration Materials

NOAA 200th Celebration Movies

NOAA History - Poster Series for NOAA's 200th

NOAA'S 200TH CELEBRATION SHOWCASES TOP TEN HISTORY MAKERS

Media Contact:
Dave Miller, NOAA, (202) 482-0013