Slide Menu
Jump to Section...
Search Help Show/Hide Menu
Completion Rubric
66%
23.17 / 35
View Report
OCM Metadata Library > MarineCadastre > Automatic Identification System (AIS) >

Nationwide Automatic Identification System 2017

Data Set (DS)  |  Office for Coastal Management (OCM)
GUID: gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:53161  |  Updated: May 12, 2026  |  Published / External 
Short Citation:
Full Citation Examples
Office for Coastal Management, 2026: Nationwide Automatic Identification System 2017, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/53161.

Item Identification

Title: Nationwide Automatic Identification System 2017
Status: Completed
Publication Date: 2018-08-08
Abstract:

Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) are a navigation safety device that transmits and monitors the location and characteristics of many vessels in U.S. and international waters in real-time. In the U.S. the Coast Guard and industry collect AIS data, which can also be used for a variety of coastal management purposes. NOAA and BOEM have worked jointly to make available these data from the U.S. Coast Guards national network of AIS receivers. The original records were filtered to a one-minute frequency rate, and subset to depict the location and description of vessels broadcasting within the Exclusive Economic Zone.
Purpose:

To support ocean planning activities pursuant to the Executive Order Regarding the Ocean Policy to Advance the Economic, Security, and Environmental Interests of the United States, the Energy Policy Act, the Rivers and Harbors Act, and the Coastal Zone Management Act.
Supplemental Information:

Bureau Code: 006:48, Program Code: 006:055

Keywords

Theme Keywords

Thesaurus Keyword
ISO 19115 Topic Category
oceans
ISO 19115 Topic Category
planningCadastre
ISO 19115 Topic Category
transportation
UNCONTROLLED
None coastal
None planning
None renewable energy

Spatial Keywords

Thesaurus Keyword
Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Location Keywords
CONTINENT > NORTH AMERICA > UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
UNCONTROLLED
None Exclusive Economic Zone
None Outer Continental Shelf
None Territorial Sea

Physical Location

Organization: Office for Coastal Management
City: Charleston
State/Province: SC

Data Set Information

Data Set Scope Code: Data Set
Maintenance Frequency: None Planned
Data Presentation Form: Map (digital)
Entity Attribute Overview:

MMIS, BaseDateTime, LAT, LON, SOG, COG, Heading, VesselName, IMO, CallSign, VesselType, Status, Length, Width, Draft, Cargo
Distribution Liability:

https://www.marinecadastre.gov/about/disclaimer.html
Data Set Credit: U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, NOAA Office for Coastal Management

Support Roles

Point of Contact

CC ID: 765544
Date Effective From: 2018-08-08
Date Effective To:
Contact (Organization): NOAA Office for Coastal Management (NOAA/OCM)
Address: 2234 South Hobson Ave
Charleston, SC 29405-2413
Email Address: coastal.info@noaa.gov
Phone: (843) 740-1202
URL: https://coast.noaa.gov

Extents

Currentness Reference: Ground Condition

Extent Group 1

Extent Group 1 / Geographic Area 1

CC ID: 765541
W° Bound: -180
E° Bound: -60
N° Bound: 75
S° Bound: 15

Extent Group 1 / Time Frame 1

CC ID: 765540
Time Frame Type: Range
Start: 2017-01-01
End: 2017-12-31

Spatial Information

Spatial Representation

Representations Used

Vector: Yes

Vector Representation 1

CC ID: 765552
Topology Level: Geometry Only

Reference Systems

Reference System 1

CC ID: 1480875

Coordinate Reference System
CRS Type: Geographic 2D
EPSG Code: EPSG:4326
EPSG Name: WGS 84
▾ See Full Coordinate Reference System Information

Access Information

Security Class: Unclassified
Data Access Constraints:

None
Data Use Constraints:

For coastal and ocean planning

Distribution Information

Distribution 1

CC ID: 765547
Download URL: https://marinecadastre.gov/ais/
Distributor:
Description:

Marine Cadastre Vessel Traffic (AIS)

Distribution 2

CC ID: 1344834
Download URL: https://noaaocm.blob.core.windows.net/ais/csv2/csv2017/index.html
Distributor:

Activity Log

Activity Log 1

CC ID: 765549
Activity Date/Time: 2018-07-31
Description:

Date that the InPort metadata record was first created.

Data Quality

Accuracy:

Content was acquired from original sources – no additional testing was done to cross reference or confirm otherwise the field or geometry values from other sources.
Horizontal Positional Accuracy:

Compiled to meet 10 meters horizontal accuracy at 95% confidence level
Completeness Report:

Records were received from all U.S. Coast Guard NAIS terrestrial receivers
Conceptual Consistency:

These data are logically consistent

Lineage

Sources

Nationwide Automatic Identification System

CC ID: 765553
Contact Role Type: Originator
Contact Type: Organization
Contact Name: U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center
Publish Date: 2017-12-31
Extent Type: Range
Extent Start Date/Time: 2017-01-01
Extent End Date/Time: 2017-12-31
Citation URL: https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/
Source Contribution:

Daily compressed log files containing original AIS messages in NMEA format for the months of January through December for the United States. Authoritative Vessel Identification Service (AVIS) Vessel Catalog 2018-01-04.

Process Steps

Process Step 1

CC ID: 765554
Description:

Filter the raw NMEA data to a one-minute sample rate and select a subset of fields using MarineCadastre.gov NMEA to SQL Server processing tools

Load filtered records to a SQL Server 2017 database using MarineCadastre.gov NMEA to SQL Server processing tools

Conduct quality and completeness check using logging results from the filter and loading process, and database record counts

Update the IMO, CallSign, VesselName, Length, Width, VesselType, and Draft from US Coast Guard AVIS

Added or updated the new vessel type code field to each record fragment that was found in the US Coast Guard AVIS

Export records from the SQL Server database to daily CSV files using MarineCadastre.gov Filter and Export utilities

Modify the format of the date and time values to a UTC string format during export

Modify the format of the IMO vessel number to include the IMO prefix during export

Trim white space from string attributes during export

Replaced comma punctuation marks with a semi-colon in the vessel name or call sign field if present to improve CSV formatting during export

Replaced the vessel Status code values with descriptive text during export

Include a header record with descriptive text for each field during export

Write extracted AIS data to an ASCII CSV format file using MarineCadastre.gov Filter and Export utilities

Compress each ASCII CSV file
Process Date/Time: 2018-01-01 00:00:00
Source: Nationwide Automatic Identification System

Catalog Details

Catalog Item ID: 53161
GUID: gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:53161
Metadata Record Created By: Jesse Brass
Metadata Record Created: 2018-07-31 11:05+0000
Metadata Record Last Modified By: Jesse Brass
Metadata Record Last Modified: 2026-05-12 14:29+0000
Metadata Record Published: 2019-01-24
Owner Org: OCM
Metadata Publication Status: Published Externally
Do Not Publish?: N
Metadata Last Review Date: 2019-01-24
Metadata Review Frequency: 1 Year
Metadata Next Review Date: 2020-01-24