AIS Vessel Transit Counts 2025
Data Set (DS) | Office for Coastal Management (OCM)GUID: gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:79556 | Updated: July 23, 2026 | Published / External
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- InPort XML
- ISO 19115
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Summary
Short Citation
Office for Coastal Management, 2026: AIS Vessel Transit Counts 2025, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/79556.
Full Citation Examples
This dataset summarizes annual vessel transit counts. Transit counts show how many times vessels pass through a specific 100-meter by 100-meter geographic area.
The automatic identification system (AIS) is 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 planning purposes. NOAA and BOEM have worked jointly to add value and make available some of the most important historical records from the U.S. Coast Guard's national network of AIS receivers. This data set represents annual vessel transit counts summarized at a 100-meter by 100-meter geographic area. A single transit is counted each time a vessel track passes through, starts, or stops within a 100-meter grid cell.
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.
Data Access & Downloads
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Marine Cadastre Data Registry
For coastal and ocean planning
Controlled Theme Keywords
oceans, transportation
Child Items
No Child Items for this record.
Contact Information
Point of Contact
NOAA Office for Coastal Management (NOAA/OCM)
coastal.info@noaa.gov
(843) 740-1202
https://coast.noaa.gov
Extents
-168° W,
-60° E,
50° N,
15° S
2025-01-01 - 2025-12-31
Item Identification
| Title: | AIS Vessel Transit Counts 2025 |
|---|---|
| Status: | Completed |
| Publication Date: | 2026-05-18 |
| Abstract: |
This dataset summarizes annual vessel transit counts. Transit counts show how many times vessels pass through a specific 100-meter by 100-meter geographic area. The automatic identification system (AIS) is 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 planning purposes. NOAA and BOEM have worked jointly to add value and make available some of the most important historical records from the U.S. Coast Guard's national network of AIS receivers. This data set represents annual vessel transit counts summarized at a 100-meter by 100-meter geographic area. A single transit is counted each time a vessel track passes through, starts, or stops within a 100-meter grid cell. |
| 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 |
transportation
|
| UNCONTROLLED | |
| None | coastal |
| None | energy |
| None | planning |
Spatial Keywords
| Thesaurus | Keyword |
|---|---|
| UNCONTROLLED | |
| None | Exclusive Economic Zone |
| None | Outer Continental Shelf |
| None | Territorial Sea |
| None | United States of America |
Physical Location
| Organization: | Office for Coastal Management |
|---|---|
| City: | Charleston |
| State/Province: | SC |
Data Set Information
| Data Set Scope Code: | Data Set |
|---|---|
| Data Set Type: | Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF |
| Maintenance Frequency: | None Planned |
| Data Presentation Form: | Map (digital) |
| Distribution Liability: |
https://hub.marinecadastre.gov/pages/disclaimer |
| Data Set Credit: | U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center, NOAA Office for Coastal Management |
Support Roles
Point of Contact
| Date Effective From: | 2026-04-14 |
|---|---|
| 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: | Publication Date |
|---|
Extent Group 1
Extent Group 1 / Geographic Area 1
| W° Bound: | -168 | |
|---|---|---|
| E° Bound: | -60 | |
| N° Bound: | 50 | |
| S° Bound: | 15 |
Extent Group 1 / Time Frame 1
| Time Frame Type: | Range |
|---|---|
| Start: | 2025-01-01 |
| End: | 2025-12-31 |
Spatial Information
Spatial Representation
Representations Used
| Grid: | Yes |
|---|---|
| Vector: | No |
| Text / Table: | No |
| TIN: | No |
| Stereo Model: | No |
| Video: | No |
Reference Systems
Reference System 1
Coordinate Reference System |
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Access Information
| Security Class: | Unclassified |
|---|---|
| Data Use Constraints: |
For coastal and ocean planning |
Distribution Information
Distribution 1
| Download URL: | https://ocmgeodatastor1.blob.core.windows.net/marinecadastre/ais/aistransit/ais-transit-count-2025.tif |
|---|---|
| Distributor: |
Distribution 2
| Download URL: | https://marinecadastre.gov/data |
|---|---|
| Distributor: | |
| Description: |
Marine Cadastre Data Registry |
Technical Environment
| Description: |
Microsoft Windows, ArcGIS Pro, Azure SQL |
|---|
Data Quality
| Accuracy: |
Untested |
|---|---|
| Horizontal Positional Accuracy: |
Compiled to meet 10 meters horizontal accuracy at 95% confidence level |
| Completeness Report: |
a) The geographic extent of these data include the conterminous United States, Hawaii, U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Guam, and CNMI. b) Presence, absence, and contiguity of a track is dependent on the distance and temporal filters applied in the track building algorithm. Parameters for these data were 1,852 meters (i.e. one nautical mile) and 30 minutes. c) This is an aggregate data product derived from input files that were segmented generally by ocean basin. A gap can be seen along the seam line of the input files. The gap distance should never exceed the distance a vessel has traveled between two consecutive position records. |
| Conceptual Consistency: |
These data are logically consistent |
Lineage
Sources
AIS Vessel Tracks 2025
| Contact Role Type: | Originator |
|---|---|
| Contact Type: | Organization |
| Contact Name: | NOAA Office for Coastal Management |
| Publish Date: | 2026-04-01 |
| Citation URL: | https://marinecadastre.gov/data/ |
| Citation URL Name: | Source Online Linkage |
| Citation URL Description: |
URL where the source data were originally accessed. |
| Source Contribution: |
Annual vessel tracks built using Reconstruct Tracks or equivalent tool, with split parameters of 1,852 meters and 30 minutes. Vessel type definitions derived from the original NMEA record and the Authoritative Vessel Identification Service (AVIS) Vessel Catalog |
Process Steps
Process Step 1
| Description: |
1. Select tracks for all vessels from the 2025 AIS Vessel Tracks geodatabase to generate monthly "all vessel" transit count grids. Expand coverage to include Guam and CNMI. 2. Calculate transit count grids following an identical or comparable algorithm implemented in the Marine Cadastre AIS Vessel Transit Counter tool, for each month of tracks and for each ocean basin. 3. Merge monthly transit count grids into an annual transit count grid per ocean basin. 4. Confirm all raster files have statistics, consistent compression, and pyramids according to specifications. 5. Format all transit count rasters as cloud-optimized GeoTIFFs. |
|---|---|
| Process Date/Time: | 2026-04-01 00:00:00 |
| Source: | AIS Vessel Tracks 2025 |
Process Step 2
| Description: |
Data for the Atlantic were corrected to account for minor undercounting of vessel counts where data were mosaicked during processing. Therefore, data accessed or downloaded between initial release of these 2025 vessel count data (April 14, 2026) and this correction (May 18, 2026) should be considered outdated. We recommend downloading the updated dataset to ensure accuracy. |
|---|---|
| Process Date/Time: | 2026-05-18 00:00:00 |
Catalog Details
| Catalog Item ID: | 79556 |
|---|---|
| GUID: | gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:79556 |
| Metadata Record Created By: | Jesse Brass |
| Metadata Record Created: | 2026-04-08 13:23+0000 |
| Metadata Record Last Modified By: | Jesse Brass |
| Metadata Record Last Modified: | 2026-07-23 18:20+0000 |
| Metadata Record Published: | 2026-04-14 |
| Owner Org: | OCM |
| Metadata Publication Status: | Published Externally |
| Do Not Publish?: | N |
| Metadata Last Review Date: | 2026-04-14 |
| Metadata Review Frequency: | 1 Year |
| Metadata Next Review Date: | 2027-04-14 |