Monday November 29, 2021
KXAN —
NOAA has now mapped two million square kilometers of the ocean with a high resolution, multi-beam sonar system. Two million square kilometers is equivalent to more than 772,000 square miles or roughly more than one quarter of the size of the lower 48 United States.
The 2 million square kilometers milestone was reached while mapping the Blake Plateau off the coast of the southeastern United States Nov. 1.
The NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer has been responsible for the mapping since being commissioned in 2008. Earlier this year the ship had its mapping technology replaced with even better equipment in order to see more of the ocean floor.
Only waters part of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone were mapped, but it’s part of a long-term goal to map that entire zone by 2040. The goal is broken down into parts — map waters deeper than 40 meters by 2030 and near shore waters by 2040.