U.S. Vessel Locations and Characteristics from Automatic Identification System, 2018

Automatic Identification System (AIS) data records vessel location and characteristics in U.S. and international waters in real-time. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management provide this 2018 dataset, filtered to a one-minute frequency and subset to the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone. The data originates from the U.S. Coast Guard's national network of AIS receivers.

Use Cases

• Model maritime traffic patterns based on real-time vessel location broadcasts.
• Analyze vessel behavior for coastal management purposes mentioned in the description.
• Study navigation safety by monitoring vessel characteristics and movements.
• Support maritime domain awareness initiatives using the national AIS receiver network.

Strengths

• Data is filtered to a consistent one-minute frequency rate.
• Spatial coverage is defined as the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone.
• Data originates from the authoritative U.S. Coast Guard AIS network.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Available file formats are PDF and HTML, which may not be optimal for direct analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Transmitted and monitored by AIS devices, collected by the U.S. Coast Guard and industry, and jointly processed by NOAA and BOEM.

Time Range

2018

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-10 19:48:49.763472; freshness should be verified.

Geography

U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone and international waters.