Nationwide Automatic Identification System Data for U.S. Waters, 2021

NOAA and BOEM provide Automatic Identification System (AIS) data from the U.S. Coast Guard's national receiver network. The data contains real-time location and characteristics of vessels in U.S. and international waters, filtered to a one-minute frequency and subset to the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone. The dataset was last updated on the platform in April 2026.

Use Cases

• Model maritime traffic patterns based on real-time vessel location broadcasts.
• Analyze vessel behavior for coastal management purposes based on transmitted characteristics.
• Monitor navigation safety within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone based on AIS receiver data.

Strengths

• Data is sourced from the authoritative U.S. Coast Guard national AIS receiver network.
• Records are processed to a standardized one-minute frequency rate.
• Spatial coverage is defined as the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and file size are 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 vessel data collected by the U.S. Coast Guard and industry, jointly processed by NOAA and BOEM.

Time Range

2021

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-10 19:48:37.099025; freshness should be verified.

Geography

U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone and international waters.