Automatic Identification System (AIS) in US Offshore Waters Vessel Traffic Data

Vessel traffic data or 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 were subsetted to depict the location and description of vessels broadcasting within the Exclusive Economic Zone. MarineCadastre.gov AIS data are divided by month and Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) zone.