Two million square kilometers, or 772,204 square miles. That’s more than one quarter the size of the contiguous United States. And it’s the area of seafloor now completely mapped by NOAA Ocean Exploration using the modern, high-resolution multibeam sonar system aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer since the ship was commissioned in 2008.
All of this work is being done in support of the National Strategy for Mapping, Exploring, and Characterizing the United States Exclusive Economic Zone (national strategy), which calls for completing mapping of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone by 2040 (waters deeper than 40 meters (131 feet) by 2030 and the near shore by 2040).
Read the full story here: https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/news/oer-updates/2021/two-million.html
