What is Hydrography?
Surveying Puget Sound, 1927
What is Hydrography? – NOAA Hydro Training 2012
What is Hydrography?
• International Hydrographic Organization (IHO)
Definition:
‐ Hydrography is the branch of applied sciences which deals
with the measurement and description of the physical
features of oceans, seas, coastal areas, lakes and rivers, as
well as with the prediction of their change over time, for the
primary purpose of safety of navigation and in support of all
other marine activities, including economic development,
security and defense, scientific research, and environmental
protection. (14 September 2011, www.iho.int)
What is Hydrography? – NOAA Hydro Training 2012
Three Aspects
• Coastal Hydrography is concerned with the development of
ports and harbors, coastal erosion problems, the utilization of
harbor and coastal conservation services and, especially, the
safety of navigation in coastal waters.
• Off-shore Hydrography is concerned with
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The provision of hydrographic data as an extension of the coastal zone
normally encompassing the continental shelf
The development of mineral deposits, including hydrocarbons
Provision of data for fisheries management
• Oceanic Hydrography is concerned with the acquisition of
hydrographic data in the deep ocean areas for the depiction of
sea-floor geomorphology.
(USM and UNB Intro to Hydrography, GGE1001)
What is Hydrography? – NOAA Hydro Training 2012
Why Hydrography is Important
71% of the Earth surface is covered with water, yet only
about 10% of the seafloor has been surveyed by echo
sounders at a resolution of 1 minute or better. –IHO, 2011
What is Hydrography? – NOAA Hydro Training 2012
NOAA’s Charting Responsibility
3.4 Million Square Nautical Miles
What is Hydrography? – NOAA Hydro Training 2012
Critical Areas and Priorities
• NOAA Maintains approximately
1,000 nautical charts encompassing
U.S. Territorial waters and the EEZ
‐ Nearly 50% of all soundings on
current charts were acquired utilizing
leadlines prior to 1940
• These areas are prioritized into
categories:
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Critical Areas;
Emerging Critical Areas
Resurvey Areas
Priority Areas
Leadline Sounding Operations
C&GS, 1928
» Divided into Priorities from 1 to 5
NOAA Hydrographic Survey Priorities, 2011
What is Hydrography? – NOAA Hydro Training 2012
Critical Areas and Priorities
• Prioritized by the following factors:
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Shipping Tonnage and Trends
Vintage of Surveys in the Area (Year, Equipment, Process)
Under-keel Clearance of Vessels
Potential for Unknown Dangers to Navigation due to
dynamic bottom or human influence
‐ Requests for surveys from Pilot’s Associations, the U.S.
Coast Guard, and the Marine Community through NOAA’s
Regional Navigation Managers
NOAA Hydrographic Survey Priorities, 2011
What is Hydrography? – NOAA Hydro Training 2012
Critical Areas and Priorities
• Of the 43,000 SNM identified as Critical in 1994, only
14,980 SNM remains
• Nationally, 36,545 SNM of modern, Full Bottom
Coverage completed since 1994
• NOAA, through ships and contractors, survey
approximately 1,300 – 1,600 SNM per year with
existing resources and funding levels
NOAA Hydrographic Survey Priorities, 2011
What is Hydrography? – NOAA Hydro Training 2012
Who is Responsible
What is Hydrography? – NOAA Hydro Training 2012
Why do we survey?
Bigger, Taller, Longer Ships
• Emma Mærsk
‐ Length: 1,302 ft
‐ Beam: 184 ft
‐ Draught: 51 ft
What is Hydrography? – NOAA Hydro Training 2012
Hydro & Homeland Security
• The Oceanographer of the Navy
requested NOAA to provide side
scan sonar imagery of shipping
channels and harbors to the Naval
Oceanographic Office (NAVO)
‐ NOAA collected data at 34 strategic
commercial ports
‐ NAVO collected data at 14 military
ports
‐ NAVO processes and stores data
• This data is used as a baseline for
comparison
Klein 5000
Side Scan Sonar
Detailed Side Scan
Sonar Imagery
What is Hydrography? – NOAA Hydro Training 2012
Hydro & Homeland Security
• If a threat condition occurred, the Navy will use the
baseline data of pre-existing objects so they can search
for new objects, utilizing mine counter-measure assets
more effectively to determine if a mine has been
placed on the seafloor.
What is Hydrography? – NOAA Hydro Training 2012
Bottom Coverage by Survey Method
Leadline
Single Beam
Multi Beam
Pre - 1940
1940 - 1998
1998 - Present
What is Hydrography? – NOAA Hydro Training 2012
Shallow Water Multibeam
• Direct measurement
of Depth
• Multibeam sonar
systems are rigidly
attached to the
survey vessel
• Less swath width
than Side-Scan
Project: OPR-O190-RA-11
What is Hydrography? – NOAA Hydro Training 2012
Side-Scan Sonar
• Underwater Imagery
‐ Although depths can be
correlated, not a direct
measurement
• Used to look for features
‐ Features will be surveyed
with Multibeam
• Side-Scan “Towfish” are
towed behind the survey
vessel
• Very wide coverage swath
Side-Scan Image of USS Monitor
What is Hydrography? – NOAA Hydro Training 2012
Hydro Types
What is Hydrography? – NOAA Hydro Training 2012
NOAA Hydrographic Fleet
Thomas Jefferson
Rainier
Norfolk, VA 1992
Newport, OR 1968
Navigation Response
Teams (NRT’s)
Six Teams, Nationwide
R/V Bay Hydro II
Fairweather
Ketchikan, AK 1968 / 2004
Solomons, MD
What is Hydrography? – NOAA Hydro Training 2012
Other Hydro-Capable NOAA Vessels
Nancy Foster
Gloria Michelle
Henry Bigelow
Ronald Brown
Hi’ialaki
Pisces
Okeanos Explorer
Oscar Dyson
Bell M. Shimada
What is Hydrography? – NOAA Hydro Training 2012
NOAA’s Navigation Services:
Nautical Charting
• Nautical Charts
‐ 1,000 Paper Charts
‐ 998 Print-on-Demand
‐ 380 Electronic Navigation
Charts (ENCs)
• Coast Pilot
‐ Nine Volumes
encompassing U.S coastal
and intracoastal waters
• Notice to Mariners
‐ Provides Updates for all
charts and Coast Pilots
What is Hydrography? – NOAA Hydro Training 2012
NOAA’s Navigation Services:
Navigation Response Teams (NRT’s)
• Small teams located
around the country
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NRT-1; Gulf of Mexico
NRT-2; Southeast
NRT-3; Northwest
NRT-4; Great Lakes
NRT-5; Northeast
NRT-6; Southwest
• Highly mobile units
providing site surveys and
rapid disaster response
What is Hydrography? – NOAA Hydro Training 2012
Products for Safe Navigation
National Spatial
Nautical Charts
Reference System
Real Time Tides and Currents
Hydrographic Surveys
Research and Development
Models and New Technologies
What is Hydrography? – NOAA Hydro Training 2012
The End
What is Hydrography? – NOAA Hydro Training 2012