Hydrographic Society Benelux

The HSB held their first workshop this year on 7 May, with the vintage pusher boatRene Siegfriedas the venue. The theme was positioning and four keynote speakers made the meeting a very interesting gathering.

Dennis Odijk, researcher at the TU Delft, gave an introduction on the developments in GNSS. He took the audience into the world of GPS, GLONASS and Galileo developments – without forgetting the efforts China is putting into expanding their COMPASS network. This lecture brought everybody up to date with the techniques and status of this exciting material, as GPS is modernising their satellites and GLONASS is expanding.

Further on the opportunities multi-receiver can offer, Jan Leyssens (Septentrio) talked about the advantage of using more systems in several maritime applications such as harbours, inland, offshore and dredging. A combination of signals from GPS, GLONASSand/or Galileo can be beneficial in some situations but, according to him, should not be overestimated.

Pieter Toor (Veripos) took the floor for the third presentation and he led the audience through the advantages of real-time correction of the tide. Tide calculations are becoming more precise, making bathymetric surveys more accurate, for example. His presentation compared GNSS tide calculations with those of tide gauges at fixed locations and during a journey. He also looked into future opportunities that improved tide corrections may lead to.

Finally, Olivier Casabianca (Magellan Professional) talked about long-range kinematic positioning. Obviously, this improves the work of hydrographers as this technique may improve their precision when working far from a base station. This presentation examined the techniques of long-range positioning and some reference applications, such as finding the exact location of a sunken car carrier in the English Channel or dredging and maintenance work on rivers in Canada and China.
The next HSB workshop will be held on Friday 20 June 2008, in Nieuwpoort (Belgium).

Hydrographic Society Russia
15th HSR AGM
On 9 April, the 15th Annual General Meeting of the Hydrographic Society Russia was held, as usual, in the conference hall of the Department of Navigation and Oceanography (DNO). At the beginning of the meeting, the President, N. Neronov, gave the word to the DNO Chief Rear Admiral Sergey Kozlov. In short, he placed HSR activity in high esteem and assured the support of its activity. Then, President N. Neronov reported on Society activity during the last year and on actions planned for 2008. He especially emphasised the benefit HSR members have from receiving Hydrointernational. Next, the Chairman of the Revision Committee reported on the act of financial examination. It was unanimously approved. Following this, the members voted for the President, Vice-president and the Secretary. All were re-elected for the following term. A new Council Member was elected: Alexander Lebedev.
Keeping with tradition, a buffet was held at the end of the meeting.

A Visit to Chart Pilot, Ltd
Maintaining the tradition of being acquainted with ­organisations working in the field of hydrography, a group of HSR members led by the President visited Chart Pilot, Ltd on 4 April. During this visit, the organisation of the work and the ‘know-how’ of making paper and electronic charts, the organisation of hydrographic research and work on perfecting information technologies was shown to the visitors.

Special attention was given to the new technology of chart printing on demand. This allows updated charts to be printed at the request of mariners on the date of the order. The technology of chart printing on demand was highly regarded by the HSR members.
They also had the opportunity to familiarise themselves with printing, the technical facilities and ways of protecting cartographical information from non-­authorised access. During an examination of charts printed on various types of paper, the water resistance and breaking strength, as well as the option of using a pencil and eraser were evident. Thus, the high accuracy of printing, high quality of the colours and the good pictorial presentation of the updated charts was evident.

It is necessary to note that, shortly before this visit, seven employees of the company, including its Director, submitted applications at the same time to join the HSR. The HSR Council has granted these applications and, after the excursion, the HSR President formally handed over membership cards and badges to the new members.