Hydro International Columns

Digital methods of data acquisition are now commonplace in most offshore survey techniques. One of the last operations still being performed with analogue technology is the recording of video signals ...

It seems that whichever way I look nowadays I am surrounded by technology and data. Sometimes there is such a huge volume of data that it is inconceivable how anybody can comprehend the ciphers withou...

For many years we have been familiar with the term ‘Cat A’ or ‘Cat B’, referring respectively to International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) and International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) A...

Naval hydrographic schools are fine examples of educational institutions holding old traditions of academic excellence and being in the vanguard of new technological developments. They have to supply ...

The IHO held its fourth annual Industry Days in June. Some powerful messages were delivered concerning what the IHO looks like to those on the ‘outside’. It is not an altogether pretty sight. Whil...

"It is on the Web" has become one of the most common responses that I hear whenever I ask for information about almost anything. The only problem with this has to be where on the Web? Typing the word ...

Not so much divided, perhaps, as fragmented. The interests of professionals engaged in the hydro survey industry are represented by a number of different bodies, both nationally and internationally. I...

I work for the Japan Hydrographic Association (JHA). As some of you may know, I spent most of my career with the Hydrographic Office of Japan. The organisation that I work for is under the supervision...

Many international organisations and individuals have been aware of the dire need for the improvement of navigational services to shipping in many parts of the developing world. The lack of these serv...

There is at present a huge rise in the tasks and responsibilities of most national Hydrographic Offices (HOs) world-wide. Most governments require them to undertake work related to both national respo...

The International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO) and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) are co-operating very closely to take appropriate action for the mandatory carriage of ECDIS to incr...

I was recently asked by Hydro international to answer, in the form of an Invited Reply, the question of why fewer people are choosing hydrographic surveying as a profession. Levels of students have di...

The IMO is considering a phased programme to make the carriage of ECDIS compulsory. This could mean that certain vessels be required to carry ECDIS from as early as 2008. In my view, this is the key t...

My colleague Peter Johnson presented a paper at this year’s Canadian Hydrographic Conference explaining how Australia is implementing Zones of Confidence in its charts. The Zones of Confidence (ZOC)...

July 2002 signalled a significant milestone in the long, tortuous life of ECDIS. It was the month that ECDIS was formally recognised (and specifically mentioned) in SOLAS Chapter V. It should have bee...