Australasian Hydrographic Society

World Hydrography Day Event – South Australia

Each year the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) celebrates World Hydrography Day (WHD), an opportunity to increase public awareness of the vital role that hydrography plays in everyday life. This year marks its 94th anniversary, and Precision Hydrographic Services (PHS) was pleased to host an Adelaide event at the Arkaba Hotel on Friday 19 June to celebrate the occasion.

The Adelaide event attracted over fifty people representing hydrographic surveying service companies, equipment/software suppliers and students who are studying towards their surveying diploma/degree. Delegates heard presentations from CARIS, Pilbara Ports Authority, Coda Octopus Products, Bureau of Meteorology (Tidal Unit), Fugro LADS, Surveying and Spatial Science Institute (SSSI) and Precision Hydrographic Services (PHS).

This year’s WHD theme ‘Our seas and waterways yet to be fully charted and explored’ concentrates on the fact that much of the world’s seas, oceans and navigable waters remain unsurveyed. Many people do not know that less than 10% of the world’s oceans have been systematically surveyed and that coastal waters are far from being fully charted. Figures specific to Australia include: 35% of Australian coastal waters have been adequately surveyed, 20% need to be re-surveyed to modern standards, and 45% have never been surveyed at all.
This event would not have been possible without the support from PHS, HydroSurvey, FugroLADS and SSSI.

Australasian Hydrographic Symposium 2015

The Australasian Hydrographic Society will be hosting the Australasian Hydrographic Symposium 2015 and Trade Exhibition at Cairns, Queensland, Australia from 4 to 7 November 2015. Cairns is the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef and is a beautiful, tropical city in northern Queensland – a great to place to be, particularly for anyone in wintery northern climates….. we look forward to seeing you later this year. The organisers are now calling for papers, speakers and trade exhibitors.

The Symposium’s theme, ‘Harnessing The Blue Economy Through Hydrography In The Asia—Pacific Region’ focuses on the importance of hydrography to the region’s economies, and the opportunities for hydrographic surveying and maritime-related activities. While the ‘Blue Economy’ is acknowledged in Europe and America, the Australasian region is lagging. Therefore, the Symposium is timely in promoting issues affecting both developed and developing states’ economies within the region, potential opportunities and the availability of current equipment and technology.

The Symposium brings together speakers and delegates from varying maritime fields including specialist hydrographic streams, maritime transport, marine and environmental science, resource exploration, maritime heritage, defence, tourism, coastal development, ports and harbours and government. Up to 90% of the world’s trade is carried by sea or river and hydrography fundamentally affects our lives. This symposium seeks insight regarding the effects and opportunities that may arise, and seeks to provide a platform to show the importance of hydrography and the ‘Blue Economy’ to the Asia—Pacific region, including our region’s rich maritime heritage.
The Symposium provides a baseline to promote the International Hydrographic Organization World Hydrography Day (WHD) 2015 theme of: ‘Our seas and waterways - yet to be fully charted and explored’. The WHD theme identifies the fact that much of the world’s seas, oceans and navigable waters remain unsurveyed, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region where charting is relatively poor and the ‘Blue Economy’ is essential for the region’s economic well being. The WHD theme encourages supplementary data gathering initiatives, including crowdsourcing and satellite imagery, to help obtain more useful depth data. These methods cannot replace highly accurate and thorough hydrographic surveys using specialist ships and equipment, but will provide useful depth information where otherwise we have none.
Cairns is a truly beautiful and relevant venue due to its very close proximity to the Great Barrier Reef and one of the major shipping routes within Australian waters. It is hoped you will be able to attend and we are calling for papers through the Symposium linkage found in the Australasian Hydrographic Society’s website.

Detailed description of the Symposium