‘Hydrography’

Why is this book different from the wide range of books on hydrography? As an oceanographer I have spent a lot of time reading books on the general knowledge of hydrography. Most of them are self-explanatory. However, they hardly ever cover half the range of topics that are the building stones of hydrography. The authors of this book have set out to and succeeded in presenting an introduction to and overview of the broad field of hydrography. It is impossible to cover all these topics in great detail, as such a book would be far from enjoyable to read. However,... (read more)

2008-01-01 01:00:00

Hydrography: Teamwork

Our profession is one that carries with it lots of wonderful things. Travelling to remote places, exploring new territories, fighting the elements, providing new routes as well as improving existing ones for mariners, all belong to the uniqueness of being hydrographer. But these tasks and conditions also demand that hydrographers work very closely together, both in the field and between field parties and the office, to achieve the aims of a survey. Facing adversity as teams of professionals and technicians, along with the hydrographic vessel crew, nurtures very bonded human relations. Relations based upon the shared sacrifice of being away... (read more)

2007-02-02 12:00:00

Chinese Hydrography

The Chinese Dragon rears its head in many fields of the world economy and despite the latest reports of a slowdown of growth, it is interesting to see the development in hydrographic surveying and chart production. The Chinese hydrographic sector is certainly increasing. Let’s take a look at a few figures from the Chinese Maritime Safety Authority, under which the Hydrographic Office falls, laid down in the annual report of 2010. The Chinese surveyed 26,814.89km2 in 2010, compared to 15,722.42km2 in 2006. Of this total, 6,209.5km2 was surveyed in the North Sea area, 10,830.94km2 in het East Sea Area and... (read more)

2012-11-20 04:52:19

Hydrography 2.0

This month's theme is hydrography and living resources. However, you won't find any articles on the subject in this magazine. A bit strange coming from me, who for years worked in nature conservation. Like a doctor not seeing his own kid is ill, or a contractor not working on his own house in his spare time. But I haven't developed a blind spot for living resources, just sometimes a theme comes up that's too interesting too ignore. In promising to make it up to you over living resources, I would like to introduce Hydrography 2.0! Invite you into a... (read more)

2009-10-05 10:09:27

World Hydrography Day: Hydrography For Maritime Trade

The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) celebrates World Hydrography Day (WHD) on 21st of June, this year carrying the theme Hydrographic Services - the essential element for maritime trade. This is the anniversary date on which the IHO was created in 1921. The theme for each year's celebration highlights aspects of the work and the contribution that the IHO makes to the world community. For 2010 the IHO has chosen the theme, ‘Hydrographic Services - the essential element for maritime trade'. Maritime trade is extremely important to most countries in the world, and hydrography and the provision of nautical charts are... (read more)

2010-05-06 09:16:46

Hydrography & Marine SDI Symposium

UK National Hydrographer Rear Admiral Ian Moncrieff will be the Keynote Speaker at a one-day symposium on Hydrography & Marine Spatial Data Infrastructure organised by The Hydrographic Society UK's Southern Region at Bradfield College, Reading on Tuesday 27 October. The event will appeal to all those who work with marine data, and those looking to make their projects and businesses more streamlined and cost effective through more intelligent gathering and use of Marine data sets. Potential delegates should note that discounted "Early Bird" registration is only available until the end of August. Full details are available at the... (read more)

2009-08-11 04:29:53

Low-budget Hydrography

This month’s theme led several readers to share some (mostly) happy memories with us… here are two of them. Scientific Beer Drinking One typical example of low-cost hydrography is measuring ocean currents by means of drift bottles. This simple method has been used for many years. Already in 1787, French author and natural researcher Bernardin de Saint-Pierre invited mariners to release bottles into the sea containing notes with information for the finder on position and date of release of the bottle and address for return to sender. In 1885, on one of his first cruises onboard his oceanographic research vessel... (read more)

2008-01-01 01:00:00

Hydrography - Changing and Adapting

As I sit down to write this periodic column, I am reminded of the story of the grizzled old retired fisherman sitting in a waterfront tavern. It is a dreadful night, rain pouring down, a storm howling. He is asked whether he misses the sea. Puffing contemplatively on his pipe he replies "I'd rather be in here wishing I was out there, than out there wishing I was in here". My present relationship with hydrography is something like that of the old fisherman and the sea. I maintain a keen interest in the subject and what is going on and... (read more)

2008-01-01 01:00:00

Hydrography in Monaco

160 Years of Partnership With France

France has been providing hydrographic services on behalf of Monaco for 160 years. This article describes this partnership from the early days of systematic surveying to the present state of affairs (including digital chart production).The long-lasting partnership was formalised in a bilateral arrangement in 2005. The event was called exemplary in the annual report of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) for 2005: on 19th September 2005, France and Monaco signed the first known bilateral arrangement formalising the provision of hydrographic services by one country on behalf of the other, in accordance with the revised Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS)... (read more)

2007-04-04 12:00:00

South Pacific Hydrography

In April this year I represented the South West Pacific Hydrographic Commission (SWPHC) at the eleventh meeting of the Pacific Islands Maritime Association and the first Meeting of Pacific Minsters of Transport. During the discussions I was reminded of the unique challenges the South Pacific Ocean has for hydrographers. A relatively small number of ships transit about 16% of the earth’s surface, some 41,500,000 square kilometres of this falling within the boundaries of the SWPHC. Distances of 2,000 to 3,000 kilometres between the ports of the region are common. The South has a few sub-Antarctic Islands buffeted by the Roaring... (read more)

2007-09-04 12:00:00