Oceanology International to have Three Points of Focus

When Oi08 opens at the ExCeL centre in London’s Docklands on 11 March, the exhibition and its accompanying conference will focus on the three important issues that have begun to dominate thinking in ocean science and technology: climate change, meeting future energy demands, and ensuring environmental and civil security. These have become interconnected issues, with expertise now moving freely between each of these apparently specialised sectors.<P> With a 3-day conference accompanying this major exhibition, it is almost inevitable that public concerns about climate change will attract considerable interest. The role of the oceans in global warming is likely to take... (read more)

2008-03-12 12:00:00

The Rocknes Casualty 2004

A Chartmaker’s Retrospect

The MV Rocknes (about 17,000 GRT (Gross Register Tons), draught approximately 10.5m, see Figure 1), en route from Eikefet, Norway to Emden, Germany, hit a shoal in Vatlestraumen, Norway on 19 January 2004. The vessel carried a pilot from the Norwegian Coastal Administration (NCA). Soon after the grounding the ship capsized with the loss of 18 crew. 12 crew were rescued. Norwegian Hydrographic Service (NHS) was blamed for not publishing its knowledge of a presumed new shoal in the Vatlestraumen. Three subsequent lawsuits were necessary to establish a credible explanation of the accident’s root causes. 10 years after the serious... (read more)

2014-07-17 01:17:21

Bathymetry From Space

Global grids of synthetic bathymetry make it a simple matter to portray generalised ocean depths in all parts of the world, except the central Arctic Ocean. Derived from measurements of satellite height above the sea surface, synthetic bathymetry lacks the resolution and accuracy of acoustic soundings, plus it contains flaws that arise from measurement and computational processes. Users must therefore exercise care in the analysis and presentation of such information. In Part II of his satirical account Gulliver’s Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, Jonathan Swift described his protagonist’s thoughts after a close-up observation of the flawed complexions... (read more)

2008-01-19 12:00:00

A Life-changing Voyage

On New Year’s Day 1916, S. Davis Winship, a young Coast and Geodetic Survey (C&GS) officer, began a life-changing voyage, one that would take him far from his New England roots to a life in an exotic tropical land. Much of what follows is in Winship’s own words. Prior to embarking for the Philippine Islands, he had been in the C&GS for two years and had worked off the rocky shores of New England, the comparatively calm waters of Chesapeake Bay and the sounds of North Carolina, and in the deep, but pinnacle-studded, waters of Alaska’s Inside Passage. He arrived... (read more)

2017-05-16 03:11:52

Crossing Thresholds in Seafloor Mapping

Hydro Int’l Interviews Capt. A. Armstrong, NOAA (retd)

US Hydro 2007 Conference takes place this month in Norfolk, Virginia, organised by the Hydrographic Society of America. It will be the eleventh event of its kind, celebrating the two hundredth anniversary of the founding of US Coast Survey. The conference will include technical sessions on the latest developments and applications in hydrographic surveying, multi-beam and side-scan sonar, data management, electronic charting, marine archaeology and related topics. Hydro International took this opportunity of interviewing president of the Hydrographic Society of America and regional correspondent for HI, Andy Armstrong. Can you give our readers a brief summary of your career in... (read more)

2007-05-09 12:00:00

Measuring the Uncertainty of a Swath Bathymetric Sonar

A Statistical Analysis for System Performance and IHO Compliance

In the last few decades, substantial efforts have been made to improve and facilitate the way hydrographic data is obtained. One technology is the EdgeTech 4600, an interferometric phase difference sonar. Unlike traditional interferometers, the EdgeTech 4600 is the first of its kind to offer complete swath coverage of the seafloor, even at nadir. Combining this kind of coverage with a vertical accuracy that exceeds IHO Special Order requirements in depths less than 30 metres, results in a sonar with superior area coverage rates, especially in shallow water. In the summer of 2012, bathymetric survey data was collected using an... (read more)

2013-05-23 02:50:53

Challenging GNSS Vulnerability?

Or better not?

The reasons for GPS vulnerability due to interference are explained and reasons behind the system being designed as it is today discussed. In addition, consideration is given to why some new developments in future satellite signal structures must meet certain constraints due to United States and NATO national security issues. The impact of GPS on all maritime operations is immense; one would hardly know what to do were it ever to fail in what it generally does. But unlike in many fairy tales, real life may be a little harsher than ideal; a simple little box may deny our access... (read more)

2008-01-01 01:00:00

UKHO Acquires SevenCs

HI Interviews Dr Wyn Williams, UKHO and Gert Büttgenbach, SevenCs

More and more public institutions are involving themselves in private enterprise (see interview ‘The Public-private Dilemma’, December 2005). Is the line between public and private activities becoming blurred? The UK Hydrographic Office has just announced its aquisition of SevenCs, a German producer of ENC production tools and ECDIS.ECS systems (see this month’s Market Place). Hydro international was eager to learn of the thinking behind the move and future plans. We were fortunate, at short notice, to interview UKHO Chief Executive Dr Wyn Williams and co-founder and executive director of SevenCs, Gert Büttgenbach. The press release on the acquisition of SevenCs... (read more)

2008-01-01 01:00:00

‘Hydrography is Both a Science and a Technique’

7 Questions to the New Director General of the French Hydrographic Office

Chief weapons engineer Laurent Kerléguer was appointed director general of Shom, the French hydrographic office, in July 2019. In this interview, Hydro International asks him about the latest developments regarding the world of hydrography, climate change and artificial intelligence. “It’s becoming more urgent than ever to measure the ocean.” In this interview, Laurent Kerléguer, director-general of the French hydrographic office Shom, discusses the latest developments regarding the world of hydrography, climate change and artificial intelligence. Chief weapons engineer Laurent Kerléguer was appointed director-general of Shom, the French hydrographic office, in July 2019. In this interview, Hydro International asks him about the latest developments regarding the world of hydrography, climate change and artificial intelligence. “It’s becoming more urgent than ever to measure the ocean.” Laurent Kerléguer was born in Brest, France, and has always lived by – or close to – the sea. Although he never had a ‘dream job’... (read more)

2019-10-29 11:34:23

Hydrography in the Far East

Interview with Associate Prof. Dr Mohd Razali Mahmud

There is much current activity on the hydrographic scene in the Far East region; the area was hit by the Tsunami, 26th December 2004. The region is also on the doorstep of China, a country undergoing enormous economic growth and a consequent growing market for hydrographic surveying. Have developments in China any other consequences for the hydrographic community in the Far East? Associate Professor Dr Mohd Razali Mahmud, Head of Hydrography, Institute for Geospatial Science and Technology of the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) agreed to be interviewed by Hydro international (HI) on the matter. Please give our readers a summary... (read more)

2008-01-01 01:00:00