the eseahorse - thsoa · pdf filelast two years and the success of us hydro 2013 conference....
TRANSCRIPT
THSOA – Introduction by Paul Cooper, President of THSOA
H ello, before I introduce myself, on behalf of all of our members, I want to thank Pat Sanders for the leadership he provided during the
last two years and the success of US Hydro 2013 Conference. I consider Pat a life long friend and fellow Hydrographer. We first met when he joined the Naval Oceanographic Office and reported for duty to a project in Panama. I was the Party Chief then and this was one of his first field as-signments - that was in 1976. That project was what we considered slick and lean at that time. It had its own boat with berthing for 5, a Navy cook, a van full of the latest computer and plotting gear and an equipment van. I am sure Pat saw that it could be better and HYPACK was born and the rest is history. As for me, I spent 35 years at NAVO-CEANO where I served on NAVOCEANO hydrographic survey ships carrying out con-ventional and satellite geodetic surveying, small boat operations, and watch standing on board ships. Just as I was getting the hang of things there it was time to go. I re-tired as Director of the International Pro-gram where we worked on developing bilat-eral relationships with foreign surveying agencies for charting and safety of navigation. My career in hydrography has allowed me to work in over 60 countries around the world. After retirement I came to CARIS in Alexandria, VA where I am now. In addition to our business, I am involved with the Pan American Institute of Geography and History which is a specialized organization of the Organi-zation of American States dedicated to mapping and charting in the Ameri-cas, among other things. I am also a board member of the Mid Atlantic Regional Association for Coastal Ocean Observing System (MARACOOS) which is one of the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) regional associations. I am finding that through IOOS activities there is a place where hydrography and oceanography have a very complementary rela-tionship to develop.
From the President
Special points of interest:
Introduction of new
THSOA President
THSOA Scholarship
Recipients
World Hydrography Day
A newsletter published quarterly by THSOA Spring 2014
Volume I, Issue 4
Inside this issue:
Letter from the
President 1
THSOA Scholarship
Program 3
THSOA Chapter News 6
Coast Survey to improve
magenta line 9
Best Practice for
Topographic Lasers 11
World Hydrography Day 16
Educational Spotlight 17
The eSeahorse The Hydrographic Society of America
(Continued on page 2)
Paul Cooper, THSOA President
In the next two years I hope to increase THSOA education and academic outreach to enhance our profile within the academic community so that enough qualified sea surveying graduates are coming out of our education system. We have had some good starts on that with the scholarship pro-gram, poster sessions at US Hydro, the student outreach program where we mentor and support students for travel to US Hydro. I plan to increase those efforts. I also would like to increase our chapter organization to in-clude formation of other chapters. We have had inquiries from members in Latin America who are meeting about their potential formation of a chapter for that region. We have decided on the date and place for US Hydro 2015 so please mark your calendar - 15 - 19 March 2015 at the Gaylord Hotel in National Harbor on the banks of the Potomac River 8 miles from the Nation’s Capital. We will be populating our conference page as we firm up the details of the con-ference. I am looking forward to working in the THSOA with all of you. Please feel free to make recommendations or suggestions that you think can improve what we are doing. †
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has published its latest edition of EM 1110-2-1003, Hydrographic Surveying
The manual is available for download at: http://www.publications.usace.army.mil/USACEPublications/EngineerManuals.aspx?udt_43544_param_page=4
Page 2 Volume I, Issue 4
The eSeahorse Introduction (from page 1)
The Hydrographic Society of America 34-Years (1980-2014)
THSOA Scholarship Program
Volume I, Issue 4 Page 3
The eSeahorse
from THSOA Press Release, 31 Jan 2014 (J. Oswald)
T HSOA encourages college/university students to consider a career in hydrographic surveying. Several student scholarships are offered to assist students with academic costs. The National
THSOA scholarships are available to full time students seeking a 2 year, 4 year or graduate degree in Hydrographic Surveying, Ocean Mapping, Geomatics, Ocean Sciences, Geographic Info Systems (GIS), Ocean Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or other related fields. The national scholarship program started in 2011. There have now been 20 awards for $60,000 total over the past three school years. Awards made in December 2013 for the academic year 2013-2014:
Robin Banner: $3,800 Senior, Geology, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC
Kira Fargo: $3,200 Graduate Program, Hydrography, University of Southern Mississippi, Stennis, MS Samantha Whitehead: $3,200 Graduate Program, Hydrography, University of Southern Mississippi, Stennis, MS
Pictured: Robin Banner (left) scholarship recipient; Dr. Leslie R.
Sautter (right). Robin is a senior at the University of Charles-
town, Charlestown SC, and after her geology degree plans to
pursue a PhD in Oceanography. Dr Sautter is Director, Project
Oceanica and Associate Professor.
Pictured: Kira Fargo (left) grad student and scholarship
recipient; Max van Norden (center) Director Hydro-
graphic Science Graduate Program, University of South-
ern Mississippi (at Stennis Space Center), Department of
Marine Science; Samantha Whitehead (right) grad student
and scholarship recipient.
(Continued on page 4)
Kyle Olejnizak: $3,200 Graduate Program, Hydrography, California State University (Monterey Bay), Seaside, CA
Other awards made in December 2013 for the academic year 2013-2014: Andrew Fontana: $3,800 Sophomore, Surveying Engineering, Ferris State University, Big Rapids, MI Dan Geoghagen: $3,800 Senior, Geomatics, Troy University, Troy, AL John Lutchko: $3,800 Sophomore, Freshwater Science and Technology, Northwestern Michigan College, Traverse City, MI Heather Nicholson: $3,800 Senior, Surveying Engineering, Penn State, Lebanon, PA Samantha Whitehead: $3,200 Graduate Program, Hydrography, University of Southern Mississippi, Stennis, MS Comments from this years’ awardees: Kyle Olejnizak: “Thank you so very much for this generous scholarship!” John Lutchko: “Thank you for selecting me as a recipient of this scholarship. I am honored and humbled by such a generous gift. It is exemplary organi-zations like yours that help to make my educational goals a reality.”
Page 4 Volume I, Issue 4
The eSeahorse Program (from page 3)
(Continued on page 5)
Pictured: Dr. Rikk Kvitek (left) Professor
and Director of California State University
-Monterey Bay, Seafloor Mapping Lab;
Kyle Olejniczak (center) grad student and
scholarship recipient, John Oswald (right),
THSOA Scholarship Chair.
Program (from page 4)
Volume I, Issue 4 Page 5
The eSeahorse
Andrew Fontana: “Thank you so very much. This is surely an honor!” Kira Fargo: “Thank you so much for this opportunity! This scholarship will save me from taking out more student loans for this Hydrographic Science Masters program, so I thank you for that. This program has been very helpful in teaching me more about hydrography, and I recommend it to everyone I meet who shares similar interests. I am so glad to have chosen such an interesting career path.” Heather Nicholson: “Thanks to your generous support, I am able to continue on my journey. I am sincerely honored to be a recipient of The Hydrographic Society of America’s National Scholarship. I am a third-year, non-traditional student in the Surveying Engineering program at Penn State Wilkes-Barre. I am also the proud mother of a fourteen year-old daughter who aspires to follow in her mother's footsteps and become an engineer. I am an active member in both the Surveying Society and Lambda Sigma, the National Honor Society for Surveying Engineers. I have also been awarded a summer research position with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. I am planning on attending graduate school to earn my FIG Category A Hydrographic Surveying certification as well as my PhD in Geomatics Engineering. I would like to focus my research on the collection of data for the charting of coastal and near-shore areas in order to monitor environmental changes. I am drawn to a career whose focus is on providing a necessary piece of information in order to solve complex problems. The data that I would be responsible for collecting would be used to make informed decisions on a host of topics including environmental impact, coastal preservation and restoration, and safe navigation. It has taken a prodigious amount of hard work and many sleepless nights to arrive at the position I am in now. I have managed to juggle my school work and family obligations. I know that with a great deal of hard work and support, I can reach the goals I have set before me. Thank you for enabling me to continue on my travels toward my goal to be both a research scientist and educator.”
THSOA encourages college/university students to consider a career in hydrographic surveying. Several student scholarships are offered to assist students with academic costs.
National THSOA scholarships are available to for full time students seeking a 2 year, 4 year or graduate degree in Hydrographic Surveying, Ocean Mapping, Geomatics, Ocean Sciences, Geographic Info Systems(GIS), Ocean Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or other related field. At least five scholarships will be awarded this year.
The National Scholarship announcement and application for the 2014-15 school year should be posted by mid April 2014. THSOA Houston Chapter awards two scholarship awarded each year. Applicants must be currently a resident in Texas or plan on attending a college in Texas. See http://houston.thsoa.org/student
THSOA Louisiana Chapter awards two scholarships each year. Applicants must be currently a resident in Louisi-ana, Mississippi or Alabama or plan on attending a college in Louisiana, Mississippi or Alabama. Contact [email protected] for further details.
Come join us for the Louisiana Chapter’s 3rd Annual Craw-fish Boil on Wednesday April 23rd, 2014 at Pat’s Fisher-man’s Wharf in Henderson. Our guest speaker will be Jerry Knisley, Technical Support Manager at HYPACK, Inc. Jerry will give a presentation on HYPACK® and HYSWEEP® SURVEY on the Beaches of Normandy! An amazing and heartbreaking presentation on D-Day! This will be an up-coming documentary on PBS Channel in April 2014. All proceeds from this event will go toward funding THSOA-Louisiana Chapter’s Student Scholarship Awards program.
For platinum/gold/silver/bronze sponsorship opportunities or if you would like to donate a door prize please contact Kim Dailey @ [email protected] or Tara Levy @ [email protected] Event Information Location: Pat’s Fisherman’s Wharf 1008 Henderson Levee Rd Henderson, LA 70517-7862 337-228-7512 Date: Wednesday April 23rd, 2014 Time: Social: 6:00-6:30 p.m. Crawfish: 6:30-8:30 p.m. Guest Speaker Talk: 7:00-8:00 p.m. All you can eat crawfish and fixin’s for only $35. Payments: Prior to Day of Event by Check, Cash or Credit Card. We will of course accept the day of the event but would like to have folks pay prior. To attend this event, please R.S.V.P. by April 21st to [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Page 6 Volume I, Issue 4
The eSeahorse
2014 Officers THSOA Louisiana Chapter
Chairman: Eric Fisher -
C&C Technologies
Treasurer:
Byron LaBowe -
Hydroterra Techologies [email protected]
Secretary:
Meghan Connell -
C&C Technologies
Technical Chair:
AL Rougeau -
Al Rougeau Design &
Development, Inc. [email protected]
Membership Drive/ Student Liaison:
Brett Deshotels -
NEI GPS
Fund Raising Chair:
Kim Dailey -
Teledyne Odom Hydro-graphics
Tara Levy -
C&C Technologies [email protected]
Webmaster:
Robert Corkren -
ECF Consulting (contractor to Williams Midstream)
@hydrosurveying
News from the Chapters
(Continued on page 7)
Chapters (from page 6)
Volume I, Issue 4 Page 7
The eSeahorse
Argentina Dove Hunt Auction Results
The Louisiana Chapter held an auction (to support Student Scholarships) for a dove hunting trip to the finest dove hunting area in the world, Cordoba, Argentina. There are 50,000,000 doves in the Cordoba Valley and the birds never migrate. The accommodations are world class and the staff is the best in the business. Congratulations to Marvin Story of Teledyne Odom on winning this amazing opportunity, and thank you for being a contributor to our mission, as a society, to further the awareness of the professional opportunities in our field of work! Please feel free to takes lots of pictures and share your experience with us whenever you get down there. The trip includes 3 full days of hunting, all meals and lodging. Being met at the Cordoba airport and en-joying a VIP reception (with drinks and Baggage handlers) after the long trip. Escort in a private van to the hunting lodge. The trip also includes English speaking guides, all ground transportation to and from the hunt-ing areas, bird boys, gun cleaning and laundry service.
(Continued on page 8)
Page 8 Volume I, Issue 4
The eSeahorse Chapters (from page 7)
2014 Officers THSOA Houston Chapter
Chairman: Aboud Abotouk -
Harvey Lynch Inc. [email protected]
Vice Chair: Brian Brookshire -
NCS Subsea, Inc. [email protected]
Technical Chair: TBD (This position is
available
Secretary:
TBD (This position is
available
Treasurer:
Audi Monje - ABIP [email protected]
Memberships / Stu-dent Liaison:
Tim Basinger - Survey Equipment Services [email protected]
Fundraising / Events
Coordinator:
Rusty Sommers -
NCS Subsea, Inc.
Rusty.sommers@ncs-
subsea.com
2013 - 2014 Academic Year Scholarship Winners
Congratulations to our 2013 - 2014 Academic Year scholarship
winners who each received a scholarship check for $2,000.
Michael Anthony McKeever from Texas A & M University Corpus Christi
Jacob Bradin Hopper from Texas A & M University Corpus Christi
Volume I, Issue 4 Page 9
The eSeahorse
T he Office of Coast Survey announced today that future edi-
tions of nautical charts of the Intracoastal Waterway will be
updated to include an improved "magenta line" that has historically
aided navigation down the East Coast and around the Gulf Coast.
Additionally, Coast Survey will change the magenta line's function,
from the perceived "recommended route" established more than a
hundred years ago, to an advisory directional guide that helps pre-
vent boaters from going astray in the maze of channels that com-
prise the route.
The decision comes on the heels of a year's investigation into problems with the magenta line. In early 2013,
after receiving reports of groundings by boaters who followed the line into shoals, Coast Survey started to re-
move the magenta line from Intracoastal Waterway nautical charts.
"We cannot deliberately include chart features that we know may pose a danger to navigation," explained
Rear Admiral Gerd Glang, director of Coast Survey. "The problems of the magenta line's misplacement,
which had been developing over the past seven decades, were aggravated when some boaters assumed that
the line indicated a precise route through safe water - although it actually went over land, shoals, or obstruc-
tions."
The U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, a NOAA predecessor agency, first installed the line on nautical charts
in 1912, when the advent of motor boating produced a demand for charts of the inland waters and shallower
waters along the East Coast. The magenta line on Intracoastal Waterway charts received major updates in
1935, thanks to an influx of funding from the Great Depression's Public Works Administration. Charts rarely
recorded updates of the magenta line in the ensuing 70 years.
Boating public wants directional guidance
In 2013, while Coast Survey cartographers were removing poorly placed lines from charts that were undergo-
ing regularly scheduled updates, Glang ordered a cartographic review of the magenta line's function and
maintenance. Simultaneous with an internal review of the issues, Glang issued a Federal Register Notice
asking for public comments. Almost 240 individuals and organizations offered comments, saying that the line
helped safe navigation on the Intracoastal Waterway.
"We asked Intracoastal Waterway users to let us know if they need the route designated on nautical charts,
and the response was 99.9 percent in favor of keeping it on charts," Glang said. "Many of the commenters
explained how the magenta line saved them from dangerous or costly navigation errors. They also confirmed
that we need to clear up any misunderstanding about what the magenta line is - and what it isn't."
Coast Survey to improve “magenta line” on Intracoastal Waterway
Nautical Charts
The eSeahorse
(Continued on page 10)
The internal review and public comments confirm that the magenta line needs to
be removed where it poses a danger to navigation, rebuilt to avoid shoals and
other dangers, and reinstated to all the Intracoastal Waterway nautical charts. Im-
portantly, Coast Survey will add notes to the Intracoastal Waterway charts, empha-
sizing that vessels transiting the waterway should be aware of changing conditions
and always honor aids to navigation.
Improvements will take years to fully implement
"Today's decision to reinstate the magenta line is not a quick fix," cautions Captain
Shep Smith, chief of Coast Survey's Marine Chart Division. "It will take at least
three years to fix problems that were 70 years in the making."
Of Coast Survey's 1052 nautical charts, 52 depict the magenta line. As charts are
rotated through the update process, Coast Survey will evaluate and update the
magenta line using charted information. When no depth soundings are on the
chart, the line will generally be positioned in the centerline of dredged channels
and natural waterways, avoiding shoals or obstructions less than the controlling
depth. When the chart data is insufficient for determining the line's preferred route,
Coast Survey will attempt to gather additional data from partner agencies and reli-
able crowdsourcing.
"Most of the magenta line can be re-
drawn by using the charted informa-
tion, and we hope to get it done by
mid-2015," Smith explains. "On the
other hand, resolving discrepancies
between charted information and the
line will require research, and new
data acquisition and processing, with
support from other federal agencies."
Resolving chart discrepancies is a
longer-term challenge, Smith says,
and can conceivably take up to five
years, or even longer. In cases where
information is lacking and the line de-
piction can lead to risky navigation,
Coast Survey will remove the line. †
Magenta line (from page 9)
Page 10 Volume I, Issue 4
The eSeahorse President Thomas Jef-ferson created the U.S. Coast Survey in 1807 to provide nautical charts that would help the young nation with safe shipping, national defense, and maritime boundaries. Two centu-ries later, Coast Survey – now an office within NOAA – continues to provide navigation products and services that ensure safe and efficient maritime com-merce on America’s oceans and coastal waters, and in the Great Lakes. Innovative applications beyond navigation emerge as researchers harness evolving tech-nologies. These ad-vancements give Coast Survey tremendous opportunities to help the nation meet the challenges of the changing environment. Applying the newest advancements for sur-vey and detection, data adds to our scientific knowledge of the coastal seafloor. With this knowledge, we can simulate sea level ef-fects on coasts and ecosystems, identify sensitive marine habi-tats, select alternative energy sites, identify geological hazards, and predict the impact of environmental condi-tions on species and habitats.
T his December I escaped the frozen tundra of New England
and spent a week in Australia with Marine GeoSolutions
as they surveyed Lake Woronora. The lake was created by dam-
ming the Woronora River shortly before the start of World War II
and is one of several reservoirs feeding the water supply of the
Sydney area. It had never been surveyed with multibeam sonar
before. The objective of the project is to build a two meter grid-
ded dataset from which to calculate volumes. To extend the
reach of the volume tables above the water line at the time of
bathymetric survey, a simultaneous survey of the shoreline was
also conducted using a topographic laser scanner mounted on
the survey vessel.
This article will discuss best practices for integrating topo-
graphic devices into a multibeam survey vessel and lessons
learned from the Woronora project.
Vessel Configuration
The bathymetry data was collected with a Reson SeaBat 7101,
a 240kHz multibeam sonar with a 150° swath generating 511
beams. Real-time positioning and attitude was handled by an
Applanix POS/MV, with all raw data logged for post-processing
in POSPac.
For above the water, a REIGL VZ-1000 laser was mounted
directly above the sonar looking off the port side of the vessel.
The laser is put into 2D line scanning mode during acquisition,
returning an across-track "swath" with an expected range
between 300 and 600 meters in vegetation-heavy environments.
HYPACK/HYSWEEP was used for survey planning,
simultaneous acquisition, and processing.
Line Planning
There are two factors to consider when planning lines for a to-
pographic survey: distance from the shoreline and the resolution
required.
Best Practice for Topographic Lasers on Multibeam Vessels by Dave Maddock, HYPACK Inc.
Volume I, Issue 4 Page 11
The eSeahorse
(Continued on page 12)
Survey Vessel ABBSCEENE with MB and laser
MRU Sensor mounted above MB transducer
REIGL VZ-1000 Laser Mount
First, the angular range of the laser
and its vertical offset determine the
size of the blind spot close to the ves-
sel and the maximum height that can
be scanned. For instance, the RIEGL
lasers have a typical vertical scanning
range of 100° starting around 50° from
nadir and going upward. If the laser is mounted ten meters above the water line,
then the device has a twelve meter blind spot. This distance is the closest that the
vessel can get to the shore before clipping data. Usually, this is much closer than
desired and clipping the shoreline is not a concern, but rather the opposite prob-
lem: wasting a portion of the swath on scanning the water surface. If your planned
lines are farther from shore than your calculated blind spot, then the starting angle
can be adjusted to minimize the number of water surface returns. The maximum
height visible at various ranges can be calculated from the same equation using
the angle above horizontal as input.
Second, the across-track and along-track resolution can be estimated from the
technical specifications of the laser. Using the RIEGL as an example, this laser
can scan up to 120 lines per second with 42,000 measurements per second in
long-range mode and 125,000 in high-speed mode. The scan speed (or ping rate,
using multibeam terms) affects the along-track resolution and limits the speed of
the vessel during acquisition. At the fastest ping rate, this device returns at most
1041 measurements, or an angular stepwidth of ~0.1° given a full 100° swath. The
laser specifications allow for much smaller stepwidths for better across-track reso-
lution, but be aware that smaller stepwidths require a corresponding sacrifice in
either ping rate, swath width, or both. Here is a table with estimated values at vari-
ous settings
to get an
idea of how
these
options
interact:
Best Practice (from page 11)
Page 12 Volume I, Issue 4
THSOA
Your current officers
and trustees are:
President:
Paul Cooper
Secretary:
Doug Lockhart
Treasurer:
Harold Orlinksy
Trustee: RADM
Chris Andreasen (ret)
Trustee:
Art Kleiner
Trustee:
Lou Nash
Trustee:
Castle “Gene” Parker
THSOA has two
local Chapters:
Houston
Louisiana
(Continued on page 13)
The eSeahorse
Comments, ideas, criticisms, hate mail, letters to the editor, etc. regarding the eSea-horse can be directed to
the Editor-in Chief at the
e-mail below:
Francis.M.Woodward@
usace.army.mil
Best Practice (from page 12)
Volume I, Issue 4 Page 13
The eSeahorse
From the table it is clear that as a general rule, stepwidth can safely be decreased even further to achieve
better across-track resolution with an acceptable loss in along-track resolution. Keep in mind that the effective
across-track resolution also varies with range and topography. The table assumes a target at fifty meters and
a flat surface for comparison.
In the case of the Lake Woronora survey, this is an embarrassment of riches as the project only required 2m
resolution. Of course, much of the data is expected to be unwanted vegetation rather than ground returns so
the resolution of the edited dataset will be courser. Nevertheless, the above estimation provides confidence
that even if 75% of the acquired data is vegetation, the project requirements will still be achieved.
Patch Testing
Topographic lasers also pose unique patch testing prob-
lems for hydrographic survey vessels. The typical pat-
tern for patch testing sonars involves running reciprocal
lines over a flat area and a slope. It is difficult to replicate
this pattern from the water using features on the shore
line. At HYPACK, we recommend running the laser
patch test in a parking lot while the boat is still on the
trailer. Four lines in a box pattern around a tall target
such as a lamppost provide all the data necessary to run
the same roll, pitch, and yaw patch test tools that are
applied to multibeam sonars. The flat surface of the
pavement is suitable for the roll test, while the positional
differences of the targeted light pole on each line allows
for easy pitch and yaw testing.
At Lake Woronora, a structure in the middle of the
lake provided a tall target with access from all
sides which allowed us to patch test from the wa-
ter. While this proved to be a useful patch test, the
method was not superior to the light pole ap-
proach. The primary limitation is that there are no
flat surfaces sufficiently large for a quality roll test.
The complex geometry of the target also confused
the algorithms used for calculating error curves,
limiting the effectiveness of the automatic patch
testing features of the software.
(Continued on page 14)
Our patch test lines around the structure
The structure used for patch testing
If the survey area contains such a feature, it certainly can be used as one data
point among several, but should not be the sole patch test if at all possible.
Editing: Vegetation
With the exception of the occasional return from the water surface or bird, topog-
raphic laser data requires very little editing for noise. However, if the intent of the
survey is to model the ground only with other features such as vegetation, build-
ings, and the like removed, then editing can become a time-consuming process.
Vegetation filters designed for use with topographic data are being investigated,
but currently best practice for generating ground-only surfaces include a combina-
tion of manual editing and gridding, exporting the minimum depth per cell.
Best Practice (from page 13)
Page 14 Volume I, Issue 4
THSOA
Your current officers
and trustees are:
President:
Paul Cooper
Secretary:
Doug Lockhart
Treasurer:
Harold Orlinksy
Trustee: RADM
Chris Andreasen (ret)
Trustee:
Art Kleiner
Trustee:
Lou Nash
Trustee:
Castle “Gene” Parker
THSOA has two
local Chapters:
Houston
Louisiana
(Continued on page 15)
The eSeahorse
Comments, ideas, criticisms, hate mail, letters to the editor, etc. regarding the eSea-horse can be directed to
the Editor-in Chief at the
e-mail below:
Francis.M.Woodward@
usace.army.mil
Profile section of laser data showing vegetation and minimum surface in MBMAX-64
Best Practice (from page 14)
Volume I, Issue 4 Page 15
The eSeahorse
Conclusion
Topographic lasers can be integrated onto multibeam survey vessels with relatively small modifica-
tions to best practices and tools well-tested in bathymetric acquisition and processing.
Line planning concerns for topographic survey are analogous to those in multibeam or sidescan sur-
veys.
Patch testing procedure requires minimal modification to process laser data with existing bathymetric
software tools.
Acquisition software can collect bathymetric and topographic data simultaneously, adding no signifi-
cant additional survey time to the project.
Data processing time depends on the final product. Existing filter techniques can be used to remove
most vegetation, but some manual editing/review of the data still needs to be done.
Topo laser data of dam face
Dave Maddock is a Senior Programmer for HYPACK, Inc.
W orld Hydrography Day is 21 June 2014. We thought it would be a nice idea for you to share photos which capture some of the great
situations that we get into on any hydrographic survey. Please send any photos that you would like to contribute to the WHD issue of eSea-horse. We will be happy to credit your work. Photos below are courtesy of Paul Cooper, President THSOA.
Page 16 Volume I, Issue 4
The eSeahorse World Hydrography Day is June 21st
World Hydrogra-phy Day, 21 June, was adopted by the International Hydro-graphic Organization as an annual cele-bration to publicize the work of hydro-graphers and the importance of hydro-graphy, particularly in the promotion of safe navigation in international waters and ports, and the protection of marine reserves.
I have always liked this tide gauge
installation. I am pretty sure that
our man did not spend the entire
survey operation as the tide station
but he gets kudos for going above
and beyond in this installation.
...Once upon a time in the days before GPS...
Volume I, Issue 4 Page 17
The eSeahorse Educational Spotlight
by Nathan Keys, Measutronics Corporation
A s part of the THSOA Education Committee program, the eSeahorse will feature a regular column in each edition in an effort to inform mem-
bers of various educational programs available in hydrography and related fields. The goal of the Educational Spotlight is to identify and highlight academic programs across the United States whose graduates can successfully enter
and thrive in the hydrographic sector workforce. For the first two installments, I included universities and schools that I am familiar with that have strong programs related to the marine field. All of these schools have turned out successful and prepared students for entry into both the public and private sector of the marine industry.
I would now like to solicit the readership for input as to which other schools and/or programs are out there that deserve to be featured in this newsletter. The schools benefit from the publicity, the em-ployers benefit by making an informed decision on which graduates to hire, and the students benefit from the job opportunities. If you know of a school in your region that fits the bill, please contact me about it and I will take care of the rest.
[email protected] Office: (863) 644-8712
Mobile: (863) 660-7689
Mailing Address:
THSOA
56 Bradley St.
Middletown, CT 06457
Fax: 860-635-1522
If you have any questions concerning
a new membership or wish to change
your existing membership, please
e-mail us at [email protected]
If you are interested in joining the
Hydrographic Society of America,
please download the membership
application at
http://www.thsoa.org/pdf/
The Hydrographic
Society of America
Check out our newly designed website @
http://www.thsoa.org/new/
ABOUT THSOA
Membership in THSOA is open to any individual or organization with an interest in surveying
in hydrospace. No formal qualifications are required. THSOA celebrated its' 31-year presence
in the United States on April 1, 2011. Our total membership now stands at 600+.
The mission of THSOA is to promote education in hydrography.
THSOA was incorporated in the State of Maryland (United States) as a non-profit organization
in 1984 and was granted 501(c)(3) status as a non-profit organization by the U.S. Internal
Revenue Service in 1985.
Individual Members of THSOA are eligible for membership in local chapters, and receive a
discount on registration at THSOA sponsored events as well as some international conferences.
Local Chapters have been formed in Houston, Louisiana, and West Coast (Alaska, Washing-
ton, Oregon, and California).
Members also receive Hydro International (HI) Magazine which is published six times a
year plus a buyers guide. THSOA ensures that your address is current and takes care of the
periodic process of BPA subscription certification.
On odd numbered years THSOA hosts the U.S Hydrographic Conference which alternates with
the Canadian Hydrographic Conference (held on even years). THSOA was the co-organizer,
with NOAA's Office of Coast Survey of the original US Hydro Conferences which were held
from 1984-1994. In 1999 THSOA organized the "reborn" US Hydro event.
In recent years we have worked very hard to strengthen our already strong ties with the Cana-
dian Hydrographic Association (CHA; See also Links and References). We now offer a recip-
rocal arrangement on Exhibiting and Registration fees for our respective annual conferences.
THSOA Corporate Members receive the same benefits as Individual Members plus a hot link
on the Corporate Member page. Corporate membership includes two Individual Member-
ships. For the biennial U.S. Hydro Conference they receive a discount on exhibit space and
may register any three employees of the organization at the member rate.
Only Corporate Members and Government Agencies may place Employment Opportunity
advertisements (no charge).
All memberships begin on entry and are renewed on January 1. Dues are not prorated. Persons
joining after October 1 will receive the remainder of the present year plus all of the next.
THSOA is staffed by volunteers; we have no paid staff.
Volume I, Issue 4 Page 18
The deadline for
submission articles for
the Summer issue of
eSeahorse is
20 June 2014