Hydrographic Office
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A hydrographic office is an organization which is devoted to acquiring and publishing hydrographic information. Historically, the main tasks of hydrographic offices were the conduction of hydrographic surveys and the publication of
nautical chart A nautical chart or hydrographic chart is a graphic representation of a sea region or water body and adjacent coasts or river bank, banks. Depending on the scale (map), scale of the chart, it may show depths of water (bathymetry) and heights of ...
s. In many countries, various
navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the motion, movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navig ...
-related services are now concentrated in large governmental organizations, sometimes termed "maritime administration" (however, the
International Hydrographic Organization The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) (French: ''Organisation Hydrographique Internationale'') is an intergovernmental organization representing hydrography. the IHO comprised 102 member states. A principal aim of the IHO is to ...
uses the term "hydrographic offices" for its member organizations). Besides nautical charts, many hydrographic offices publish a body of books and periodicals that are collectively known as nautical publications. The most important of these are: * Sailing Directions (or ''pilots''): detailed descriptions of areas of the sea, shipping routes,
harbour A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be Mooring, moored. The t ...
s, aids to navigation, regulations etc. * lists of lights: descriptions of lighthouses and lightbouys *
tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...
tables and tidal stream atlases * ephemerides and nautical almanacs for
celestial navigation Celestial navigation, also known as astronavigation, is the practice of position fixing using stars and other celestial bodies that enables a navigator to accurately determine their actual current physical position in space or on the surface ...
* Notice to Mariners: periodical (often weekly) updates and corrections for nautical charts and publications Hydrographic organizations may also be involved in services such as: * pilotage *
search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...
*maintenance of
lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...
s and other aids to navigation * ice breaking *weather observation and information *sea traffic information and surveillance *maritime research *regulatory affairs of ship safety


History

In the development of hydrographic services, shipping organizations played a part, but the major players were the naval powers. Recognizing hydrographic information was a military advantage these naval organizations, usually under the direction of a "Hydrographer," utilized the expertise of naval officers in collecting hydrographic data that was incorporated into the navy's collection. In order to distribute the processed information (charts, directions, notices, and such) these organizations often developed specialized printing capabilities.


Hydrographic organisations of some countries


Australia

Hydrographic tasks in Australian waters were performed by the United Kingdom's
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
since the 19th century. In 1920 the Australian Hydrographic Service was formed as a part of the
Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...
.


Brazil

Hydrographic tasks in Brazilian waters were performed by the (DHN) since 02/02/1876.


Canada

Starting in 1883, the "Georgian Bay Survey" was responsible for hydrographic surveying of Georgian Bay and
Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is shared on the north and east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the south and west by the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the lake is derived from early French ex ...
. Its geographic area of responsibility increased and in 1904 the name was changed to the "Hydrographic Survey of Canada." The current name Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) was adopted in 1928. In 1951, Canada became a State Member of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) and the Dominion Hydrographer is Canada's representative. Today, the mandate of CHS is found in the Canada Oceans Act, the Canada Shipping Act (Charts and Publications Regulations) and the Navigable Waters Protection Act. With its headquarters office located in Ottawa, Ontario there are regional offices in Sidney (British Columbia), Burlington (Ontario), Mont-Joli (Quebec), Halifax (Nova Scotia), and a branch office in St. John's Newfoundland. CHS has 300 staff across the country. The national chart folio consists of 950 paper charts, 541 S-57 vector Electronic Navigation Charts and 651 raster charts in the BSB format. CHS produces and maintains seven volumes of Tides and Water Levels books, 25 Sailing Directions books, and prints and distributes a number of publications such as the Annual Notices to Mariners and Radio Aids to Marine Navigation. In addition to significant hydrographic data holdings (single & multibeam), CHS operates 78 permanent water level stations, a real time water level and forecast system in the St. Lawrence River, and participates in the operation of Atlantic & Pacific tsunami warning systems. CHS is directly responsible for the sales and distribution of all its products, in paper and digital form. A network of 850 dealers (domestic and international) distributes CHS paper and digital products. Products and data are also made available to Value Added Resellers, under licence.


Chile

Since 1874, the Navy's Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service ("SHOA", as acronym of"Servicio Hidrográfico y Oceanográfico de la Armada") has been the Chilean official authority on drawing and publishing nautical charts of the South Pacific Ocean for Military and Civil navigation. This institution is also the main authority on controlling the official hour of the country.


Denmark

In Denmark (including
Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...
and the
Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...
), hydrographic surveying and charting is conducted by "Geodatastyrelsen" also known as, Danish Geodata Agency, a division of the Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities.


France

In France, the first official organization, the French Dépôt des Cartes, Plans, Journaux et Mémoires Relatifs à la Navigation, was formed in 1720. Today, the SHOM is the official French hydrographic office, it stands for 'Service Hydrographique et Océanographique de la Marine' and means Naval Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service.


Germany

The " Bundesamt für Seeschiffahrt und Hydrographie" (BSH) is the German federal hydrographic office. Its offices are located in
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
and
Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...
. The BSH is responsible for a wide variety of services, among them hydrographic surveys, nautical publications, ship registration, testing and approval of technical equipment, oceanographic research, development of nautical information systems, and maritime pollution surveillance. The BSH runs six ships for survey and research purposes. In 1945 the tasks of various predecessor organisations (among them the German Navy's hydrographic service, the
Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsha ...
maritime observatory, and the "Deutsche Seewarte" under Georg von Neumayer) were concentrated in the newly created "Deutsches Hydrographisches Institut" (DHI) in Hamburg. In 1990 the DHI and the corresponding East German organisation, the "Seehydrographische Dienst der DDR" in Rostock were integrated to form the BSH in its present form.


Greece

The Hellenic Navy Hydrographic Service (HNHS, ), an independent service of the Hellenic Navy General Staff, is responsible for hydrographic surveying and production and sale of charts. The first naval hydrographic office was created in 1905 and its first mission was the hydrographic survey of Maliakos Gulf. Its first nautical chart was issued in 1909 and in 1919 the Hellenic Navy became a founding member of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO). The hydrographic office evolved into the independent naval Hydrographic Service in 1921. Today the HNHS operates three naval hydrographic vessels: ''HS OS Nautilos'' (A-478), ''HS OS Pytheas'' (A-474) and ''HS Stravon'' (A-476).


Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Hydrographic Office is responsible for hydrographic surveying and production of nautical charts covering the waters of Hong Kong. It also produced electronic navigational charts and made available the prediction of tidal stream digitally on the internet.


Iceland

The Hydrographic department of the Icelandic Coast Guard is responsible for hydrographic surveying and production of nautical charts of Icelandic waters.


India

The Indian Naval Hydro-graphic Department (INHD) headed by Chief Hydrographer to the Government of India is an Indian Government agency responsible for hydro-graphic surveys and nautical charting in India.


New Zealand

Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) is responsible for hydrographic surveying, production of nautical charts, and provision of tidal information covering the waters of New Zealand through the New Zealand Hydrographic Authority (NZHA). Nautical charts can no longer be purchased directly from LINZ but must be purchased from Bluestar Group or from an authorised agent.


Norway

The Norwegian Hydrographic Service is responsible for hydrographic surveying and production of nautical charts covering the waters of Norway. Also operates the Primar ENC Service.


Ireland

Ireland is actively undertaking the largest civilian seabed mapping programme in the world, as a joint venture by the Marine Institute and the Geological Survey of Ireland. Total mapping coverage of the INSS to end of 2005 was 432,000 km2 and taken along with an earlier DCENR Petroleum Affairs Division, over 81% of the Irish designated seabed area (at end 2005) has been mapped. The INtegrated Mapping FOr the Sustainable Development of Ireland's MArine Resource (INFOMAR) programme is a successor to the Irish National Seabed Survey (INSS) and concentrates on creating a range of integrated mapping products of the physical, chemical and biological features of the seabed in the near-shore area. The programme is being funded by the Irish Government through the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources as part of the National Development Plan, 2007 – 2013 1 Data are passed on to the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) for subsequent production of nautical charts.


Sweden

"Sjöfartsverket", Swedish Maritime Administration, includes the Swedish national hydrographic organisation. Established in 1956 and governed by the Ministry of Industry, Employment and Communications, Sjöfartsverket is responsible for most aspects of safe navigation in Sweden. This includes maintenance and marking of fairways, surveying and charting Swedish waters, pilotage, search-and-rescue (in cooperation with other organisations), ice-breaking, and safety inspections.


United Kingdom

The office of Hydrographer was created in 1795. Royal Navy charts and the related surveys were reputedly officially started as a result of the loss of
Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...
Sir Cloudesley Shovell on an uncharted
reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...
off the
Scilly Isles The Isles of Scilly ( ; ) are a small archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, is over farther south than the most southerly point of the British mainland at Lizard Point, and has the souther ...
which happened in October 1707 (see main article Scilly naval disaster of 1707). The
United Kingdom Hydrographic Office The United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) is the UK's agency for providing hydrographic and marine geospatial data to mariners and maritime organisations across the world. The UKHO is a trading fund of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and is ...
(UKHO) is now a part of the Ministry of Defence rather than a naval department and is located in
Taunton, Somerset Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...
, near Creechbarrow hill. It is best known for producing the well-known Admiralty chart series of nautical charts that covers almost every navigable stretch of water on Earth. The UKHO also calculates tide tables for the UK. In contrast to the US government, all of whose creative work is placed into the public domain, British government policy requires agencies such as the UKHO and the
Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...
to be self-funding through the sale of the information they create. The Hydrographic Office therefore actively protects the copyright of all of its data including paper charts, electronic charts, tidal data and other data and has been known to take measures to ensure that its copyrighted information is used appropriately. In 2013 the UKHO added an important new service for users of its paper charts by allowing its authorized agents to Print on Demand most paper charts. UKHO attracted worldwide attention in February 2005 when it published in-depth pictures of the
ocean floor The seabed (also known as the seafloor, sea floor, ocean floor, and ocean bottom) is the bottom of the ocean. All floors of the ocean are known as seabeds. The structure of the seabed of the global ocean is governed by plate tectonics. Most of ...
in the vicinity of the Indian Ocean
tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...
disaster of December 26, 2004.


United States

In the United States, the Survey of the Coast (America's first scientific agency) was established through an 1807 Congressional resolution and signed into law by President Jefferson. It subsequently became the United States Coast Survey in 1836 and the
United States Coast and Geodetic Survey The United States Coast and Geodetic Survey ( USC&GS; known as the Survey of the Coast from 1807 to 1836, and as the United States Coast Survey from 1836 until 1878) was the first scientific agency of the Federal government of the United State ...
in 1878, and in May 1917 incorporated a new uniformed service of the United States, the Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps so that surveyors had a status as
commissioned officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent ...
s could not be shot as spies if captured during time of war. The U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey was abolished and its responsibilities, personnel, facilities, and fleet incorporated into the new
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with Weather forecasting, forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, Hydrography, charting the seas, ...
(NOAA) when NOAA was established in 1970. As the successor to the Coast and Geodetic Survey, NOAA's Office of Coast Survey is the national hydrographic office of the United States. Non-domestic hydrographic and bathymetric surveys are conducted by the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
′s
Naval Oceanographic Office The Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO), located at John C. Stennis Space Center in south Mississippi, is an echelon IV component of the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (NMOC) and comprises approximately 1,000 civilian, military a ...
, which started with the establishment of the Depot of Charts and Instruments in 1830, which by 1854 was designated the United States Naval Observatory and Hydrographical Office. The hydrographic portion became the
United States Hydrographic Office The United States Hydrographic Office (USHO) prepared and published maps, charts, and nautical books required in navigation. The office was established by an act of 21 June 1866 as part of the Bureau of Navigation, Department of the Navy. It wa ...
under the Hydrographer of the Navy, appointed from among uniformed U.S. Navy personnel from 1870 through 1961. With the popularization of oceanography in the early 1960s (partly due to President John F. Kennedy's interest), the name was changed to the U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office in 1962. That office, as a matter of historical and semantic interest, and the
United States Naval Observatory The United States Naval Observatory (USNO) is a scientific and military facility that produces geopositioning, navigation and timekeeping data for the United States Navy and the United States Department of Defense. Established in 1830 as the ...
are still part of the command overseen by the Oceanographer of the Navy, who replaced the Hydrographer of the Navy, with headquarters at the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. In 2001, the position of Hydographer of the Navy was re-established."US Navy Hydrography Is Back!"
''Hydro International'', May 2002, Volume 6, Number 4, accessed 31 October 2013


Uruguay

Hydrographic tasks in
Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
an waters have been performed by th
SOHMA
since 1916.


See also

* Matthew Fontaine Maury * George W. Littlehales


References

*Ehlers, P. (1999). Die Geschichte maritimer Dienste in Deutschland - Das BSH und seine Vorgänger. Retrieved Oct. 14, 2003 from http://www.bsh.de/de/Das%20BSH/Organisation/Geschichte/Geschichte.pdf *Swedish Maritime Administration (2003). Swedish Maritime Administration - Accessibility, Safety, Environment. Retrieved Oct 15, 2003 from http://www.sjofartsverket.se/tabla-a-eng/pdf/tabla-a-eng.pdf


External links


International Hydrographic Organization

Australian Hydrographic OfficeHong Kong Hydrographic OfficeIndian Naval Hydrographic DepartmentBundesamt für Seeschiffahrt und Hydrographie (Germany)United Kingdom Hydrographic OfficeNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (United States)Servicio Hidrográfico y Oceanográfico de la Armada (Chile)

Sjöfartsverket (Sweden)Service Hydrographique et Océanographique de la Marine (France)Canadian Hydrographic ServicePrimar ENC ServiceHydrography division of Kort & Matrikelstyrelsen (Denmark)

Hellenic Navy Hydrographic Service
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hydrographic Office Navigation Hydrography Maritime safety