The eSeahorse

The
eSeahorse
The Hydrographic Society of America
A newsletter published quarterly by THSOA
Winter 2016
Volume I, Issue 9
From the (Incoming) President
W
Special points of interest:

hen I accepted the nomination for President of THSOA, it
was with the knowledge that if I was elected, that I would
have the support of many of the world’s best hydrographers to
keep me on the straight and narrow. THSOA membership indicated their support by electing me and I have taken over that role as
of 1 January 2016. I am humbled and most grateful for the opportunity and look forward to your support and council.
Newly Elected
President of THSOA
In the very short time since my election I have learned from
Brian Busey
participation in THSOA meetings that the Board of Directors, led by
Vice President
the outgoing President, Paul Cooper, are a dedicated team workTerraSond, Limited
ing toward the recognition of the Certified Hydrographer by the
International Hydrographic Organization. I applaud that goal and I look forward to
taking part.
Inside this issue:
Letter from the
President
1
Letter from the
(Outgoing) President
2
The Hydrographic
Heretic
4
News from the
Chapters
8
I achieved the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping certification as a
Hydrographer in March 2004 (#218). I have been involved with THSOA since joining in
2006 and I have actively supported the Student Mentor Program since then. I also
served as Pier Space Coordinator on last year’s Conference Committee in support of
Paul Cooper for the 2015 Conference in National Harbor, MD.
I gained much of my experience during my 23 years in the Canadian Navy where I
received my education and training. After retiring from the Canadian Navy, I continued to work in the seafloor survey and engineering field with Pelagos Canada. After
one year, I transferred to the Pelagos office in San Diego where I was employed as a
Senior Hydrographer until resigning in the summer of 2006.
I joined TerraSond in September 2006 as a Lead Hydrographer. In 2011, I was promoted to my current role with TerraSond as Vice President, Future Operations. My wife
Nancy and I moved to Rockport, Texas in May, 2014 and I continue to work in that
position for TerraSond out of the Corpus Christi, TX office.
I’m looking forward to stepping into the very large boots that Paul Cooper has left
behind. I also look forward to working with the THSOA Board of Directors on the
many action items to address that are meant to increase awareness of what being an
accredited hydrographer really means.
Thank you
Brian
Volume I, Issue 9
Page 2
The
eSeahorse
From the (Outgoing) President
Time to Go The Hydrographic
Society of America
35 Years
(1980-2015)
as I was getting the hang of this President stuff they tell me its time to go - It’s hard
J ust
to believe that it’s been two years since taking over as President from Pat Sanders in
January 2014. That first year blitzed by – mostly getting ready for US Hydro 2015 which
was held in March here in National Harbor. That was all at once a nerve racking, a hard
working, and finally a great fun event that we put on for our members. Our organizing
committee was excellent – the technical program and poster sessions were outstanding,
we had more exhibitors than ever, 9 boats for on water
demonstrations, and the highest attendance in THSOA
history.
This year we turned our sights on some other issues
that a national society should deal with for its members.
I think these will have positive effects on our profession
and national profile.
We were granted official Observer Status at the International Hydrographic Organization. This will give us
recognition and a place at the table for meetings convened by the IHO. Last week I introduced THSOA to the
IHO Meso American Caribbean Hydrographic Commission Meeting in Antigua Barbuda. The audience was
“big” NGA, NOAA, USN, UK Hydrographic Office, French
Navy Hydrographic Office, Netherlands Navy Hydrographic Office, Mexican Navy, Colombian Navy, Venezuelan Navy, other Member States, and several International Organizations were all in attendance. To make this meeting much more relevant to THSOA was
that our newly stood up Latin America Chapter also presented at the meeting. Chapter
President Carlos Tejada briefed an ambitious and visionary future for the LAC. We had an
LA Chapter meeting with 18 attendees. Our THSOA pages are translated into Spanish and
the new chapter is on the move. I have a good deal of pride in being part of that new
chapter – its membership base will draw from nearly 400 million people and there are
plans for a Latin America conference in 2020.
We have also developed Memoranda of Understanding with US Geospatial Foundation
and Marine Technology Society for reciprocal exhibiting at each others’ conferences.
Hydro International continues to provide free subscriptions to our members and the
publication xyHt will now also provide subscription to our members.
(Continued on page 3)
Volume I, Issue 9
Page 3
The
From the President
eSeahorse
(from page 2)
We have proposed by-law changes so that one Board member will be selected as President Elect and succeed the
President while serving as a Board member during the 2 year term. For the reason of continuity and corporate
memory I consider this an important change to our by-laws. We have hired a permanent part time employee as
Administrative Assistant, record keeping, membership rolls, and administrative duties. We believe that these two
steps will provide corporate knowledge from each President to the next with good documentation and from the administration side and relevant experience from the President Elect position.
When I hired our Administrative Assistant , Alma Alling, I was unprepared for the impact and effectiveness of her immediate contribution in developing our new web page, membership tracking, and administrative support – she is a
tremendous asset.
Perhaps the most profound effort that we have worked on (and it is still in process) is THSOA work in defining the
professional role of hydrography nationally. We stood up a committee to address the issue of the way some states
are legislating hydrography in their waters. Because of strong licensing and registration regulations for Registered
Professional Land Surveyors and lesser credentialing for hydrographers, some states are requiring that RPLS sign off
or validate hydrographic surveys even though they may not have an actual hydrographic credential. Our committee
has made some excellent progress in bringing both sides of the argument to a center and a well defined path to
national and international recognition of our hydrographer certification program. We believe that this effort will result in a stronger professional body and protect customers hiring hydrographic services.
Brian Busey of Terrasond succeeded me as of 1 January 2016.
So my friends that’s it – Always pay your dues on time, support your local chapter, contribute to eSeahorse, and
come to US Hydro 2017.
Paul
Editor’s Note: I hope that all THSOA members would take the time to thank Paul Cooper for the great job he did over
these last two years to move our Society forward. Paul has been a leader and a visionary and I hope that we can
make him proud by continuing his efforts. Thank you, Paul!
[email protected]
Volume I, Issue 9
THSOA
Your current officers
and trustees are:
President:
Brian Busey
Page 4
The
eSeahorse
The Hydrographic Heretic
COST VERSUS BENEFIT OF HYDROGRAPHIC TECHNOLOGY
Secretary:
Doug Lockhart
Treasurer:
Wendy Post
Trustee: RADM
Chris Andreasen,
NOAA (Ret)
Trustee:
Art Kleiner
Trustee:
Lou Nash
Trustee:
Castle “Gene” Parker
Trustee
Richard Byrd
THSOA has
four Chapters:
Houston
Southeast
West Coast
Latin America
I have NEVER seen a cost-benefit study to justify the usage of new technology in
hydrographic surveying. When new hardware/software comes on the market, you
are typically bombarded with pretty pictures of some “doctored” survey data. I would
be stunned if someone came out and said “For the $50,000 cost of our system, we’ll
reduce your uncertainty by 4cm!”.
That probably
wouldn’t sell as
many systems as
the pretty picture.
So, cost-benefit
analyses in hydrography is one
thing I have never
seen.
Another thing I’ve
never seen is a
risk analysis. How
do the risks of a
ship running
aground increase if I do a single beam survey with a couple of side scan lines up/
down the channel or a multibeam survey with 100% coverage? It’s going to vary depending on the bottom type. As far as ships running aground, I would wager that the
overwhelming majority of incidents are caused by navigation errors and that the uncertainty of the soundings or the lack of 100% coverage has little impact. Should
every port in America have $500,000 of survey equipment onboard if it saves, on
average say, two groundings per year?
Now, don’t get your feathers ruffled too much. If I’m the hydrographer in charge of
surveying the Sault Ste. Marie canal, where I have huge iron ore carriers drafting 28’
going through my 28.5’ deep channel and one incident can shut down shipping on
the Great Lakes for weeks, I want the best system money can buy.
Comments,
STORING HYDROGRAPHIC DATA IN THE CLOUD
ideas, criticisms, hate
mail, letters to the editor, etc. regarding the
eSeahorse can be directed to the Editor-in
Chief at the
e-mail below:
Francis.M.Woodward@
usace.army.mil
It’s an interesting concept, but I would NEVER rely totally
on the CLOUD. You can rest assured that I will always
have a copy of my data on a local server, sitting behind
my own firewalls. Hackers have shown how easy it is to
break into government computers and download entire
databases.
(Continued on page 5)
Volume I, Issue 9
Page 5
The
eSeahorse
The Hydrographic Heretic (from page 4)
What doesn’t get much publicity is that it’s probably just as easy for them to alter, insert and/or delete data.
The agencies in charge of the repository might never be able to tell that someone has been manipulating
their data.
You can argue that someone could just as well hack my server. My response to that is the odds of someone
spending time to hack my own server for limited benefits/impact are miniscule when compared to someone
trying to hack a large repository of data used by a Government agency.
CROWD-SOURCED HYDROGRAPHY
So, let me see if I understand this. Peter Pleasureboater is going to log positions and soundings from his
Garmin GPS and Lowrance fishfinder and then upload them to the government charting agency who is going to consider using the information? You’ve got to be kidding me. My government is going to spend umpteen million dollars to set up a methodology to accept and use crappy soundings. Why the hell are we killing
ourselves doing proper hydrographic surveys? Tide corrections? Just use the gauge 20 miles away.
Sound velocity? Let’s pretend the echosounder might be calibrated. Standards be damned!
S-44 IS A JOKE
There. I said it. Anybody can meet the S-44 standard. Just remove your outliers and apply a median filter to
your data! There are two approaches that hydrographers use to prove they met the standard. There is the
theoretical application of Total Propagated Uncertainty (TPU) and the statistical method of comparing survey data against itself, or against a previous data set.
TPU extrapolates the uncertainties of your survey equipment and the environment in order to compute a
TVU (Total Vertical Uncertainty) and THU (Total Horizontal Uncertainty). There are about 50 parameters
used in the calculation. You might know what to enter for 30 of them. The other 20 are just guesses. For
example, what is the uncertainty of the water level measurement at the tide gauge? I would guess it is within
a couple of centimeters. How does the uncertainty increase when you extrapolate that measurement to your
survey area 15km away? Ummmmm, I don’t know. Maybe I’ll put in a small number… So, I see hydrographers doctoring their TPU parameters to prove their systems meet the S-44 standard (in theory) out to 75
degrees. Away we go!
Another method I see used is to compare surveys to generate a statistical profile. For a flat bottom, I can
examine the soundings in an area and generate a statistical profile. The statistical “uncertainty” is defined
as 1.97 times the standard deviation.
(Continued on page 6)
Hydrographic
Surveying
Volume I, Issue 9
Page 6
The
eSeahorse
The Hydrographic Heretic (from page 5)
In the un-edited
multibeam data (left),
I have several outliers that are ouside
the 2- sigma area.
The current standard
deviation for this
grouping of data is
1.0’.
The statistical uncertainty of the depths would be 1.97’.
For 37’ of water, the IHO TVU maximum is 1.7’. Max TVU = SQRT(0.5^2 +
(.013*37)^2). Alas, we don’t meet the standard….
So, let’s apply a median filter to the data and eliminate points that are more than 2sigma from the median value!
Now the Sigma = 0.7, so
the statistical
uncertainty
would be 1.4’.
Hurray! We
meet the
standard. Print
it!
S-44 offers no guidance as to whether the theoretical approach or statistical approach is proper. It also offers no guidance if the statistical approach should be applied to raw data or edited data. If it was applied to raw data, there would be a lot of
multibeam companies who would be fibbing if they said “Our system meets IHO S44 specification!”. (By the way, there is no S-44 specification for a multibeam system. The standard is for the data collected by your entire survey system. Therefore,
no multibeam system “meets” IHO standards.)
- The Hydrographic Heretic
Reprinted from “Sounding Better!”, July 2014
Volume I, Issue 9
Page 7
The
eSeahorse
Volume I, Issue 9
Page 8
The
2016 Officers THSOA
Houston Chapter
eSeahorse
News from the Chapters
Chairman:
Daniel Roscoe Hudson iXBlue
[email protected]
Vice Chair:
Jeff Morin - RPS Group
[email protected]
The Houston Chapter of The Hydrographic Society of America is pleased to announce the recipients of our 2015 Scholarship awards.
Technical Chair:
Arnt-Helge Olsen Kongsberg
arnt-helge.olsen
@km.kongsberg.com
Scholarships

Rajkumar Dhanapal - University of Houston ($2,000)

Edward Tatum Hankins - Texas A & M Corpus Christi ($2,000)
Secretary:
Leighton Mauro - Glenair
[email protected]
Edward Tatum Hankins with Reed
Noble Richards
Treasurer:
Tim Basinger
[email protected]
Memberships / Student
Liaison:
Reed Richards - CA Richards & Associates
[email protected]
Fundraising / Events
Coordinator:
Jeremy Stuhr - iXBlue
[email protected]
·
Rajkumar Dhanapal with Reed Noble
Richards
Grants


Team 624 – Cryptonite – Cinco Ranch High School Robotics Club ($1,000)
Iron Plaid-Duchesne Academy Robotics Club ($1,000)
(Continued on page 9)
Volume I, Issue 9
Page 9
The
Chapters
eSeahorse
(from page 6)
2015 Southeast Chapter Scholarship Recipients
The Southeast Chapter of The Hydrographic Society of America is pleased to announce the recipients of our
2015 Scholarship awards.

Anne Marie Stonestreet – The University of Southern Mississippi

James Smith – University of Florida

Gail Johnson – South Louisiana Community College

Celeste Woock – University of New Orleans
Congratulations to the fine deserving students.
Past Events
Southeast Chapter Gumbo Rumble Results
What an awesome time at the THSOA-Southeast chapter Gumbo Rumble.
A big thank you to our sponsors, who without you this event would not be possible.

Weeks Marine

Teledyne Odom

Aqua-Tech Services

Hydroterra Technologies

Navigation Electronics Inc.
(Continued on page 10)
Volume I, Issue 9
Page 10
The
2016 Officers THSOA
Southeast Chapter
Chairman:
Mike Nitska Hydroterra
Technologies, LLC
mike.nitska@hydroterra
tec.com
Secretary:
Linda Guillory Hydroterra
Technologies, LLC
[email protected]
Treasurer:
Kathy Roberts
Chapters
eSeahorse
(from page 9)
Southeast Chapter Gumbo Rumble Results
Congratulations to our winners:
1st place Surf- C.A. Richards
2nd place Surf- Aqua-Tech Services
1st place Turf- Navigation Electronics Inc.
2nd place Turf- Hydroterra Technologies
Fan Favorite- Hydroterra Technologies and C.A. Richards (tied)
Technical Chair:
Scott Haydel
Fund Raising &
Events Co-Chairs:
Kim Dailey Teledyne Odom Hydrographics
[email protected]
Linda Guillory Hydroterra
Technologies, LLC
[email protected]
Membership Drive/
Student Liaison:
Byron LaBowe Louisiana
Steven Harrison Mississippi
Lou Nash - Florida
Meautronics
Lou_Nash@ measutronics.com
Web:
Alma Alling
[email protected]
@hydrosurveying
(Continued on page 11)
Volume I, Issue 9
Page 11
The
eSeahorse
Chapters (from page 11)
The West Coast Chapter
THSOA is increasing West Coast visibility and outreach with the launch of the THSOA-West
Coast Chapter (THSOA-WCC). The west coast will be divided up into regional centers, each
with a captain to lead events in that region. Events will be open to all THSOA members and
meetings announcements emailed to those residing west of the Rockies.
Current regional areas, regional captains and WCC board members include:
Alaska - Anchorage – Vacant
Washington - Seattle – Bob Feldpausch
Oregon - Portland – Dan Proudfit (Captain)
Oregon - Portland – Mike Mutschler (WCC Chair)
Oregon - Portland – Heidi Seger (Treasurer)
California - San Diego – Vacant
Upcoming Events
The Hydrographic Society of America - West Coast Chapter would like to invite you to join us for our January Technical Meeting. On 28th January (Thursday) beginning at 6:00pm, the THSOA-WCC will have an
informal gathering of Hydrographers in Seattle, Washington at the Admiral’s House. The venue is sponsored by Global Seas.
This informal event follows the NOAA Field Procedures Workshop (which wraps up on Thursday at 5pm).All
THSOA members and interested Hydrographers / Oceanographers / Surveyors are welcome. Nonmembers are welcome and encouraged to join. If you need to renew or would like to gain membership then
please go online at www.thsoa.org/join-us.
The focus of this event is to unite all involved in hydrography (directly or peripherally). It is informal and social in nature. We are still organizing for a few presentations that are soap-box or photo essay in nature.
When: January 28, 2016 (6:00pm—8:00pm PST)
Location: The Admiral’s House, 2500 W. Marina Pl, Seattle, WA 98199
To register for this event visit: www.thsoa.org/event-2145228
(Continued on page 12)
Volume I, Issue 9
Page 12
The
Chapters
2016 Officers THSOA
Latin America Chapter
eSeahorse
(from page 11)
Latin America Chapter
President:
Carlos Tejada - HYPACK
[email protected]
Vice President &
Treasurer:
Ricardo Lopez
[email protected]
Secretary:
Lourdes Evans - HYPACK
[email protected]
Internal Committee:
BookletChart™
Capacity Building:
Chris Hancock
Kongsberg
chris.hancock@kongsberg
.com
The NOAA BookletChart™ is a product that you can
print at home for free. BookletCharts are made to help
recreational boaters locate themselves on the water.
Rules:
Rafael Ponce - ESRI
[email protected]
The BookletChart is reduced in scale and divided into
pages for convenience, but otherwise contains all the
information of the full-scale nautical chart. Bar scales
are also reduced in scale, but are accurate when used
to measure distances in a BookletChart. Excerpts from
the United States Coast Pilot are included. Most chart
notes are consolidated on a single page for easy reference. Emergency information for the charted area is
printed on the back cover.
Link to Other
Organizations:
Angel Terry - Jeppesen
angel.terry@jeppesen
.com
BookletCharts are updated every week with Notices to Mariners.
Obtain
NOAA's BookletChart™ List of Available Downloads:
Atlantic Coast
Gulf Coast
Pacific Coast
Alaska
Great Lakes
Volume I, Issue 9
Page 13
The
eSeahorse
Xylem Acquires HYPACK, Inc.
Xylem Inc. has acquired substantially all of the assets of HYPACK, Inc.,
effective October 22, 2015.
A release from HYPACK noted: "Going forward, HYPACK's expertise in
hydrographic survey data acquisition, processing, and visualization
software will complement Xylem's capabilities in Ocean and Coastal
analytics and applications."
"Because our customers are our top priority, our goal is to make this transition as seamless as possible. The way we
conduct business today will remain unchanged and your HYPACK contacts and their phone numbers will also remain
unchanged. Harold Orlinsky will continue as the General Manager of HYPACK. Pat Sanders will continue to play a
prominent role in the business, serving as a technical and marketing consultant and Lourdes Evans will continue as
Sales Manager."
As a part of Xylem, industry will begin seeing references to "HYPACK, a Xylem brand," and its legal entity name will
also change to YSI Incorporated.
What is marine snow?
Marine snow is a shower of organic material falling from upper waters
to the deep ocean.
Biological debris that falls from higher in the water column is also known as marine snow. Some flakes fall for weeks before finally reaching the ocean floor.
Picture and article courtesy of NOS As plants and animals near the surface of the ocean die and decay, they fall to-
ward the sea floor, just like leaves and decaying material fall onto a forest floor.
In addition to dead animals and plants, marine snow also includes fecal matter, sand, soot, and other inorganic dust.
The decaying material is referred to as “marine snow” because it looks a little bit like white fluffy bits. The
“snowflakes” grow as they fall, some reaching several centimeters in diameter. Some flakes fall for weeks before finally reaching the ocean floor.
This continuous rain of marine snow provides food for many deep-sea creatures. Many animals in the dark parts of the
ocean filter marine snow from the water or scavenge it from the seabed. NOAA scientists and others have measured
the amount of useable material in marine snow and found that there is plenty of carbon and nitrogen to feed many of
the scavengers in the deep sea.
The small percentage of material not consumed in shallower waters becomes incorporated into the muddy “ooze”
blanketing the ocean floor, where it is further decomposed through biological activity. About three-quarters of the
deep ocean floor is covered in this thick, smooth ooze. The ooze collects as much as six meters every million years.
Page 14
Volume I, Issue 9
The Hydrographic
Society of America
Mailing Address:
THSOA
P.O Box 841361
Houston, TX 77284
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
https://thsoa.org/resources/
Website/Membership/Application/
Membership.pdf
Mail to the address given on the
form.
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' 35-year presence
in the United States on April 1, 2015. 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.
Chapters have been formed in Houston, Southeast (Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida), West Coast (Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California), and Latin America
(encompassing Mexico, the Caribbean and through to Chile and Argentina).
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 Canadian Hydrographic Association (CHA; See also Links and References). We now offer a reciprocal 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 Memberships. 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.
As of January 1, 2016, THSOA raised the cost of membership to National to $35.00. This will
make all individual memberships $35.00.
All membership applications & membership renewals must be submitted and paid via National
at www.thsoa.org
Check out our newly designed website @
http://www.thsoa.org/
by Pat Sanders
The deadline for
submission articles
for
the Spring issue of
eSeahorse is
30 Apr 2016