Contract Hydrographer for NOAA, National
Ocean Service, Office of Coast Survey, Hydrographic Surveys Division
- Atlantic
Hydrographic Branch in Norfolk, Virginia.
The Hydrographic Surveys
Division is directly responsible for acquiring data for the
nautical chart and producing final hydrographic survey. HSD is responsible
for evaluating and certifying hydrographic survey data for applicability
to nautical charts, and compiling information from the hydrographic
surveys onto chart drawings which support NOAA's nautical chart
production
and Electronic Nautical Chart creation. Hydrographic support
is provided to every aspect of the NOAA hydrographic program, from
data
acquisition
and field data processing to smooth sheet evaluation and analysis
of surveys to final survey compilation [after which the survey
is sent
to the Marine Chart Division (MCD) in Silver Springs, MD (NOAA
Headquarters) for final chart production]. Primary duties are
hydrographic
data acquisition,
data processing and testing/implementation of new hydrographic
processes (to include troubleshooting and procedural updates
as necessary), and
up to 130 days at sea is required each year. While at sea,
all aspects of data acquisition are performed, from survey planning
to daily survey
management, CTD casts, data acquisition, processing and cleaning.
Hydrographic survey data is acquired at sea using a vertical
beam
echo sounder,
shallow water multibeam sonar and side scan sonar, and analyzed
to identify any features and ensure full survey area coverage.
The sounding
data is processed in office, comparisons with prior surveys
and nautical charts made, and any recommendations submitted for chart
clarification
or correction. Final survey data is then compiled into a corrected
nautical chart and submitted to MCD for future chart printing. |
