The Use of the International Hydrographic Organisation's 'Standards for Hydrographic Surveys' As a Measure of Depth Accuracy in Continental Shelf Determinations

Article 76 of UNCLOS requires the determination of depths of 2,500m to establish the position of one of the two alternative components of the Outer Constraint to the Continental Shelf. Recognising the water depth’s possible role, the Guidelines produced by the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) specify the types of depth-measuring instrumentation that can be used, the types of analysis to transform bathymetry data into a bathymetric model, and the type of database and supporting information to be provided. Included in the latter is the requirement to provide A priori or a posteriori estimates of random and systematic errors’, where a priori errors may be calculated using the International Hydrographic Organisation's (IHO's) S44 Standard for Hydrographic Surveys. Having the CLCS refer to this internationally accepted standard as the most appropriate for UNCLOS purposes imposes a responsibility on the IHO to ensure that S44 does provide an appropriate, up to date and achievable standard for 2,500m water depths. This paper shows how S44 could be revised to make it fully suitable for this new task, one that for which it was not originally designed . S44 defines total error as the Root Sum of Squares (RSS) of the constant and variable depth errors. Marine areas are divided into zones according to their use by surface shipping, and a table provides the values to be substituted in the RSS equation for each area. While this approach has proven useful for transportation purposes, it is not necessarily applicable to deep-water contours, in that it does not take into account the magnitude and impact of the many factors that influence the uncertainty of location of deep water contours. These differ greatly in their magnitude and influence as the sea floor deepens beyond navigation depths, and are explained in this paper. We conclude with a firm suggestion to the IHO to undertake production of a new edition of S44 and include information on how it can be expanded to become more applicable to deep water

Multi-dimensional, multi-national, multi-faceted hydrographic training: the Nippon Foundation GEBCO training program at the University of New Hampshire

Hydrographic training entered a new era when students arrived at the University of New Hampshire in August of 2004 to form the first class of the Nippon Foundation GEBCO (General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans) training program. Born out of the need to replenish GEBCO’s aging human material, and of the desire to spread deep ocean mapping capabilities more widely throughout the world, the program attracted applications from 57 students in over thirty countries. The seven selected each had post graduate training and several years experience, but differed in that three were hydrographers, two geologists and two oceanographers. Classes planned for the next two years will bring in a further fourteen students. The UNH program had been selected as the closest match to the general course requirements GEBCO considered that ocean bathymetrists should have. Subjects include all types of depth measurements, oceanography, acoustics, tides, plate tectonics, sea floor morphology, ocean basins, sedimentary processes, hydrothermal-thermal processes, gravity-magnetic relationships to seafloor fabrics, positioning and geodesy, maps and charts, IHO standards, GIS, data bases, gridding, contouring, spatial statistics, and the history of GEBCO and ocean mapping. These are taught at the graduate level as part of the graduate degree program at UNH. In this paper, the experiences that participants from the different backgrounds underwent are recounted with the overall goal of improving the general education required to map the floors of the deep ocean. Recommendations are made regarding the prior preparation of students entering the program, the content and intensity of courses comprising the program, and follow-up actions to solidify the learning experience. Intangibles such as the networking of professional contacts are also evaluated. Extrapolations to training in other areas of hydrography are made

Capacity building in Ocean Bathymetry: The Nippon Foundation GEBCO Training Programme at the University of New Hampshire

A successful Capacity Building project in hydrography is underway at the University of New Hampshire. Organised by the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans and sponsored by the Nippon Foundation, the programme trains hydrographers and other marine scientists in bathymetric mapping. Participants are formally prepared to produce bathymetric maps when they return to their home countries through a combination of graduate level courses and workshops, practical field training, participation in deep ocean research cruises, working visits to other laboratories and institutions, focused lectures from visiting experts, and the preparation of a bathymetry map of their area from public domain data. Intangible but necessary preparation includes the networking with professionals in bathymetry and related fields within Ocean Mapping, and the building of a cadre of graduates who will form the basis of international bathymetric mapping in the future

Capacity Building in Ocean Bathymetry: The Nippon Foundation GEBCO Training Programme at the University of New Hampshire

A successful Capacity Building project in hydrography is underway at the University of New Hampshire. Organised by the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans and sponsored by the Nippon Foundation, the programme trains hydrographers and other marine scientists in bathymetric mapping. Participants are formally prepared to produce bathymetric maps when they return to their home countries through a combination of graduate level courses and workshops, practical field training, participation in deep ocean research cruises, working visits to other laboratories and institutions, focused lectures from visiting experts, and the preparation of a bathymetry map of their area from public domain data. Intangible but necessary preparation includes the networking with professionals in bathymetry and related fields within Ocean Mapping, and the building of a cadre of graduates who will form the basis of international bathymetric mapping in the future

Integral control for population management

We present a novel management methodology for restocking a declining population. The strategy uses integral control, a concept ubiquitous in control theory which has not been applied to population dynamics. Integral control is based on dynamic feedback-using measurements of the population to inform management strategies and is robust to model uncertainty, an important consideration for ecological models. We demonstrate from first principles why such an approach to population management is suitable via theory and examples