Hydrographers

Hydrographers are professionals who measure and describe bodies of water to determine depth, underwater topography, and related physical characteristics. Their work supports safe navigation, coastal engineering, dredging, and water-resource management. Hydrographers may be employed by national hydrographic offices, maritime authorities, ports, offshore energy companies, or environmental agencies, and they may specialize in coastal, river, lake, or open-ocean surveys.

Duties include planning and conducting hydrographic surveys, acquiring bathymetric data with echo-sounders (single-beam and multibeam), side-scan sonar, and acoustic Doppler current profilers, and collecting water-column data with CTD instruments. They process and quality-control data, create nautical charts and digital bathymetric models, and maintain metadata and vertical references. They also assess hazards, update navigational databases, and produce environmental and geospatial products using GIS.

Standards and tools: hydrographers adhere to international standards developed by the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), such as S-44 for survey quality and S-57/S-100 for ENC and geospatial products. Modern work relies on GNSS/INS positioning, autonomous or towed systems, LiDAR for shallow water, and GIS-based data management.

Education and professional development: typical training includes degrees in hydrography, surveying, geodesy, or marine science, with specialized surveys and certifications offered by national surveying bodies and professional associations. The profession intersects with cartography, oceanography, and civil engineering, and its outputs inform navigation safety, coastal planning, and environmental monitoring.