FIG Commission 4 - Hydrography

Work Plan 2015-2018

Original work plan in .pdf-format

Terms of reference

  • Hydrographic surveying
  • Offshore surveying in support of energy, environment, submarine telecommunications, ports and harbours
  • Hydrographic education, training and Continual Professional Development (CPD)
  • Marine Environment & Coastal Zone Management (CZM)
  • Data processing and management of hydrographic data
  • Nautical charting and bathymetric maps - analogue and digital, includes ENCs  (Electronic Navigational Charts)

Mission Statement

The mission of Commission 4 is to:

  • Promote the aims and objectives of FIG to hydrographers through the active involvement of national delegates from member associations and other interested parties in the activities of the commission.
  • Foster closer links with all sister organisations currently active within the global hydrographic community.
  • Develop guidelines and standards that will assist hydrographers in the provision of their services.
  • Disseminate information relevant to the profession through participation in international meetings, conferences and committees.

General

Commission 4 strategy is focussed on (for example):

  • The development of best practice guides in Hydrography.

Active support and participation in FIG regional events.

Working groups

Working Group 4.1 - Standards and Guidelines for Hydrographyp

Policy issues

  • Assist in the development and recognition of standards of competency for hydrographic surveyors;
  • Assist in the development of technical standards and guidelines;
  • Assist with the review of standards and guidelines.
  • Promote the need for and benefits of, professional hydrographic surveyor certification.

Chair

Peter Barr (Australia)
e-mail: pb.barmarine[at]bigpond.com

Members
Michael Beard
(Australia) 
e-mail: michaeljbeard[at]bigpond.com

Simon Allen (Australia) 
e-mail: simon.allen[at]iinet.net.au

Simon Ironside (ex-officio member)
Chair SSSI Hydrography Commission (New Zealand) 
e-mail: Simon.Ironside[at]eliotsinclair.co.nz

Specific project(s)

  • Broaden the membership of WG4.1 to ensure its legitimacy as an active international professional       body.
  • Support the IHO through the work of the HSSC by participating in subordinate working groups in reviewing standards and guidelines.
    • S44 - IHO Standards for Hydrographic Surveys (February 2008)
    • S100 - IHO Universal Hydrographic Data Model (January 2010) 
  • Support FIG members on the IBSC in reviewing/updating competency standards.
    • S5 -Standards of Competence for Hydrographic Surveyors (December 2014)
  • Represent Commission 4 on the FIG Standards Network
  • Support the work of other Commission 4 working groups and participate in  major Commission events.

Workshops

  • Participation in FIG Standards Network meetings and other major Commission events

Publication(s)

  • FIG Working Weeks will include technical papers and/or reports to the FIG Standards    Network on emerging hydrographic standards and guidelines and other specific hydrographic

Timetable

  • Ongoing work will be reported at FIG Working Weeks during the term of this plan and
    according to a timetable to be developed by the Working Group Chair.
  • Working group to present a draft report at the relevant FIG Congress.

Beneficiaries

  • IHO (International Hydrographic Organization)
  • IBSC (FIG-IHO-ICA International Board on Standards of Competence for Hydrographic Surveyors and Nautical Cartographers)
  • FIG (including the FIG Standards Network forum)
  • Sister organizations and relevant national and international Governmental Organization and NGOs
  • FIG member associations, hydrographic surveyors in industry, Government, and academia
  • Other relevant stakeholders (eg. Australasian Hydrographic Surveyors Certification Panel (AHSCP)).

Revision Log

Rev. Date Page(s) Description
A3 20/11/14 Draft Issued for Review
 A4 4/04/15 Draft Inclusion new membership and refined standards review
A5  7/5/15 Final Refine Section 2.0 – Specific Projects

Working Group 4.2 - Maritime and Marine Spatial Information Management

Policy issues

  • Assist in the development and promotion of marine and coastal spatial information management issues supported by hydrography and hydrographic data and information.
  • Cooperation with sister organizations and other appropriate bodies.
  • Cooperation with other FIG Commissions.

Chair

Jonathan Li, PhD, PEng, SMIEEE
Professor of Geomatics
Department of Geography & Environmental Management
Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo
200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
Office: EV1-111,
e-mail: junli[at]uwaterloo.ca
Tel: +1-519-888-4567, ext. 34504, Fax: +1-519-746-0658
http://environment.uwaterloo.ca/research/rsgtl/

Specific project(s)

  • Cooperate with, and represent the interests of FIG Commission 4 to, IMO in the development of an e-Navigation data framework (e.g., harmonization of data models among stakeholders).
  • Cooperate with IHO on the continuing development and expansion of S-100 to support hydrographic- and hydrographic-related spatial information management.
  • Cooperate with appropriate stakeholders (e.g., IHO-MSDIWG) on the development of concepts and principles that impact and are impacted upon by hydrography (e.g., MSDI, marine spatial planning and management, marine data models and applications, marine cadastre etc.).
  • Present and promote the above concepts, principles and outcomes to the international

Workshop(s)

Participation in / contribution to:

  • FIG Working Weeks, regional conference with dedicated technical sessions and/or Workshops as appropriate;
  • International hydrography-related workshops and events.

Publication(s)

Possible publication(s) on MDSI, and marine spatial information management.

Timetable

  • Working Group Chair will make reports at FIG Working Weeks (2015-2018).
  • Working group to present a final report at FIG Congress, 2018.

Beneficiaries

  • International maritime community;
  • Sister organizations and other (national) agencies;
  • FIG member associations, surveyors in industry and government, academe;
  • Marine spatial information management community.

Working Group 4.3Blue Economy

Chair:

Gordon Johnston
Mr. Gordon Johnston, MRICS
67 Devon Road
Cheam
Surrey SM2 7PE
UNITED KINGDOM
Tel. + 44 208 661 1650
Fax + 44 208 643 1890
Mob:+44 7966 937369
E-mail: gordon.johnston1[at]orange.net

Work Plan for “The Blue Economy” 2015 until 2018 is based upon the continued work of Commission 4. The Blue Economy can be a diverse and wide ranging topic but for FIG Comm 4 it shall be primarily in developing and promoting the need to manage our oceans and seas in a sustainable manner based upon good data, good environmental principles and good management practices. In this way the WG shall seek to promote and engage with IGO’s and other NGO’s to increase the understanding and awareness of the importance of the marine and ocean areas. High on the agenda will be to engage with UN-FAO and World Bank to determine how these organisations perceive the importance and benefits of managing the marine and ocean areas.

Comm 4 WG will participate in seminars, conferences and Technical Sessions at FIG events. In addition it is planned that additional joint events shall be organised to further the work and to generate a short publication within the work period.

Co-operation with Sister Associations

FIG and IHO

Commission 4 currently represents FIG on the FIG/IHO/ICA International Board on Standards of Competence for Hydrographic Surveyors and Nautical Cartographers (IBSC) jointly with IHO and ICA. The commission will also support the IHO in its Capacity Building Initiatives with representation on the IHO Capacity Building Committee (CBC). Commission 4 will also support the IHO on any appropriate technical initiatives.

FIG and the International Federation of Hydrographic Societies (IFHS)

Commission 4 has begun to cooperate with the IFHS whereby the Federation has provided input into the 2006-2010 work plan and the commission will continue to lend its support towards sponsoring IFHS conferences and other initiatives. For example, the commission has provided financial support and resources for updating the IFHS special publication (SP-3) entitled Hydrographic Surveying as a Career. It is important for Commission 4 to maintain contact with all national Hydrographic Associations (whether members of the IFHS or not) to foster
communications and cooperation for the betterment of the profession.

Notes:

  1. FIG and IHO cooperate under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which was signed in Athens, May 2004. Our liaison is IHB Director, Hugo Gorziglia.
  2. The role of the FIG/IHO/ICA International Board on Standards of Competence for Hydrographic Surveyors and Nautical Cartographers (IBSC) is to develop and up-date international standards of competence for Hydrographic surveyors and to review the academic programme of educational institutions that are seeking IHO accreditation of their Hydrographic training courses. The IBSC is composed of 4 representatives from FIG, 4 from IHO and 2 from the ICA. Our liaison officer with the
  3. FIG and the International Federation of Hydrographic Societies (IFHS) cooperate under a MoU which was signed in Cairo, April 2005. The task has been mandated to Commission 4. FIG liaison with the IFHS is Simon Ironside.
  4. FIG and the International Federation of Hydrographic Societies (IFHS) cooperate under a MoU which was signed in Cairo, April 2005. Our liaison with the IFHS is their President, Paul Hornsby.

Co-operation with the United Nations agencies

Commission 4 will participate in co-operation with the United Nations agencies on topics that are related to commission expertise (e.g. marine cadastre, data framework for e-Navigation etc.) and on guidance by FIG Council.

Cooperation with other FIG Commissions

Commission 4 will, for example, collaborate with Commission 5 to review and revise (where required) FIG Publication 37, Vertical Reference Surface for Hydrography. Commission 4 will also collaborate with other FIG Commissions as appropriate.

Representation to FIG Networks and Task Forces

Commission 4 will appoint representatives to the following FIG initiatives:

  • Standards Network
  • Climate Change Task Force
  • National and International Boundaries

Other Activities

Commission 4 will maintain and develop the commission’s web page, with linkages to other relevant home pages and new pages or other networks for special projects, to keep commission delegates, the Hydrographic community and the public involved in and informed about the work of the commission. Commission 4 will also contribute editorials, reports and articles to Hydrographic publications including but not restricted to the Hydrographic Journal, Hydro International, The Hydrographic Review, Sea Technology and Lighthouse. Commission 4 will publish a newsletter at least once a year.

Calendar of Events

2015

  • Ocean Business 2015, 15-16 April, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK.
  • FIG Blue Economy seminar at Southampton 14th April.
  • U.S. Hydrographic Conference 2015, March 16-19 at Gaylord Hotel, national Harbour,
    Maryland, U.S.A.
  • FIG Working Week, 17-21 May,2015. Sofia, Bulgaria
  • 2nd International Symposium on Computer Vision in Remote Sensing, 26-28 April 2015,
    Xiamen, China.
  • 3rd International Summer School on Mobile Mapping Technology, 26-30 April 2015,
    Xiamen, China
  • Special session on mobile scanning and imaging systems at IGARSS 2015, 26-31 July
    2015, Milan, Italy.
  • 8th IHO-IAG Advisory Board on the Law of the Sea (ABLOS) Conference in Monaco
    from 20 - 22 October, 2015
  • Hydro 2015 international Conference Symposium at Cairns, Queensland, Australia from
    03 - 07 November 2015. Theme: Harnessing the Blue Economy through
  • Joint Event of the 5th International Conference on Earth Observation for Global Change
    (EOGC 2015) and the 7th International Conference on Geo-information Technologies for
  • Natural Disaster Management (GiT4NDM 2015), December 6-8, 2015, United Arab, Emirates University, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates.
  • 9th International Symposium on Mobile Mapping Technology (MMT), December 10-12,
    2015, Sydney, Australia.

2016

  • FIG Working Week, 2-6 May, Christchurch, New Zealand
  • Canadian Hydrographic conference, 2016

2017

  • FIG Working Week, May/June Helsinki, Finland
  • U.S. Hydrographic conference

2018

  • FIG XXVI Congress, May/June, Istanbul, Turkey
  • Canadian Hydrographic Conference.

Other Activities

Commission 4 will maintain and develop the commission’s web page, with linkages to other relevant home pages and new pages or other networks for special projects, to keep commission delegates, the Hydrographic community and the public involved in and informed about the work of the commission. Commission 4 will also contribute editorials, reports and articles to Hydrographic publications including but not restricted to the Hydrographic Journal, Hydro International, The Hydrographic Review, Sea Technology and Lighthouse. Commission 4 will publish a newsletter at least once a year.