A hydrographic survey ultimately yields geographic data. That is why you will also learn how survey data is verified, processed, and visualized. Using QGIS, you will work with hydrographic data to create, among other things, longitudinal profiles, cross-sections, and an image of the underwater seabed.
The course combines theory and data processing with hands-on practice. On the third day of the course, you’ll take a boat out onto the Apeldoorns Canal. You’ll conduct a simple hydrographic survey yourself, measuring a longitudinal profile and various cross-sections of the canal. The collected data is then processed and analyzed in QGIS.
The Importance of Hydrography
A large part of our environment consists of water. To navigate safely, maintain waterways, carry out dredging operations, or construct structures on and around the water, we need to know what the underwater bottom looks like. Hydrographic surveys provide the necessary information for this.
Hydrography is applied at sea, as well as on rivers, canals, lakes, and in harbors. Its applications range from creating and updating nautical charts to monitoring navigation channels and identifying changes in the seabed.
- Shipping: determining available water depth and safe navigable routes.
- Water management: mapping and monitoring the bottoms of rivers, canals, and other waterways.
- Dredging operations: determining where sediment needs to be removed and verifying the results.
- Offshore: supporting operations related to, for example, wind farms, cables, and pipelines.
- Coastal and river management: monitoring changes in the riverbed and banks.
Hydrography is thus a field par excellence where surveying, geodesy, and Geo-ICT converge.
From Position and Depth Measurement to Geodata
A measured water depth is only useful if it is also known where this depth was measured and relative to which reference level. Positioning and geodesy are therefore an important part of hydrography.
During the course, you will learn how GNSS is used to determine the position of the survey vessel. We will also cover how an echo sounder or sonar uses sound waves to measure the distance to the water bottom and which factors influence the accuracy of a depth measurement.
Water levels and vertical reference levels are also important. The measured depth must be linked to a usable reference level so that measurements from different locations and times can be compared with one another.
What will you learn in the Basic Hydrography Course?
Understanding Hydrographic Surveys
You’ll learn, step by step, how a simple hydrographic survey is structured. We’ll examine the relationship between position, water depth, water level, and reference level. You’ll be introduced to echo sounders and sonar, as well as the difference between single-beam and multibeam measurements.
We’ll also focus on the quality of hydrographic measurement data. You’ll learn why measurement data must be verified and which conditions and corrections can affect the final result.
Processing Hydrographic Data with QGIS
Hydrographic surveys yield large amounts of spatial data. During the course, you’ll learn how to view, verify, and visualize this data in QGIS.
You’ll work with survey points and depth data and learn how to create longitudinal and cross-sectional profiles from them. This process transforms individual measurements into a geographic representation of the shape and depth of the waterbed.
Field Survey on the Apeldoorns Canal
On the third day of the course, we’ll put theory into practice. We’ll take a boat out onto the Apeldoorns Canal and conduct hydrographic surveys ourselves.
During this hands-on day, we’ll measure a longitudinal profile of a section of the canal and take cross-sectional measurements at various locations. This will give you firsthand experience of how positioning, depth measurement, navigation lines, and measurement setups come together in practice.
The collected measurement data is then processed and visualized, allowing you to walk through the entire process—from measuring on the water to generating usable Geo-ICT information.
Why choose our Basic Hydrography Course?
The Basic Hydrography Course combines the fundamentals of hydrography with practical Geo-ICT skills and hands-on fieldwork.
- Broad foundation in hydrography: you’ll learn the key principles of positioning, depth measurement, water levels, and hydrographic data processing.
- Working with QGIS: You’ll learn to process, analyze, and visualize hydrographic survey data.
- Conducting your own measurements on the water: During the field day, you’ll conduct a simple hydrographic survey yourself on the Apeldoorns Canal.
- The complete measurement chain: You’ll experience the entire process, from preparation and data collection to processing and presentation of the measurement data.
- Foundation for further specialization: The course provides a solid foundation for specialized topics such as bathymetry, hydrographic data processing, multibeam, and sonar data.
By the end of the course, you’ll understand how a hydrographic survey is planned and carried out, and how the collected data is processed into usable geographic information.
