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This method revolutionized hydrographic surveying, as it allowed a quicker, less laborious, and far more complete survey of an area than did the use of lead lines and sounding poles. From a navigational safety point of view, a wire-drag survey would not miss a hazard to navigation that projected above the drag wire depth.
Bathymetric surveys are traditionally done from the surface, by measuring depth (soundings) at measured positions along transect lines and later plotting the data onto a bathymetric chart, on which lines of constant depth (isobaths) may be drawn by interpolation of soundings.
The first recorded evidence of water depth measurements are from Ancient Egypt over 3000 years ago. [3] Bathymetry has various uses including the production of Bathymetric charts to guide vessels and identify underwater hazards, the study of marine life near the floor of water bodies , coastline analysis and ocean dynamics , including ...
Bathymeric charts showcase depth using a series of lines and points at equal intervals, called depth contours or isobaths (a type of contour line). A closed shape with increasingly smaller shapes inside of it can indicate an ocean trench or a seamount, or underwater mountain, depending on whether the depths increase or decrease going inward.
Table of geography, hydrography, and navigation, from a 1728 Cyclopaedia.. Hydrography is the branch of applied sciences which deals with the measurement and description of the physical features of oceans, seas, coastal areas, lakes and rivers, as well as with the prediction of their change over time, for the primary purpose of safety of navigation and in support of all other marine activities ...
Depth contour lines show the shape of underwater relief. Coloured areas of the sea emphasise shallow water and dangerous underwater obstructions. Depths are measured from the chart datum, which is related to the local sea level. The chart datum varies according to the standard used by each national Hydrographic Office.
A main product of the VORF project was the gridded vertical correction files which deliver the capability to transfer heights and depths from one vertical reference system to another, "allowing the direct use of depth data from surveys which is referred to a WGS84 compatible datum rather than Chart Datum and thus enabling Hydrographic surveyors to survey without the need to measure tides".
Technical developments over the years improved surveying methods and the accuracy of the charts. For depth determination, methods of measuring depth from a moving ship were developed, as well as "sweeping", dragging a horizontal line across an area to detect hazards that might be missed by individual soundings. [24]