Hydrographic Surveys

Hydrographic Surveys

Hydrographis Surveying - is the process

employed in gathering information
concerning any body of water and its
adjacent land areas.

Puspose of Hydrographic
Survey:

1. Providing data for the preparation of

hydrographic maps and nautical charts needed in
navigation, harbor, improvement, yardage and
dredging projects.
2. Flood control, water supply, hydro-electric
power development, pipe line and underground
cable crossings and irrigation.
3. Obtaining information needed for the design of
bridges, dams, seawalls, culverts, sewage disposal
plant, light houses, docks, and other structures.

Purpose of Hydrographic
Survey:

4. Determining the volume of

impounded water, direction and
velocity of currents, drainage areas and
the capacity of a containing basin.
5.Gathering data needed for the
establishment of tidal deturns.
6. Locating navigational hazards such
as submerged obstructions, sunken
vessels, sand bars,rocks, shoals, and
coral reefs.

Hydrographic Survey Terms

1. Hydrography - the study, description, and mapping of

oceans, seas, lakes, and rivers especially with reference with
their navigational and commercial or other uses.
2. Sounding - the process of measuring the depth of a body of
water at a particular point.
3. Stream Gaging - the process of making measurements in
streams and rivers for the purpose of predicting the rate of
discharge at various water levels or stages.
4. Fathom - a unit used for the measurement of water depth
and is equivalent to six (6) feet.
5. Hydrographic Chart - a map or chart used in navigation. It
is basically similar to a topographic map except that water
depths, navigational markers, and the character of
underwater surface are indicated.

Hydrographic Survey Terms

6. tidal Datum's - are specific tide levels which are used as surfaces
of reference for depth measurements in the sea and as a base for the
determination of elevation on land.
7. Discharge - the volume of water flowing past, a section of a
stream, canal, flume, and other water ways. It is usually expressed in
cubic feet per second or cubic meters per second.
8. Stream - a current or steady flow of water running along the
Earth's surface.
9. Dredging - the process of scooping or sucking up mud, sand, rocks
and other material underwater for the purpose of enlarging,
deepening or clearing channels. harbours, rivers, and other bodies of
water.
10. Subaqueous Contour - an imaginary line on the Earth's surface
found underwater, all points of which are of the same elevation. They
are sometimes known as depth curves or bathymetric contours.

Basic Operations Involved

in a Hydrographic Survey

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Reconnaissance
Establishment of Horizontal Control
Establishment of Vertical Control
Topographic Survey
Hydrography
Preparation of Hydrographic Map

Equipment for Hydrography

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Sounding Craft
Sounding Pole
Leadline
Sounding Machine
Fathometer
Signals
Tide Gage
Sextant

Importance of Tides

Practical and economic aspects of everyday life are

affected in many different ways by the tides. For
example, tides play an important part in the
launching of ships, and in floating vessels free from
dry rock. They are of vital importance to navigation
in enabling ships to clear reefs, sandbars, and shoals,
and to enter shallow channels. Most diving and
salvaging operations are contingent upon the tides,
as are dredging, harbour construction projects, and
marine engineering. Our fishermen are dependent
upon the tides for their day's catch. Boating,
swimming, and aquatic sports activities are affected
by tide induced conditions of surf and sea.

The Cause of the Tides

The principal cause of the tides is the

difference in gravitational attraction
exerted by the moon upon different
parts of the Earth.

The secondary cause is the similar

difference in the attraction of the sun.

Tidal Definitions

1. Tide - the half-daily cycle of rhythmic rise and fall of

the surface of oceans, seas, lakes, bays, rivers, and
other bodies of water connected with them due to the
gravitational attraction of the sun and the moon acting
upon the rotating Earth.
2. Tidal Current - the horizontal movement of water
accompanying tides and which is produced by the
combined action of astronomical, hydrological, and
meteorological factors.
3. Flood Tide - the period within which the water surface
is rising and moving in toward the shore.
4. Ebb Tide - the period within which the water surface
is falling and moving seaward.

Tidal Definitions

5. Slack Water - the instant at which the tidal

current is changing direction and flows
neither in nor out.
6. Set - refers to the direction of current flow.
7. Drift - refers to the speed of current flow.
8. High Water - refers to the maximum
height to which the water surface rises
above the standard datum plane during a
given period. It is also known as High Tide.

Tidal Definitions

9. Low Water - or Low Tide refers to the greatest

depression of the water surface below the
standard datum plane during a given period.
10. Tide Range - the range of the tides is the
difference between the high and low tide at a
certain location on a given date. It may vary both
for different locations and for high and low tides
measured on different days at the same location.
11. Tidal Day - consists of an idealized average
period of 24 hours and 50 minutes between the
occurrence of two successive high tides of the
same type of the same location.

Tidal Definitions

12. Stand - the stand of the tide is the period

around which the greatest peak or depression
of the tides is reached and during of which
any change in height of the tide is scarcely
noticeable.
13. Tidal Waves- consists of a large head or
front of water generated at the surface of the
ocean by force winds of hurricanes or
typhoons, or by isostatic adjustment of the
ocean floor accompanying a submarine
earthquake.

Tidal Datums

Tidal Datums are specific tide levels

which are used as surface of reference
for depth measurements in the sea and
as a base for the determination of
elevation on land.

The Principal Tidal Datums

are:

1. Mean sea level - the datum for firstorder level net of many countries and
is increasingly used as the base for
general levelling operations. It is
defined as the average height of the
sea of all stages of the tide.
2. Mean low water - the mean of all
waters as observed over long periods.

The Principal Tidal Datums

are:

3. Mean lower low water - the average

of all heights of the lower of the two
low waters that occur in each lunar
day.
4. Mean low water springs - the mean
of the low waters of the spring tides
occurring a day or two after new or full
moon. It is obtained by subtracting
one-half of the range of the spring
tides from the mean tide level.

Types of Tides

1. Semidiurnal Tides
2. Diurnal Tides
3. Mixed Tides

Tidal Currents

Horizontal movement of water to and

from the shore accompanies the rise
and fall of the tides. The flow of water,
known as tidal current, may be large or
small, depending upon the existing
tidal head of water.

Tidal Bores

In certain narrow channels subject to

extremely high tides at the entrance, a
"piling up" of water occurs at a formidable
rate. At a time halfway between low and
high water, the tide is usually rising at its
maximum speed. The resultant wall of water
rushes up the river with a characteristic
roaring and hissing sound which makes its
arrival a readily detectable in advance. This
type of "cascade in reverse" is known as a
Tidal Bore.

Tide Gages

Tide Gages are instruments for

measuring the height of the tide and
are classified into the following groups:
1. Non-recording Gages
2. Automatic Gages

Sounding Party

1. Chief of Party - the person who directs

all survey operations of the party.
2. Instrument man - the person who is
responsible for setting up the different
instruments to be used in the
hydrographic survey.
3. Recorder - the person whose task is to
record all the survey data gathered.
4. Leadman - handles the leadline or the
sounding rod.

Sounding Party

5. Coxswain - the person who is responsible for

steering the boat on selected compass bearings
or ranges.
6. Lookout - in waters where there are expected
dangers to navigation, a lookout is employed.
7. Signalman - the person who alerts the shore
party that sounding is about to begin.
8. Fathometer Attendant - in deep water surveys
where a fathometer is employed, the attendant
focuses full attention on this instrument.

Survey Buoys

A buoy is a floating object anchored in

place in a body of water by a heavy
weight to which the buoy is attached
by a rope or chain. It may be made of
wood, plastic metal or other suitable
material which floats in water.

Locating Soundings

Various methods used for locating sounds are

the following:
1. Time Intervals Along a Range Line
2. Range Line and an Angle From Shore
3. Intersecting Range Lines
4. One Angle and Stadia Distance from Shore
5. Two Angles From Shore
6. Two Angles From Boat
7. Distances Along a Cross rope or Wire
8. Direction and Vertical Angle

Electronic Positioning
Systems

1.
2.
3.
4.

Short-range Navigation (Shoran)

Long-range Navigation (Loran)
Electronic Position Indicator (EPI)
Radio Acoustic Ranging (RAR)

Echo Sounding

Echo sounding is a method of measuring the

depth of water by determining the time required
for sound waves to travel from a point near the
surface of the water to the bottom and back.
An echo-sounding equipment (fathometer) is
designed to produce the sound, transmit it
downward, receive and amplify the echo,
measure the intervening time interval, and
automatically convert this interval into units of
depth measurement, such as feet, fathoms or
meters.

Types of Echo Sounders

1. Portable Fathometers
2. Non-portable Fathometers

Advantages and Limitations

of Echo sounders

1. Variation in the water temperature

2. Degree of salinity in the water
3. Absorption of transmitted sound
waves by the water
4. Turbulence
5. Characteristic and slope of the
bottom surface
6. Aeration or air entrainment along the
bottom of the vessel

New Developments in
Electronic Sounding Equipment

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR)

Airborne Lasers
Multispectral Scanners (MSS)
Orbiting Satellites
Photo bathymetry

Multispectral Techniques

The interpretation of multispectral

imagery is primarily based on the
tones of the object viewed. Depending
upon the spectral reflectance of the
object, tone varies with the
wavelength.

Earth Resources Technology

Satellite (ERTS)

The first Landsat Satellite (originally

known as the Earth Resources
Technology Satellite) was launched by
the United States of America in July 23,
1972 into a sun-synchronous polar orbit
around the earth at an altitude of 919
km. It was a butterfly-shaped
observatory weighing 891 kg which
circled the earth every 1 hour and 43
minutes.

Drags And Sweeps

To decate and locate such obstructions or

menaces to navigation and to provide definite
assurance that a certain minimum navigational
depth exists throughout the given area, wire
drags, wire sweeps, or sweep bars are
employed. these devices came into general use
sometime in 1900 when sweeps 60 to 300 m
long were first used. This method has been
widely adapted that sweeps 3000 to 4500 m
long were later employed to cover several
square kilometers of areas in one working day.

Drags And Sweeps

1. The Wire Drag

2. Wire Sweep
3. Sweep Bar

Dredging Operations

Dredging is the process of widening,

enlarging, cleaning or deepening of
channels in harbors, rivers and canals.
In removing the dredged material to
scows or hoppers dredges are
employed. Dipper and clamshell
dredges are used when the excavated
material are loaded into scows which
are towed to a deep water dumping
site.

Scow Measurements

The quantity of material dredged from

any body of water can be determined
either by soundings or scow
measurements. Another method
commonly employed in determining
volume of dredged material is to
measure the draft of a scow before and
after loading.

Reservoir Sedimentation
Survey

A survey is made of the reservoir site

to determine its capacity at various
stages of the water.

Marine Construction and

Maintenance Surveys

The involvement of a Civil Engineer during

the early stages in the planning and
development of ports, wharves, harbors,
and other marine structures is highly
essential. His task usually includes the
preparation of plans design, supervision of
all new marine construction, the execution
of related hydrographic surveys, and
subsequent maintenance of existing
marine structures.

Marine Construction and

Maintenance Surveys

Illustrative Problem:
A rectangular deck scow 30.50m long, 6.10m wide, and
3.66m high has a draft of 1.22m when light and a draft
of 3.05m when loaded. The bottom length of the scow is
23.15m. The water line is 29.26m long when the scow is
loaded with rocks and 25.60m long when light. If
seawater weighs 1026 kg/cu m and the loaded dredged
material weighs 3208 kg/cu m, determine the following:
a. volume of water displaced when unloaded or light
b. displacement loaded
c. weight of the water displaced by the load
d. volume of the loaded rock

Three-point Resection

In a hydrographic survey there is usually a

large number of sounding points to be
plotted on a chart or map. There are
numerous approaches to the solution of
three-point problem such as graphical,
mechanical or analytical methods. The
Three-point problem involves the
determination of the position of the
instrument (usually a sextant) by measuring
the horizontal angles between three points
of known position.

Indeterminate and Weak

Resections

A three-point resection becomes

insoluble if the point P happens to be
on the circumcircle joining points A, B,
and C.

Resection on Four Points

A three-point resection can always be

made to check mathematically,
however, the mathematical checks do
not provide a check on the field work or
on the control points used.

Derivation of Equations for

the Unknown

Instruments for Measuring

Stream Velocity

Stream velocity are commonly

determined either by the use of floats
or by the use of current meters.

Floats

The measurement of stream velocity

by floats is well suited for
reconnaissance work, in determining
flood velocities or in locating gauging
stations.

Classifications of Floats

1. Surface Floats - the commonly used type of float. It is

intended to measure stream surface velocities and is
particularly suitable for rough determinations of velocity
and for gaging streams in high flood.

2. Subsurface Floats - usually in the form of double float.

It is unsuitable for use on small and shallow streams
since the submerged part of the float could get easily
entangled with objects in the stream bed.

3. Rod Floats - it is weighed at the bottom to allow it to

float vertically upright with only a short length exposed
above the surface of the water.

Current Meters

A current meter is an instrument used

for the indirect measurement of
velocity in streams. In velocity
measurements along a stream, current
meters are lowered into the water
either from a boat, bridge, especially
constructed cable system, or by
wading.

Vertical-Axis Meters

A current meter falling under this

classification has a vertical axis of
rotation normal to the direction of
stream flow.

Classifications of Verticalaxis meters:

1. Price Meter
2. Pygmy meter
3. Vane Meter

Horizontal-Axis Meter

The axis of rotation of the meter is

parallel to the direction of stream flow
and the rotor is fitted with spiral or
helicoidally shaped vanes.

Classifications of Horizontal-Axis
Meter

1. Hoff Meter
2. Ott Meter
3. Haskel Meter

Methods of Determining
Mean Velocity

1.
2.
3.
4.

Vertical Velocity-Curve Method

Two-Point Method
Single-Point Method
Integration Method

Measurement of Stream
Discharge

Measurement of stream discharge are

usually made in connection with the
design of water supply systems, flood
protection works, hydroelectric power
development, irrigation systems and
fish farming structures. The principal
information sought in a discharge
measurement is the volume of water
flowing past a measuring section of a
stream in a given period of time.

Methods in Detemining
Discharge in Streams

1. Velocity-Area Method
2. Slope-Area Method
3. Weir Method

Methods in Detemining
Discharge in Streams

Illustrative Problems:

Capacity of Lakes and

Reservoir

In the design of water supply systems,

irrigation projects, structures for
aquaculture development, and
hydroelectric power generating
stations, it is necessary to determine
the volume of water which could be
contained and generated by a
supporting reservoir or lake.

Methods in Determining
Capacity of Lakes and Reservoir

1. Cross-Section Method (pictures ng

figures page 346 -347)
2. Contour Method

Methods in Determining
Capacity of Lakes and Reservoir

Illustrative Problems: