# Presentation: 580322

## NOAA/UNH Joint Hydrographic Center

- Education and Research at the University of New Hampshire

- www.ccom.unh.edu

## Joint Hydrographic Center

- Directed by Congress
- Created by NOAA/UNH MOU June 1999
- Funded annually through a cooperative agreement grant

## Complementary Centers

- NOAA/UNH Joint Hydrographic Center (JHC)
- A Government and University Organization
- UNH Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping (C-COM)
- Provides for participation of other government agencies and private sector
- 	            NSF, ONR, NRL, DARPA, USGS, GEBCO
-                 Industrial Consortium

**Notes:**
The JHC is a NOAA and University partnership.  It is based on an MOU between NOAA and UNH, and has a board of advisors from Government and the University 

C-COM is a UNH entity.  It is separately established to allow private sector and other university activities to flourish without financial conflict of interest issues with the Federal Government.

These are complementary and mutually beneficial Centers.  Both the Govt - University and the University - Private Sector activities will benefit from the activities of the other.  The University faculty and the facilities of the two centers are in common.

##  Center Goals

- To be a world leader in the development of hydrographic & ocean mapping technologies and approaches
- To expand the scope and applications of ocean mapping
- To educate a new generation of  hydrographers and ocean mappers that can meet the growing needs of both government agencies and the private sector.

**Notes:**
Our goals:

Advance the technology:  NOAA (and others I’m sure) have huge backlogs of hydrographic survey work.  We need to to it faster and better. 

Expand the applicability and uses of hydrographic and ocean mapping sensors and data--Resource management--Fisheries, Coral Reefs, Minerals

Educate new and old hydrographers.

## Who are we?

- 9 Faculty—7 UNH and 2NOAA
- 12 Research Scientists—10 UNH and 2 NOAA
- 13 Graduate Students—including 3 NOAA
- 4 Admin/Technical Support Staff
- Visiting Scholar Program
- Denmark, Sweden, Germany (2), Australia, Scotland, Israel, and Texas

## Industry Partners

- Sonar manufacturers :

- Cable and pipelines:

- Survey Companies:

- Mapping and processing software:

**Industry Partners**

## Educational Programs

- M.Sc. and Ph.D.
- Two tracks
- Ocean Engineering
- Earth Sciences/Oceanography/Natural Resources
- Thesis or Non-thesis M.S. options available
- Graduate Certificate Program
- Non-Degree Programs
- Undergraduate Courses
- Short Courses and Seminars
- FIG/IHO CAT A Certification – May 2001

**Notes:**
Dual graduate degree tracks for students with differing backgrounds

Build on existing UNH graduate courses
Add specialized new courses to fill out

Work towards IHO Class A Certification
Influence IHO Class A criteria

Encourage undergrads to look at hydrography/ocean mapping careers

Offer seminars and short courses for professional continuing education of hydrographic professionals.

## Adjoining Facilities

- Electronics Lab
- Machine shop
- Acoustic Test Tank
- Tow and wave tank
- Recirculating Flume Tank

## RV Coastal Surveyor

***RV Coastal Surveyor***

## Research Themes

- Sonar System Capabilities and Limitations
- New approaches to multibeam sonar data processing
- Data Visualization and Management
- New Applications of Seafloor Mapping Technology and Data
- Remote Seafloor Characterization
- Fisheries Habitat
- ????????

*** ***

**Notes:**
Capabilities & Limitations of Operating Sonar Systems
Predictive Models for existing and new systems
Measuring and assessing quality and accuracy
Improved data processing algorithms
Affects of other system components on sonar accuracy
	S&S,  RTK GPS,  Tides

 Extract additional information from data acquired
Expand applicability of sensors to new fields
	Seafloor characterization for fish habitat
	Mid-water fish behavior and stock assessment
	Seafloor properties for geotechnical purposes
	Geologic mapping

 Improved visualization techniques
Visual data fusion--interactive display of multiple types of data sets
4-D and Multidimensional data sets
Management of large databases

## Special Research Projects

- Law of the Sea—Article 76
- Electronic Chart of the Future
- Advanced RTK GPS

**Notes:**
Capabilities & Limitations of Operating Sonar Systems
Predictive Models for existing and new systems
Measuring and assessing quality and accuracy
Improved data processing algorithms
Affects of other system components on sonar accuracy
	S&S,  RTK GPS,  Tides

 Extract additional information from data acquired
Expand applicability of sensors to new fields
	Seafloor characterization for fish habitat
	Mid-water fish behavior and stock assessment
	Seafloor properties for geotechnical purposes
	Geologic mapping

 Improved visualization techniques
Visual data fusion--interactive display of multiple types of data sets
4-D and Multidimensional data sets
Management of large databases

## Research Themes

***Sonar System Capabilities and Limitations***

**	****Push the limits of resolution (all sorts), coverage, and information ****	****content**

**Depth measurements from side scan sonars**
**Wide area side scan for habitat mapping**
**Water column information from multibeam sonars**

**Notes:**
Capabilities & Limitations of Operating Sonar Systems
Predictive Models for existing and new systems
Measuring and assessing quality and accuracy
Improved data processing algorithms
Affects of other system components on sonar accuracy
	S&S,  RTK GPS,  Tides

 Extract additional information from data acquired
Expand applicability of sensors to new fields
	Seafloor characterization for fish habitat
	Mid-water fish behavior and stock assessment
	Seafloor properties for geotechnical purposes
	Geologic mapping

 Improved visualization techniques
Visual data fusion--interactive display of multiple types of data sets
4-D and Multidimensional data sets
Management of large databases

## Research Themes

*The Request*: Develop techniques to speed up the cleaning of multibeam sonar soundings

***New Approaches to Multibeam Sonar Data Processing***

- An example to consider

## First, find the right question...

- What’s really the problem?
- What’s taking the time?
- What does the end user really need?

- What is it that we really need to solve our problem?

**Notes:**
The whole of the work has been about getting to the basis of the problems that we’re really concerned about --- asking if the things that we do right now make sense.  The first section of the presentation is really about illustrating why many of the things that we currently take for granted don’t make much sense with modern methods.

## Automated Multibeam Sonar Processing

- CUBE
- Combined Uncertainty and Bathymetric Estimator
- Creates a high resolution digital elevation model rather than a (huge) bunch of individual soundings
- Being incorporated into leading hydrographic software products

**Notes:**
CUBE, the Combined Uncertainty and Bathymetric Estimator is probably the most significant development to come from the Joint Hydrographic Center so far.  This technology has the potential to significantly reduce the time required for processing multibeam sonar data and at the same time improve the quality of the final product.  It was developed by Dr. Brian Calder of our Center and has been licensed to several hydrographic software providers. As I describe CUBE, keep in mind that the output is a digital elevation model, not a set of soundings.  This change in product has major implications for hydrographic agencies.

## Valdez Survey Data

- 5 days
- Two launches with different multibeam systems
- 22,227,491 Soundings

***A CUBE vs. Traditional Method Trial***

## Valdez Narrows, AK

**Notes:**
This is the digital elevation model output of CUBE.

## Total Time Comparison

**Notes:**
These two bar charts show absolute time required for survey data processing. Blue is processing accomplished while the survey vessel was on site in the survey area.  Red is processing accomplished both aboard the vessel and at the shore-based processing facility, but after the vessel left the survey area.  Yellow is time spent preparing reports and metadata throughout the time period.  Green is time spent troubleshooting data processing systems and software throughout the time period. These times are identical for CUBE and the traditional process, and represent areas not affected by CUBE technology. You should note that the total time spent in CUBE processing (blue and red) is less than the traditional time spent processing in the survey area.  This means that ALL the processing now done after the ship leaves the survey area can be done during the actual survey period and before it is too late to acquire additional data if needed.

## Research Themes

- The Navigation Surface
- Archiving a digital elevation model rather than a shoal-biased set of soundings
- Lets us generalize the products, not our original survey data

*Data Visualization and Management*

## This has been our archive product

- Snow Passage Depth Plot H10949

**Notes:**
This is a standard sounding sheet plot from a current generation (100% multibeam with singlebeam at the edges) survey conducted by the NOAA Ship RAINIER in Snow Passage, Alaska in 2000.  The soundings are in fathoms.  This is the current legal archive of the survey (not the digital data), but while it is by some arguments perfect for the purpose intended (i.e., a hydrographic survey at 1:20,000 for re-making the chart), it is *only* perfect for that purpose; for any other purpose, it is distinctly sub-optimal.  The choice of selected soundings preserves only part of the information available from the survey, and for geologists, coastal managers, flow-modelers, etc. it does not present enough information for their purposes.  In addition, the production process systematically adjusts the soundings at multiple stages to make them shoaler than actually known --- they are picked from the shoalest sounding in each area, they are then sub-selected to preserve only the shoalest points, and they are rounded asymmetrically and in the shoaler direction.  At each stage information is distorted and lost.  So, let’s ask the ‘what if’ question: what if we could make a system which would still allow us to do this, but which would preserve all of this detail that we’re currently loosing?

## This will be our archived product

- Data: NOAA Ship RAINIER

**Notes:**
Objective, faster and more powerful isn’t much use if it isn’t correct.  The survey from Snow Passage, Alaska gathered by the NOAA Ship RAINIER in 2000 was used to compare the new method being proposed against the current method.

## Article 76 Bathymetric Study

- Identify areas of potential claim
- Identify existing data pertinent to LOS
- Define areas of potential claim where existing data is insufficient
- Determine survey requirements and costs to fill in data gaps

**Notes:**
The Joint Hydrographic Center was directed by Congress and funded by NOAA to carry out a desktop study in preparation for the possibility of a U.S. claim under Article 76 of UNCLOS.  We were directed to identify existing bathymetric and geophysical data that might be pertinent to a potential claim, to identify gaps or inadequacies in those data, and to determine the survey requirements and costs to fill in those gaps, and to identify the opportunities for contracting-out to complete those requirements. 

## Slide 23

**Notes:**
Our complete report is available on the Center’s website:

www.ccom.unh.edu

## Slide 24

**Notes:**
Our initial analysis, based on existing bathymetric (ETOPO-2, ETOPO-5, IBCAO) and sediment (from NGDC) compilations, led us to define 8 regional areas in which a claim might be possible.  These areas are shown in the black-bordered polygons on the map.  Our first survey was done in Area AL.

## Research Project

- Next Generation improvements
- What improved capabillity can be implemented in today’s electronic charting technology
- Revolutionary changes
- What should an electronic chart look like
- Unconstrained by existing ECDIS and ENC standards, formats, and conventions

*Electronic Chart of the Future*

## Challenges

## Challenges

- Help us find the right question to ask.