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Hydrographic Surveying
Factfile |
 Hydrographic Surveying |
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Importance of Hydrographic Surveying |
HMS Endurance has 3 main roles during her deployment:
- Hydrographic surveying for the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO)
- Foreign and Commonwealth duties - to support British interests in Antarctic waters
- Support to the British
Antarctic Survey (BAS) in carrying out its scientific
research programmes
Hydrographic surveying actually plays an important role in a number of marine environments. Navigation, environmental monitoring and oceanographic research, are just a few of the areas that depend on hydrographic research for accurate information.
A hydrographic survey is the `mapping' of an area of sea and surrounding coastal detail. The information from a survey enables a cartographer to represent a part of the Earth's surface on paper and show the various irregularities both above and below the sea surface.
Most of Antarctica has either never been surveyed or is inadequately charted as ships have crossed the area and then reported their findings to UKHO. HMS Endurance is fully equipped to survey in both deep-water oceans and the inshore waters of Antarctica. As a result, the information obtained in her surveys for UKHO is both accurate and precise.
Chart of Antarctica, Courtesy of HMS Endurance
Believe it or not, an increasing amount of tourists choose Antarctica for a holiday destination (over 14,000 in the Antarctic summer of 2003). Mostly these tourists visit by ship and sail to the Antarctic Peninsula during the austral summer months of December to February. As a result, navigation charts have to be continually updated for the safety of traffic.
The areas that HMS Endurance survey are planned to be as close as possible to other work that the Ship is doing, i.e. supporting the British Antarctic Survey teams. As a result, a number of small areas tend to be surveyed, rather than one large one.
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