ECV 311 Surveying IV

HYDROGRAPHIC SURVEYS
Hydrographic surveys determine depths and terrain configurations of the bottoms of
water bodies. Usually the survey data are used to prepare hydrographic maps. Bodies of
water surveyed include rivers, reservoirs, harbors, lakes, and oceans.
Hydrographic surveys and maps are used in a variety of ways. As examples:
✓ Engineers employ them for planning and monitoring harbor and river dredging
operations, and to ascertain reservoir capacities for flood control and water supply
systems
✓ Petroleum engineers use them to position offshore drilling facilities and locate
underwater pipelines
✓ Navigators need them to chart safe passageways and avoid reefs, bars, and other
underwater hazards
✓ Biologists and conservationists find them helpful in their study and management
of aquatic life
✓ And anglers use them to locate structures where fish is likely to be located.
Field procedures for hydrographic surveys are similar to those for topographic work.
There are some basic differences in procedures used by surveyors since the land area
being mapped cannot be seen, and the depth measurements must be made in water.
Two basic tasks involved in hydrographic surveys are:
1. Making soundings (measuring depths) from the water surface to bottom, and
2. Locating the positions where soundings were made.
Techniques used to perform these tasks vary depending on the water body’s size,
accuracy required, type of equipment to be used, and number of personnel available. The
subsections that follow briefly describe procedures for mapping small to moderate-sized
water bodies.

Page 1 of 6
Notes by Sichangi A.
 ECV 311 Surveying IV

Procedure of locating soundings

a) Equipment for Making Soundings

The size of a water body and its depth control the type of equipment used to measure
depths. For shallow areas of limited size, a sounding pole can be used. This is usually a
wooden or fiberglass staff resembling a level rod. It is perhaps 15 ft long, graduated in
feet or tenths of feet, with a metal shoe on the bottom. Direct depth measurements are
made by lowering the pole vertically into the water until it hits the bottom, and then
reading the graduation at the surface.
Lead lines can be used where depths are greater than can be reached with a sounding pole.
These consist of a suitable length of stretch-resistant cord or other material, to which a
heavy lead weight (perhaps 5–15 lb.) is attached. The cord is marked with foot
graduations, and these should be checked frequently against a steel tape for their
accuracy. In use, the weight is lowered into the water, being careful to keep the cord
vertical. The graduation at the surface is read when the
weight hits the bottom.
In deep water, or for hydrographic surveys of appreciable extent, electronically operated
sonic depth recorders called echo sounders are used to measure depths. These devices
transmit an acoustic pulse vertically downward and measure the elapsed time for the
signal to travel to the bottom, be reflected, and return. The travel time is converted to
depth, and displayed in either digital or graphic form.
Sounding poles and lead lines yield spot depths and are restricted for use in relatively
shallow water. However, electronic depth sounders provide continuous profiles of the
surface beneath the boat’s path and can be used in water of virtually any depth.
The reference plane from which depth soundings are measured is the water surface.
Because of surface fluctuations, its elevation or stage at the time of survey must be
determined with respect to a fixed datum—for example, orthometric height. Running a
level circuit to the water from a nearby benchmark can do this.

Page 2 of 6
Notes by Sichangi A.
 ECV 311 Surveying IV

In situations where soundings are repeated at regular intervals, a graduated staff can be
permanently installed in the water so that its stage, in feet above the datum, can be read
directly each time soundings are repeated.

b) Locating Soundings:
• Any of the traditional ground-surveying procedures can be used to locate
positions where soundings are taken. In addition to these techniques, other
methods have also been applied in hydrographic surveys, for example, GPS
receivers.
• If ground-surveying techniques are used, some horizontal control must first be
established on shore. Ideal locations for control stations are on peninsulas or in
open areas that afford a wide unobstructed view of the water body for tracking a
sounding boat. The coordinate positions of the control points can be established
by traverse, but triangulation and trilateration are also well suited for this work.
• Among the various boat-positioning methods, radiation and angle intersection are
usually selected if total station instruments are used.
• Radiation is particularly efficient, especially if a total station instrument is used,
because only one person on shore is needed to track the boat. After setting up on
one control station and back sighting another, angles and distances are measured
to locate each boat position. Special total station instruments and reflectors are
manufactured for this work to facilitate sighting and observing distances
electronically to a moving target.
• From angles and distances, which are automatically read, the total station’s
computer determines the boat’s coordinates. These can either be stored in an
automatic data collector for later office use in mapping, or transmitted by radio to
the boat if real-time positioning is required, as in controlling ongoing dredging.

Page 3 of 6
Notes by Sichangi A.
 ECV 311 Surveying IV

• The figure above illustrates the use of angle intersections in the hydrographic
survey of a lake. Here the boat travels back and forth along range lines while the
depth sounder continuously records bottom profiles. At regular intervals, fixes are
taken by observing angles to the boat from shore stations.
• Two angles establish the boat’s position, but three or more provide redundancy
and a check. For example, in the Figure above, angle observations e, g, and h, for
fix number 50 (indicated by dashed lines) have been made from shore stations E,
G, and H, respectively.
• Prior to observing angles, the total stations or theodolites were oriented by
backsighting on another visible control station, as at station G from E.
• Flag or radio signals are given from the boat to coordinate fixes and ensure that
angles from all shore stations are observed simultaneously.
• At the precise moment of any fix, the profile is also marked and the fix number
noted. If the boat is driven back and forth along parallel range lines to cover the
area of interest, and then the area traversed again with perpendicular courses, a

Page 4 of 6
Notes by Sichangi A.
 ECV 311 Surveying IV

grid of profiles results from which contours can be drawn. In larger bodies of water
a compass is valuable to assist in keeping the range lines parallel. Required
accuracy dictates the spacing between range lines, with closer spacing yielding
more accurate results. Various other boat-positioning systems can be used,
depending
Resection (example)
A, B and C are three shore stations on a coastline (Fig below), and P is a sounding point
at sea. AB = 400 m, BC = 381 m, ABC = 122°30’, APB = 48° 36’ , and BPC = 45° 24’. A and
C are respectively East and West of BP, B and P are respectively North and South of AC.
Calculate the distance AP, BP, and CP.

Page 5 of 6
Notes by Sichangi A.
ECV 311 Surveying IV

Page 6 of 6
Notes by Sichangi A.