Report to the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration

Report to the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration Hydrographic Services Review Panel J. Anthony Cavell, PLS, CFedS

Tony Cavell • President-Elect, National Society of Professional Surveyors • Professional Surveyor, Louisiana • Certified Federal Surveyor • Surveyor/Researcher LSU Center for Geoinformatics & Louisiana Spatial Reference Center (C4G & LSRC) • Consulting Expert - Surveying • Native of South Louisiana • Surveying began in New Orleans area • Surveyed offshore in Gulf of Mexico. • GPS & surveying technical advisor. • QA surveys for LiDAR • Led development of C4Gnet; GNSS network covering Louisiana and Gulf Coast • Professional development instructor J. Anthony Cavell, PLS, CFedS

Research J. Anthony Cavell, PLS, CFedS President-elect, NSPS

Research • I first called on my own experience. I then contacted associates who perform hydrography on a daily basis for suggestions. • I visited several Navigation Services websites: NGS, CO-OPS, NGDC, CO-OPS, OCS, OCM ,& nowCOAST. • There were many valuable resources for use and more than a few have been improved or invented since I last checked. Particularly, the website responsiveness has improved and the actions have gotten more intuitive as well. • These resources are like a library that has lots of very good books (data) that waits in repose and goes unread until one knows he is interested in it. • Now to the questions you asked… J. Anthony Cavell, PLS, CFedS

Questions & Answers J. Anthony Cavell, PLS, CFedS President-elect, NSPS

Question #1 • Q: What NOAA products, data, and services are valued by your association and how beneficial are these products, data, and/or services? • A: The breadth of hydrography, like most of surveying, is large. All NOAA products, data, and services are valued by my associates at one time or another. Frequency of use does not directly correlate to perceived Value. • Some comments collected from some of my colleagues follow. J. Anthony Cavell, PLS, CFedS

Valued NOAA products: • Marine weather forecasts • Web page viewed twice a day to plan survey activities & for warning of bad weather. • National Hurricane Center • Used to track tropical storms and hurricanes that may impact survey site. • COOPS Tides and Predicted Tides • Used for the control station during survey to correct depth data and for final water level corrector applied to depth data. • Hydro Hot List • Viewed daily during survey operations to ensure control stations are operational. J. Anthony Cavell, PLS, CFedS

Valued NOAA product: • Office of Coast Survey • Download latest raster and ENC charts for use during surveys & for comparison to final survey data as required the survey reports submitted to NOAA. • Search & download previous survey data for the area, information on wrecks/obstructions • Hydrographic specifications, deliverables, Field Procedures, hydro. survey priorities. • OPUS/CORS • To process static data; quite handy as it is usually a quick turnaround. • Linking the CORS that we require for processing the static GNSS data. • It would always be nice to be able to get status updates (i.e. down for maintenance, poor quality data for the day, etc.) of sites. J. Anthony Cavell, PLS, CFedS

Valued NOAA product: • NOAA Marine Forecast • Typically, any offshore work is scheduled around this forecast, so its accuracy is critical. • NOAA Tides and Currents • Typically used as a check on tide levels. • It would be nice to establish more tide gauges in the Gulf Coast as there seems to be gaps. • Tide gauges are most valuable when they have the NAVD/MLW/MLLW conversions listed on their site. Some now are lacking the NAVD conversion. J. Anthony Cavell, PLS, CFedS

Valued NOAA product: • NOAA Marine Charts • Used in navigation software when traveling in unfamiliar areas to avoid shallow water & underwater obstructions. • Used in the Mississippi River, a lot, to ensure travel in the maintained channel. • NOAA/NGS Datasheets • One always looks for benchmark data when surveying before deciding if control needs to set and a static survey performed. J. Anthony Cavell, PLS, CFedS

Question #2: • Q: What other products, data, and/or services would you like NOAA to approve, and/or offer, and if developed and available, how would your association benefit from them? • A: This is a more difficult question to answer. It is often hard to imagine what one hasn’t seen before. • Many of my colleagues commented on about ease of datum conversions at tide stations. J. Anthony Cavell, PLS, CFedS

Valued NOAA Improvement: • NOAA Marine Forecast • A more detailed marine weather forecast could be helpful in scheduling offshore survey work. • OPUS/CORS • It would always be nice to be able to get status updates (i.e. down for maintenance, poor quality data for the day, etc.) of sites. J. Anthony Cavell, PLS, CFedS

Valued NOAA Improvement: • CORS are accessed through other programs to process static GNSS • It may be helpful to have a utility in which you can enter the location, time, and data of the survey that would recommend which CORS would likely give the best results when post-processing. • It would be really nice if all the NOAA tide gauges had conversions for all vertical datums • This would help alleviate calculations and potential error in the field. • If this was published for each station, it would make for less confusing & eliminate the potential for conversion errors. J. Anthony Cavell, PLS, CFedS

My Thoughts J. Anthony Cavell, PLS, CFedS President-elect, NSPS

My Thoughts • With advances in technologies all around us, it is increasingly evident that knowing WHERE is as important as knowing WHAT. • The ability to apply the tools of Geodesy are being required more every day; accuracy first, always, then precision. • Most times users can work out the details of a particular application but need a solid reliable base on which to base their work comes from you. • Geodesy, both geometric & physical, CORS, Gravimetry, timekeeping, tides, weather, standards & procedures, accuracy – these are what are needed as a foundation for every NOAA product. J. Anthony Cavell, PLS, CFedS

My Thoughts • What was once “close enough for hand grenades & horseshoes” no longer “cuts the mustard!” • In my lifetime, it was once good enough to estimate position on the sea to a mile.Today it isn’t uncommon to achieve sub-metre. • A 5-day weather forecast today has similar probabilities that of a 2-day forecast had a couple of decades ago. • I knotted rope allowed one to “Mark Twain.” Today some fathometers claim cm precision. J. Anthony Cavell, PLS, CFedS

My Thoughts • Today’s weather, navigation, positioning and more are dependent for their value upon Geodesy… excellent Geodesy. • Once “sea level” was the assumed “good enough”… until we were able to measure many feet deviations from published data. • Now we achieve near-real-time golf ball size precisions locally and foot size precisions over a continent using GNSS & a model of the geoid. • Even better vertical is on its way! J. Anthony Cavell, PLS, CFedS

My Thoughts • CORS and their successors are among the most broadly valuable development for positioning. • Network CORS enable amazing, accurate data collection, on land, at sea & in air. • CORS contribute to weather forecasts by measuring atmospheric water content between an antenna and visible satellites. J. Anthony Cavell, PLS, CFedS

My Thoughts • In all the pertinent fields we are considering, better, finer resolutions of initial conditions are limiting our results. • The hardest information to convey to the public has to do with precision and probability. Most prefer to think in binary terms – True/False. • It is exactly for that reason that accurate (true) data MUST be emphasized over (possibly false) high precision data, especially for public consumption. J. Anthony Cavell, PLS, CFedS

Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler’s Motto • “It is the duty of every man to be honest and do good" • He set the tone for the course of U.S. science in its earliest decades. • I think it still make a good rule for us to follow. J. Anthony Cavell, PLS, CFedS

Once upon a time • On one occasion a committee from Congress waited upon him in his office to inspect his work. • "You come to 'spect my vork, eh? Vat you know 'bout my vork? Vat you going to 'spect?" • The gentlemen, conscious of their ignorance, tried to smooth his ruffled temper by an explanation, which only made matters worse. • "You knows notting at all 'bout my vork. How can you 'spect my vork, ven you knows notting? Get out of here; you in my vay. Congress be von big vool to send you to 'spect my vork. I 'ave no time to vastevith such as knows notting vat I am 'bout. Go back to Congress and tell dem vat I say.“ • The committee did "go back to Congress" and report, amid uproarious laughter, the result of their inspecting interview. J. Anthony Cavell, PLS, CFedS

Times – They are a changing. • Today’s meeting illustrates how far things have evolved at NOAA since Hassler’s days. • While NGS, NOS, NWS … (NOAA) set standards and have resources unmatched outside the national government, the expertise in private industry now serves as a valuable source of information for improvement. • Thank you for the opportunity to address you. I hope you find this useful. • Please feel free to contact me if ever I may be of service. • Tony Cavell J. Anthony Cavell, PLS, CFedS

Report to the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration