Standards for Hydrographic Surveys

For more detailed information, please consult the Survey Locator (M270).

Canadian Hydrographic Standards for Hydrographic Surveys (PDF)

Preface

These standards are based on the fourth edition of IHO Special Publication No. 44 (S-44), (April 1998) and on the previous standards of the Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS).

It shall be noted that the issue of a new standard does not invalidate charts and nautical publications based on previous standards, but rather sets the standards for future data collection to respond better to user needs. Regions are encouraged to develop estimates of the positional and depth accuracies of hydrographic surveys conducted prior to the implementation of these new standards.

The principal aim of these standards is to specify requirements for hydrographic surveys in order that hydrographic data collected according to these standards is sufficiently accurate. An additional aim of the standard is to ensure that the spatial uncertainty of data is adequately quantified.

Previous versions of CHS Survey Standing Order (SSO) concentrated primarily on specifying accuracies for hydrographic surveys for the compilation of nautical charts. These new standards do not include procedures that are included in other related documents. These standards must be used in conjunction with the Hydrographic Survey Management Guidelines, the ISO quality system process documentation, and the data coding guides. These standards will help Hydrographers and contractors to meet CHS survey precision and quality requirements

This document makes reference to various documents produced and maintained by the Canadian Hydrographic Service. To obtain more information on those documents, please contact the Canadian Hydrographic Service.