Yamba Full Survey Completed

The Clarence River / Yamba Port full survey was completed in October. All went well and data looks great!

Strip The City

Recent works have involved the processing of high-resolution multibeam sonar data of Sydney Harbour, and its wrecks contained within, and the rendering of high-resolution animations for Windfall Films "Strip the City" series, soon to be aired on the Discovery Channel.

For more information: http://www.windfallfilms.com/show/2449/harbour-city-sydney.aspx

New Survey Vessel "Port Explorer" launched!

The long awaited arrival of SPC's new survey vessel "Port Explorer"  was launched last Friday.

We are now in the process of kitting out the SV Port Explorer with a moon pool mounted Reson 7125SV multibeam sonar and Applanix  POSMV 320 inertial navigation system.

Survey Data Over Offshore Artificial Reef

Shown below is some survey data of an artificial reef located close to the mouth of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour). Artificial reefs have been used extensively around the world to create fish habitat, regenerate damaged ecosystems and to enhance angler catch.

For more in formation, visit http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fisheries/recreational/saltwater/artificial-reefs

International Recognition of the Australasian Hydrographic Surveyors Certification Scheme (AHSCP)

On 24 May the AHSCP became the first hydrographic surveyor competency certification scheme to gain recognition from the FIG/IHO/ICA International Board for Standards of Competence for Hydrographic Surveyors and Nautical Cartographers (IBSC).

JP Cheminade has been a SSSI Certified Professional - Level 1 (Hydrographic Survey) since 2010.

For more information, visitit the SSSI website: http://www.sssi.org.au

Further information on FIG/IHO/ICA International Board on Standards of Competence for Hydrographic Surveyors and Nautical Cartographers click here.

Run for Annie completed!

Well done to our team of 3 who completed the Hunter Valley half marathon at the weekend, raising over 500GBP for the Christie, in memory of our friend Annie who passed away from cancer (far too young) last year.

Whales in Brotherson Dock, Port Botany

Whales came to visit Brotherson Dock in Port Botany on Friday. These photos were taken from the survey office at Sydney Ports Operations Centre.

And then whales were spotted in Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) on Sunday...

Reson 7k Mount Adaptation

An adaptation of the standard Reson 7k mounting bracket to allow for the 400kHz Tx to be centralized around the Rx for the new SPC survey vessel SV Xplorer.

Port Jackson Passage

Seamless Integration of MBES & LIDAR in Sydney Harbour

Here is an example of how Multibeam data (sound through water from a boat) and LIDAR data (light through air from an aeroplane) can be shifted onto the same vertical datum in order to form a seamless DTM.

The example here is shown for Sydney Harbour (Port Jackson).

River Yamba Surveys

April 2012 saw the completion of the bi-annual surveys of the River Yamba shoal areas for Yamba Port Authority.

We mobililised a 7m Sailfish Catamaran (SV Osprey chartered from HCSurvey (http://www.hcsurvey.com.au/) with a POSMV and Reson 7125SV on an over-the-side mount with great results.

A nice part of the world to survey :-)

Just 60cms off the bottom!

The Queen Mary 2 displaces 151,400 tons, but barely scrapes in above Sydney Cove's muddy bottom as she berths at the Overseas Passenger Terminal.

The QM2 berthed at 6.30am yesterday, with a special heavy-duty anchor sunk into the seabed at Campbell Cove to ensure safe berthing for the 345-metre, 151,4000-tonne ship.

All bathymetry survey work is carried out by SPC suvey department with MBES, and shallow siesmic geophysical surveys were carried out by EGS onboard the SPC survey vessel Investigator in preparation for deployment of the anchor in Cambell Cove.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/queen-mary-2-berths-in-sydney-20120307-1uket.html

Currajong in Sydney Harbour

Shown above is one of Sydneys historical wrecks the TSS Currajong. The city's coast and harbour have claimed more than 140 ships and hundreds of lives since the First Fleet arrived in 1788.

Midget Sub Images

Japanese midget sub recently surveyed off NSW coastline by Sydney Ports Corporation.

At Sydney Ports Corporation we have collected data over the wreck with a RESON 7125 / Applanix POSMV320 spread using PDS2000 acquisition software and processed the data in CARIS HIPS with final data presentation in IVS Fledermaus.


For more information see http://m24maritime.heritage.nsw.gov.au/

Port Kembla Surveys Complete

Port Kembla Surveys were completed within 5 days. The Reson 7125 / POSMV 320 acquired data looks very impressive, as will the backscatter when processed with CARIS Geocoder.

Starting work on Port Kembla Hydrographic Surveys

We have begun work on port Kembla Surveys. Pictured is Andrew, one of Sydney Ports Corporations Hydrographic Surveyors carryinging out some GPS geodetic control.

Geodesea Utils v4

I have recently updated Geodesea Utils, a small windows based program containing a few useful hydrographic survey applications which I have written. I can distribute certain applications on request for evaluation purposes, and in the hope that it will be useful, but without any warranty or fitness for a particular purpose.

A few examples are shown below:

A Different View of Sydney Harbour

An excellent video of Sydney Harbour by Keith Loutit (http://keithloutit.com

MCA Civil Hydrographic Program

A short video on the MCA CHP activities... showing the Anglian Sovereign running surveys for which I have spent time onboard as Party Chief over the past few years.

Hydrographic Surveys in support of Port Botany Expansion

Recent work has focussed on hydrographic survey of Port Botany Expansion in the run up to completion of the works. Rock scour areas have stringent specifications which must be met with regard to rock scour pad thickness whilst ensuring minimum depths over the entire area.

For more information, please visit the Sydney Ports Corp Website: http://www.sydneyports.com.au/port_development/port_botany_expansion_project

SPC Hydrographic Service in Sydney Morning Herald

Secrets plumbed on harbour floor

By Heath Aston
Sydney Morning Herald, May 1, 2011.




TONY NUSCO'S worst fear is an oil tanker sinking in Sydney Harbour.
It would not only wreck the ecosystem of Australia's most famous waterway - and probably tarnish the image of Sydney internationally - it would be the only blemish on a 34-year career spent as one of the chief protectors of the harbour.
Mr Nusco's concern is everything you cannot see from the twinkling surface of the harbour.
He has spent more than three decades mapping the harbour floor, making sure shipping lanes are clear for the giant cruise ships as well as commercial and navy vessels, some of which require 13 metres of underwater clearance to navigate to port.
A trained surveyor who migrated to Sydney from Italy in 1971, Mr Nusco began work with the then Maritime Services Board five years later.
Back then, charting the channels involved a 12-strong team, with surveyors plotting positions from the shore.
Times have changed. Mr Nusco and his team of three from Sydney Ports have all but completed the first three-dimensional digital map of the hidden depths of the harbour using a ''multibeam echo sounder'' system, bought by the NSW government for $750,000.
The system fires 512 sonar rays to the bottom, building up an intricate picture of the harbour floor.
The picture that has emerged includes six significant shipwrecks and a number of mysterious holes that plunge 20 metres deeper than the level of the harbour floor.
One such hole, 45 metres deep, is located less than 10 metres offshore from Balls Head at Waverton on the northern side of the harbour, west of the Harbour Bridge.
The deepest part of the shipping channel is just west of the bridge, off Dawes Point, to a depth of 40 metres.
East of the bridge, off Bradleys Head, lies the harbour's biggest and most intact wreck, the TSS Currajong, a collier that was sunk in 1910 after being hit by the Cairns-bound SS Wyreema, a 6000-tonne passenger liner.
The Currajong lies in about 30 metres of water right in the middle of the shipping lane.
''Countless water craft pass straight over the top of the Currajong every year and many would probably have no idea what is below them,'' said Mr Nusco on his hydro surveyor launch. ''It was lucky for us and for Sydney that the Currajong was sunk in one of the deepest parts of the harbour.''
Recently Mr Nusco dispatched divers to Barangaroo, where sonar had picked up floating debris in the area in which large passenger vessels dock.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/secrets-plumbed-on-harbour-floor-20110430-1e1xf.html#ixzz1L8yyWXFR

Sydney Ports Corp Using IVS Fledermaus Vis

Sydney ports are now using IVS Fledermaus Vis for 3D visulaisation of port hydrographic data. FM visualisation is a versatile tool for imaging hydrographic data and making accesible the survey department's data to other port users with a direct or indirect interest in the bathymetry of Sydney Harbour.



The images shown are GoogleEarth KML images exported from IVS FMv7.2

Over-the-side MBES mount in action

Part of my recent work with HCSurvey (www.hcsurvey.com.au) was to design and have fabricated an over-the-side mount for a Geoswath Compact 125kHz system on HCSurvey's 7m cat. The v-plate mounted sonar is itself quite a large bracket, and requires a sturdy mount. The mount has proved to be very rigid, with excellent quality data acquired during the recent post dredge surveys of Port Kembla on behalf of McConnell Dowell.

Currently contracting for Sydney Ports Corporation

I am currently contracting for Sydney Ports Corporation. Sydney Ports Corp survey department are running Reson 7125/POSMV with proc in CARIS & IVS Fledermaus. I have worked in areas with worse views!