US Hydro 2025 - New Hydrographic Survey Specifications: Updates and Enhancements

US Hydro 2025 - New Hydrographic Survey Specifications: Updates and Enhancements

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  Office of CoastSurvey National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration New Hydrographic Survey Specifications Updates and Enhancements US Hydro Conference March 20, 2025 Matt Wilson 1,2 , Tyanne Faulkes 1,3 , Giuseppe Masetti 4 1 NOAA Office of Coast Survey, 2 Atlantic Hydrographic Branch, Norfolk, VA, 3 Pacific Hydrographic Branch, Seattle, WA 4 Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping/Joint Hydrographic Center, University of New Hampshire, NH USA
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  National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration Office of Coast Survey Office of Coast Survey Current Status (1 of 2) • “Revamped” HSSD • Over two years of development • First published version released in April 2024 • Used by NOAA field units in 2024 field season • Contractors using in 2025 • Foundational components for new HSSD • S-100 based metadata and data licensing • Facilitate tools for automated compliance • Best integrate with the National Bathymetric Source (NBS) • Accommodate external data contributions HSSD – Hydrographic Survey Specifications and Deliverables
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  National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration Office of Coast Survey Office of Coast Survey Current Status (2 of 2) • HSSD Committee formed • Responsible for support and ongoing maintenance of HSSD • Rapid release capability • New HSSD updates released as necessary (e.g. midseason) • Multiple formats available • PDF, Online HTML viewer, and Portable HTML • HSSD version 2025.0.00 • Current version, released in January, 2025 •
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  National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration Office of Coast Survey Office of Coast Survey HSSD online OCS Hydrographic Specifications available via online viewer! https://www.nauticalcharts.noa a.gov/publications/hssd_viewer .html
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  National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration Office of Coast Survey Office of Coast Survey How’d it go in 2024? • New HSSD put to the test right away • Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse on March 26, 2024 – NOAA fast response, survey, and chart delivery • Learning curve with new quality metrics • New vocabulary for communicating data quality via S-100 based metadata attributes • Not just one uncertainty criteria; there is a spectrum with 6 options – field units record the level achieved • Reporting changes • Built for speed and data throughput; not for narratives • New deliverables formats • BAG (grids), Geopackage (features), GeoJSON (outlines)
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  National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration Office of Coast Survey Office of Coast Survey HSSD Committee • Responsibilities • Answers questions regarding interpretation of HSSD • Handles and discusses incoming change requests • Publishes HSSD new version releases with updates • Tickets received • 74 as of Jan 2025 release; 54 were “processed”, with 39 tickets resulting in edits to the HSSD • New HSSD versions • Released as necessary (annually at minimum) • Capability for rapid release during the field season
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  National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration Office of Coast Survey Office of Coast Survey Metadata focus • IHO S-100 based metadata • Values defined by NOAA Quality Metrics • A common metadata framework • From specification to final compilation (i.e. NBS) • Defines data quality • In terms of Coverage, Features, and Uncertainty • Determines our National Bathymetry • Added Metadata Attribution Guide • Informs the metadata entry • Grid and survey specific metadata
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  National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration Office of Coast Survey Office of Coast Survey • QC Tools • Automates HSSD compliance • Since 2015! • Jointly developed • CCOM/JHC and NOAA OCS • Community effort • Built on feedback/ideas from the users • Version 4 released in April 2024 • HSSD 2024+ compatible • Set Quality Metric in parameters QC Tools Matt Wilson NOAA OCS (AHB) Tyanne Faulkes NOAA OCS (PHB) Giuseppe Masetti CCOM/JHC
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  National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration Office of Coast Survey Office of Coast Survey ✓ 5.7 Cleaning ✓ 5.8 Uncertainty ✓ 6.1 Formats ✓ 6.3 Metadata ✓ 6.4 Resolution ✓ 6.5 Data Gaps ✓ 6.9 Density ✓ 7.0 Features ✓ 17.0 Feature Encoding ✓ 16.0 Delivery Structure QC Tools 4 - automates HSSD Flier Finder Uncertainty Calculator Holiday Finder Grid QA BAG Checks Feature Scan VALSOU Checks QC Tools inputs: Hydrographic Data Delivery ✓ Grids • Verifies uncertainty, resolution (vr), density, identifies fliers. • Verifies BAG structure, metadata, validity. ✓ Features • Verify attribution, agreement with grid. ✓ Delivery Structure • Verifies folder structure and file names. Automates compliance:
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  National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration Office of Coast Survey Office of Coast Survey Ensuring BAG requirements • BAG is the final product sent to NBS • Many requirements for seamless compilation • BAG structure checks • Metadata, Elevation, Uncertainty, Tracking List • Metadata checks • CRS encoding, start/end dates, etc. • Elevation and Uncertainty checks • All nodes populated with both; not NaN; etc. • Uncertainty not negative; within threshold; etc. • GDAL compatibility checks National Bathymetric Source (NBS) compiles BAGs from many sources
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  National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration Office of Coast Survey Office of Coast Survey QC Tools 4 BAG Checks QC Tools 4 BAG Checks ● “NOAA NBS” profile – fully aligned with HSSD. ○ Checks for all NBS requirements. ○ Other options – trouble spots in BAG are “flagged”. ● “General” profile – per the BAG specification. ● Full list of checks: https://www.hydroffice.org/manuals/qctools4/stable/qc_tool s/hdr/qc_tools_hdr_bag_checks_how_does_it_work.html
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  National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration Office of Coast Survey Office of Coast Survey Reporting Changes • Survey Metadata XML form • PDF output added • Personnel roster tab added • New HSSD 2025 compatible forms: • Hydrographic Survey Project Instructions • Hydrographic Data Review • xml 2025 schema aligned with HSSD • Released Jan 2025 • Lead developer • Toshi Wozumi, NOAA Hydrographic Surveys Division (HSD) •
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  National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration Office of Coast Survey Office of Coast Survey Ongoing Topic #1: Reporting • Traditional narrative approach vs streamlined? • It’s a divisive topic • Is it possible to have both? • XML metadata • Contains grid and survey based metadata • Add CRS metadata (WKT) • Add Survey outline (GeoJSON) • PDF printout • Human readable • Contains images, narrative information
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  National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration Office of Coast Survey Office of Coast Survey Ongoing Topic #2: Feature Delivery • A new delivery format required • Current S-57 .000 does not support CRS flexibility • NOAA Geopackage is introduced • Open source, CRS flexibile, and supports feature attribution • Next steps • Encourage Geopackage format adoption • Geopackage compatibility in software, tools (e.g. QC Tools) • Lead developer • Stephen Patterson, NOAA Hydrographic Systems and Technology Branch (HSTB)
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  Office of CoastSurvey National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Thank you for your attention! US Hydro Conference March 20, 2025 Matt Wilson 1,2 , Tyanne Faulkes 1,3 , Giuseppe Masetti 4 1 NOAA Office of Coast Survey, 2 Atlantic Hydrographic Branch, Norfolk, VA, 3 Pacific Hydrographic Branch, Seattle, WA 4 Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping/Joint Hydrographic Center, University of New Hampshire, NH USA