The outsourcing of hydrographic survey by NOAA: an industry perspective of a partnership in the making for the new millennium

In meeting the demands for surveying and updating nautical charts for much of the coastal waters of the United States of America, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has increased their use of industry-provided (out-sourced) services in recent years. In meeting the requirements for the acquisition of Multibeam and Sidescan Sonar Data to NOAA hydrographic standards, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) has demonstrated that industry can respond as a “partner” to NOAA. SAIC was the first company to conduct out-sourced multibeam hydrographic surveys for NOAA in 1995, in Long Island Sound. In 1998, work began on the Approaches to Galveston, in the Gulf of Mexico. Work in the Gulf was successfully completed early 2000, and work began on the Northeast United States program in the spring of 2000. The shallow water multibeam and sidescan sonar systems were integrated into the SAIC-developed data acquisition and processing system known as the Integrated Survey System 2000 (ISS-2000). The ISS-2000 and SAIC´s operational procedures were modified specifically to meet stringent International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) standards and NOAA requirements for sounding traceability. Since 1995, SAIC has applied lessons learned from the first survey, and emphasized the introduction of newer forms of technology to increase efficiency end reduce the cost to NOAA. This paper discusses the rationale for the decisions in designing the field survey procedures and methodology, and presents results from the surveys. The paper concludes that SAIC believe that a mutually beneficial relationship has been created between government and industry, which may serve as a viable model beyond the United States of America