Category A Hydrographic Surveying
Nautical Charting
Nautical charting hydrography is the grandfather discipline behind all of modern hydrography. Producing nautical charts for safe navigation is a primary social and commercial objective of the governments of all maritime nations. Many nations have a long history of nautical charting and look after a legacy of hydrographic information. Traditionally, nautical charting has been split between surveying and cartography, between the collection of hydrographic information (usually the depth of water, and other information crucial to navigation), and the display of this information on nautical charts. Career paths tended to be either on the water or in the office. There are signs that this is changing to allow more overlap of the traditional disciplines. In New Zealand nautical charting is undertaken by contract to Land Information New Zealand with the major suppliers being the Royal New Zealand Navy; Hydrographic Sciences Australia (HSA), and the National Institute of Water and Atmosphere (NIWA).
