GIS for Hydrography

GIS for hydrography is the use of geographic information systems to store, process, and analyze marine spatial data: soundings, bathymetric grids, coastlines, aids to navigation, survey coverage, and chart features. It manages the data behind electronic navigational charts and the IHO S-100 framework, tracks survey currency against resurvey intervals, and supports route planning, dredging design, and marine spatial planning. Every layer carries a coordinate reference system, tagged by EPSG code or WKT, so datasets on different datums align after transformation. Hydrographic GIS ties acoustic and lidar surveys to the chart datum and the geodetic frame that charting requires.