Call for articles! Hydrography: it’s more than charts

In 2005, the International Hydrographic Organization established World Hydrography Day, celebrated annually on June 21. To observe this year’s World Hydrography Day, NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey is calling for articles for an e-publication dedicated to this year’s theme: “Hydrography: It’s More Than Charts.” Hydrography is the science upon which nautical charting is based, but, as this year’s World Hydrography Day theme conveys, researchers and planners use hydrography in a range of activities that benefit the coastal environment and the marine economy.

Survey ship using mutibeam echo sounder
A NOAA survey ship uses its multibeam echo sounder to conduct hydrographic surveys


This e-publication will bring the world of hydrography to non-hydrographers who don’t know what they’re missing! By publishing a variety of short, enlightening articles that describe the many beneficial uses of hydrographic data, we hope to inform – and inspire – policy makers, coastal planners, future hydrographers, and industries that benefit from a vital ocean economy. Let’s share some coastal intelligence.
This call for contributions is open to the public, to researchers, and to people at all levels of local, state, and federal government. International participation is encouraged. We welcome submissions of interesting, original articles discussing the use of hydrographic survey data beyond creating and updating nautical charts. We are particularly interested in case histories of creative approaches and partnerships that solved a problem. Submissions describing visionary concepts for future activities, especially with projects that strengthen smart ocean use and planning, or that contribute to the growth of the ocean economy, are also welcome.
Possible topics may include, but are not limited to, use of hydrography and hydrographic data in:

  • port operations
  • coastal planning and development
  • legal dispute resolution
  • geographical boundary establishment
  • alternative energy siting
  • fisheries management
  • habitat mapping
  • coastal modeling
  • marine resource conservation
  • storm surge forecasting
  • extended continental shelf determination
  • military/naval operations
  • hazard mitigation (e.g., to initiate oil spill trajectory models, or to assist in predicting where spilled oil will go)

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

PROPOSAL DEADLINE: MARCH 2, 2014
NOTIFICATION OF SELECTION: MARCH 10
FINAL ARTICLE DUE: MAY 16
PUBLICATION: JUNE 21
Please email proposals of your article, and a brief CV (no more than 100 words), to coastsurveycommunications@noaa.gov by 12 pm EST, March 2. Proposals should not exceed 250 words. Provide a synopsis of your topic, with an outline of your projected content.
No later than March 10, Coast Survey will notify authors who are selected to submit full articles. Selected authors have until May 16 to submit articles up to 1,500 words. (Failure to submit articles by the deadline may result in elimination from the publication.)
Each author whose article is selected for publication will be required to verify in writing that his/her submission(s) is an original work of authorship. In addition, the author of each submission grants to the U.S. Government a royalty-free, irrevocable license to reproduce, distribute, create derivative works from, and publicly perform and display such work in any form or medium, including print or electronic, without geographic limitation.
This publication is meant to be an easy and enjoyable reading experience for people who are not necessarily experts in hydrography, so keep your article clear and concise. (Authors may find the federal government guidelines for plain language useful.) Always explain abbreviations, acronyms, and technical terms, if you must use them. For questions on grammar, punctuation, usage, and journalistic style, please refer to the Associated Press Stylebook.
After acceptance, Coast Survey editors will edit articles for grammar and readability, but authors will have authority over final content of their articles.
SUGGESTED ARTICLE FORMAT
The text of the article must be submitted in Microsoft Word format. All images must be submitted as separate electronic files, accompanied by a caption. Do not include images in the text of your document.
Headline: Maximum five words
Subhead: Maximum ten words
First Paragraph: Tell the reader what the article is about. Give them a reason to keep reading. Limit the first paragraph to 100 words.
Body text: Try to organize your article into sections of no more than 200 words each. Use subheadings that describe the content of that section. Do not use footnotes, endnotes, headers, footers, or page numbers.
Graphics: Provide photos, maps, figures, or charts that illustrate the point of your article and inspire curiosity. Use the highest resolution that you can achieve. We will credit the author of an image whenever and wherever it appears in the publication, so there’s no need to watermark photos. Do not include caption in your images, as captions will be added in the editing process. Additionally, skip the frames and artistic borders supplied with some editing apps.
If you have questions, contact Coast Survey communications specialist, Dawn Forsythe, at coastsurveycommunications@noaa.gov or use this form
[contact-form][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Comment or question?’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]
SPONSORING AGENCY
NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey is the nation’s nautical chartmaker. Using NOAA vessels and private contractors, Coast Survey conducts and manages hydrographic surveys that acquire data to create charts, map seafloor terrain, and improve modeling.

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