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  Department of Marine Science | Hydrographic Science | Field Program
The Field Program

The field program, where the students get most of their practical experience, will be held during the summer semester, when the HYD 608, HYD 609, and HYD 610 courses are offered. The Joint International Hydrographic Applied Science Program takes advantage of the courses and facilities of the "Category B" U.S. Navy International Hydrographic Management and Engineering Program (IHMEP) to conduct its own field program. The HYD 608 Practical Hydrographic Science course is composed of several modules that correspond to courses selected from the IHMEP curriculum. The HYD 610 Field Project in Hydrographic Science will use only the material resources employed by the IHMEP field training program to conduct independent, more elaborate hydrographic fieldwork. The HYD 608 course is taught first and is immediately followed by the field project.

The HYD 608 Practical Hydrographic Science course (2 hrs) has been designed to provide the students with the necessary knowledge and skills for them to accomplish a real case survey. The course is instructed by the IHMEP staff at the NAVOCEANO facility located at the Naval Construction Battalion Center (NCBC) in Gulfport, Mississippi, using the IHMEP equipment. The course assessment is made jointly by the USM course instructor and the IHMEP staff.

The HYD 609 Nautical Science course (1 hr) is given at the Stennis Space Center campus, later during the summer, when the field data collection has been accomplished. Some topics in this course which are associated with safety and small-boat handling are taught earlier, before the students get involved in survey operations on the water.

The HYD 610 Field Project in Hydrographic Science (3 hrs) is the culmination of the Hydrographic Applied Science Program in that it will give the students an opportunity to put their newly acquired knowledge and skills to work. The project will be undertaken in the vicinity of Gulfport, Mississippi, where the survey launches are based. The goal is to survey small, distinct areas (e.g., harbor, river, coast) in concordance with the requirements of nautical charting surveys, while using both traditional (single-beam echo sounder) and modern (multibeam echo sounder) hydrographic technologies. The new U.S. Navy multibeam and side-scan sonar-equipped Hydrographic Survey Launches (HSLs) will be used to acquire the bathymetric data.