Welcome
to the Hydrographic Science Master's Program
website. Its mission is to provide information
to the public about this program offered by
The University of Southern Mississippi (USM).
This demanding and intensive curriculum covers
all aspects of geodesy and hydrographic science
leading to a Masters of Science degree.
This
program brings together the operational arm
of the U. S. Navy with the state academic leader
in marine science, The University of Southern
Mississippi, to establish a nationally unique
Center for Hydrographic Excellence. The Navy
brings eight of the world's most modern survey
ships, a solid core of experienced field hydrographers,
and the nation's most extensive holdings of
bathymetric and hydrographic data to the partnership.
USM joins the union with a graduate degree program
in Hydrographic Science established by the Department
of Marine Science at Stennis Space Center.
This
new graduate degree program, approved by the
Mississippi Board of Trustees of the State Institutions
of Higher Learning, offers a rigorous, one-year
Master of Science (M.S.) degree in Hydrographic
Science. This non-thesis degree program requires
36 semester hours of graduate-level courses,
taught on-site, and enables professional field
hydrographers to participate in a resident master's
level program without impacting operations for
employers. A selection of elective courses is
also offered that gives students the option
of completing the degree program with a practical
field orientation or with a more theoretical
course of study.
This
is the only accredited academic program in Hydrographic
Science in the United States that is certified
at the Category A level by the Féderation
Internationale des Géométres/International
Hydrographic Organization (FIG/IHO) International
Advisory Board. This curriculum was recognized
at the Category A level by the FIG/IHO International
Advisory Board on Standards of Competence for
Hydrographic Surveyors in April 2000.
Stennis
Space Center is the home of the Naval Oceanographic
Office (NAVOCEANO), a U. S. Naval Research Laboratory
(NRL) detachment, and the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) National
Data Buoy Center. NAVOCEANO, primarily an operational
data collection and production center, additionally
hosts the Navy's Supercomputing and Visualization
Center, the Warfighting Support Center, and
the Matthew Fontaine Maury Oceanographic Library,
the world's largest military oceanographic library.
In addition, NAVOCEANO presents a well-established,
certified FIG/IHO Category B level course. The
USM Department of Marine Science maintains various
academic and research activities that focus
on interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary aspects
of the marine sciences in coastal to offshore
environments. The unique aggregation of academic
faculty, hydrographers, oceanographers, and
facilities at the Stennis Space Center provides
an ideal location for this program.
At
a minimum, this program will provide students
with fundamental, practical, and detailed knowledge
in the following topics:
1.
Survey Planning: Geodesy, Littoral/Ocean Geomorphology,
Coastal Navigation2. Data Collection: Global
Positioning System (GPS) Navigation, Multibeam
Sonars, Laser Bathymetry, Multispectral and
Hyperspectral Imagery, Bottom Imaging Sonar;
2.
Data Collection: Global Positioning System (GPS)
Navigation, Multibeam Sonars, Laser Bathymetry,
Multispectral and Hyperspectral Imagery, Bottom
Imaging Sonar;
3.
Data Processing and
December 6, 2005 11:02 AM
rthorectification, Stereo Photography4. Data
Management: Geographic Information Systems (GIS),
National/International Virtual Digital Data
Bases, Data Exchange/Formats;
4.
Data Management: Geographic Information System
(GIS), National/International Virtual Digital
Databases, Data Exchange Formats; and
5.
Production and Applications: Products on Demand,
Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems
(ECDIS), Navigation End-Use, Coastal Zone Management.
