hydrography

hydrography

1. the study, surveying, and mapping of the oceans, seas, and rivers

2. the oceans, seas, and rivers as represented on a chart
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hydrography

[hī′dräg·rə·fē]

(geography)

Science which deals with the measurement and description of the physical features of the oceans, lakes, rivers, and their adjoining coastal areas, with particular reference to their control and utilization.

(navigation)

Measurement of the tides and currents as an aid to navigation.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Hydrography

 

the division of hydrology dedicated to describing bodies of water and their separate parts.

(1) The division of inland hydrology consists of the study and description of individual bodies of water, including rivers, lakes, and reservoirs (and their combination in a specific area), their location and geographical features, size, and course. The study of individual bodies of water provides information on their regular characteristics in such aspects as inland water distribution and the flow system. Hydrography is based on the systems and laws developed by general hydrology and physical geography. Another area of hydrography is the study of man-made changes that affect the course of bodies of water. The greatest amount of information on Soviet inland hydrography is found in the handbooks entitled Inland Water Resources of the USSR.

(2) The division of oceanography is devoted to the description of the subdivisions of the oceans. Oceanic hydrography is closely related to many scientific disciplines that study the ocean’s hydrometric course, geodesic fields of the oceans, the bottom and shores of oceans and seas, and the contour of the ocean floor.

The Hydrographie Service was organized in Russia in 1718 under the Collegium of the Admiralty, after the Admiralty had been given jurisdiction over this area of marine affairs. In 1827 the Administration of the Hydrographer General was established; it was changed in 1885 to the Central Hydro-graphic Administration.

The development of hydrography began in other countries during the first half of the 18th century: in France in 1720, in Great Britain and Holland in 1737, and in the USA in 1830.

There are many distinguished names connected with the development of scientific hydrography in Russia and the USSR, including A. A. Tillo, A. I. Vil’kitskii, Iu. M. Shokal’skii, V. M. Rodevich, E. V. Blizniak, and I. F. Mo-lodykh.

REFERENCES

Blizniak, E. V., K. M. Ovchinnikov, and V. D. Bykov. Gidrografiia rek SSSR. Moscow, 1945.
Maksimov, G. S. “Gidrografiia kak nauka.” In Uchenye zapiski vysshego Arkticheskogo morskogo uchilishcha, vol. 1. Leningrad-Moscow, 1949.
Maksimov, G. S. Gidrografie he skaia opis’. Moscow-Leningrad, 1949.
Sheikin, P. A. Gidrograficheskie raboty na rekakh. Leningrad, 1949.
Nastavienie po rekognostsirovochnym g idro grafie he s kim iss ledo-vaniiam rek. Leningrad, 1949.
Davydov, L. K. Gidrografiia SSSR, vols. 1-2. Leningrad, 1953-55.
Glushkov, V. G. Voprosy teorii i metody gidrologicheskikh issle-dovanii. Moscow, 1961.
Belobrov, A. P. Gidrografiia moria. Moscow, 1964.
Sokolov, A. A. Gidrografiia SSSR. Leningrad, 1964.

A. I. CHEBOTAREV and K. G. TIKHOTSKII

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.