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tipurpose Internet connectivity. Most recently, ARGUS participat- ed in a NOAA-led discussion at the University of New Hampshire Cen- ter for Coastal and Ocean Mapping (UNH-CCOM) on crowd-sourcing of hydrographic data. Eventually, says Hersey, ARGUS hopes to address the 100-year Federal surveying backlog. And, Hersey is looking at an ongoing research effort with Towson University to develop analysis tools speci? c to the temporal and spatial characteristics of the continuous stream of ARGUS data. IN USE TODAY In a partnership with Cruisers Net and EarthNC, a beta release of ARGUS solution sets for the ICW compatible with OpenCPN is now happening. According to Hersey, OpenCPN is a capable open source PC Navigation software application in use by a large following of recreational and commercial boaters. Eventually, ARGUS intends to further develop the integration of ARGUS solution sets, making them available through Cruisers Net as a complement to oth- er valuable information they provide. There may be no more important issue to vessel operators today than the depth of the water under the keels of 40,000 commercial hulls crisscrossing the nations waterways. Great Lakes operators put the exclamation point on that by illustrating how many tons of cargo is lost annually due to each inch of draft that is unavailable. Be- yond the gray noise of complaining about the lack of maintenance dredg- ing is the concern that depths on charts may be inaccurate. At least un- til now. If you plan to transit the ICW in the near future and depths less than 12 feet get your attention, then you might want to take a look at the chart. Note that these are simple vessel observations that re? ect tidal condi- tions, have not yet been corrected or added to the database for collec-tive processing, and should NOT be used for navigation. Today, federal law provides for the waterway to be maintained at a minimum depth of 12 feet (4 m) for most of its length. But, as shown below ? this isnt always the case. Moreover, depths on charts are typically referenced to a mean low water datum, and since the state of the tide isnt taken into consideration below, actual depths may even be less. ARGUS represents the way forward for many applications, but its initial value may be found in merely taking advantage of the boats depthsounder thats just ahead of you. And, that can be done today. MN 103www.marinelink.com MN Sept2013 Layout 96-111.indd 1038/29/2013 4:41:49 PM