Page 45: of Marine Technology Magazine (October 2013)

is looking at an ongoing research effort with Towson University to develop analysis tools speciÞ c to the temporal and spatial characteristics of the continuous stream of ARGUS data. In Use Today In a partnership with CruisersÕ Net and EarthNC, a beta re- lease 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 boat- ers. Eventually, ARGUS intends to further develop the integra- tion of ARGUS solution sets, making them available through CruisersÕ Net as a complement to other 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 nationÕs waterways. Great Lakes operators put the exclamation point on that by il- lustrating how many tons of cargo is lost annually due to each inch of draft that is unavailable. Beyond the gray noise of com- plaining about the lack of maintenance dredging is the concern that depths on charts may be inaccurate, at least until 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 shown on the bottom of this page. Note that these are simple vessel observations that reß ect tidal conditions, have not yet been corrected or added to the database for collective 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 Ð this isnÕt always the case. Moreover, depths on charts are typically referenced to a mean low water datum, and since the state of the tide isnÕt taken into consideration be- low, 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 boatÕs depthsounder thatÕs just ahead of you. And, that can be done today. Balt Channel Shoalingwww.seadiscovery.com MTR #8 (34-49).indd 45MTR #8 (34-49).indd 4510/15/2013 4:35:45 PM10/15/2013 4:35:45 PM