The Nippon Foundation of Japan has provided funding for GEBCO to train a new generation of scientists and hydrographers in ocean bathymetry. The 12-month course, leading to a Postgraduate Certificate in Ocean Bathymetry (PCOB), has been held at the University of New Hampshire, USA, since 2004.
Nippon Foundation/GEBCO Training Programme - Summer Hydrographic Field Course 2014
GEBCO has been funded by the Nippon Foundation of Japan to train a new generation of scientists and hydrographers in ocean bathymetry. The twelve-month course, leading to a Postgraduate Certificate in Ocean Bathymetry (PCOB), is held at the University of New Hampshire, USA.
A summer hydrographic field course is included as part of the programme. This allows the students to gain practical experience of collecting and working with bathymetry data at sea and to put into practise the theoretical material covered in classes.
As well as being a significant part of the Nippon Foundation/GEBCO Training Programme, the field course also allows the students to gain a ''Category A'' certificate in hydrographic surveying – an internationally recognised standard in that field.
This year's field course carried out hydrographic survey operations off the east coast of the USA, near Portsmouth Harbour. A multibeam echo sounder was used to collect bathymetric data and map the survey area.
The survey teams included the six international students on this year’s training programme:
- Lieutenant Commander Gustavo Adolfo Gómez-Pimpollo Crespo (Spanish Navy Hydrographic Office)
- Lieutenant Nilton Sánchez (Oceanographic Institute of the Ecuadorian Navy)
- Hemanaden Runghen (Specialized Unit on Ocean Matters under the Prime Minister’s Office of the Republic of Mauritius)
- Daishi Horiuchi (Hydrographic and Oceanographic Department of the Japan Coast Guard)
- Tomer Ketter (Department of Geology and Coastal Process of Israel Oceanographic & Limnological Research)
- Lieutenant Commander Ramli Mohd (National Hydrographic Centre of the Royal Malaysian Navy)