hydrography

American  

[hahy-drog-ruh-fee] / haɪˈdrɒg rə fi /

noun

1. the science of the measurement, description, and mapping of the surface waters of the earth, with special reference to their use for navigation.

2. those parts of a map, collectively, that represent surface waters.

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hydrography British  

/ haɪˈdrɒɡrəfɪ /

noun

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

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

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hydrography Scientific  

/ hī-drŏg′rə-fē /

1. The scientific description and analysis of the physical characteristics of Earth's surface waters, including temperature, salinity, oxygen saturation, and the chemical content of water. Oceanography (the study of saltwater bodies) and limnology (the study of freshwater bodies) are subsets of hydrography.

2. The mapping of bodies of water.

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Other Word Forms

• hydrographer noun
• hydrographic adjective
• hydrographical adjective
• hydrographically adverb

Etymology

Origin of hydrography

First recorded in 1550–60; hydro- ¹ + -graphy

Example Sentences

“Information on long-term past changes in Arctic Ocean hydrography are needed, and long overdue,” Dr. Ezat wrote in an email.

From New York Times • Nov. 27, 2021

This contained instructions for observation in a dizzying range of new disciplines — a scientific A–Z from astronomy to zoology, by way of botany, geology, hydrography, magnetism, mineralogy, statistics and tides.

From Nature • Dec. 18, 2018

As the planet teems with more and more humanity, his work, with its multiple disciplines—including history, sociology, engineering, botany, geology, hydrography and, above all, architecture—is becoming more and more a pressing necessity.

From Time Magazine Archive

A precipitous rock rising out of the sea, in northern hydrography.

From The Sailor's Word-Book An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, including Some More Especially Military and Scientific, but Useful to Seamen; as well as Archaisms of Early Voyagers, etc. by Belcher, Edward, Sir

The hydrography of the Ghashiun-Gobi and the Kuruk-tagh is determined by these chequered arrangements of the latitudinal valleys.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 2 "Gloss" to "Gordon, Charles George" by Various