7. REPORTS AND MISCELLANEOUS 



7-1 Descriptive report. — A separate de- 

 scriptive report shall be written and sub- 

 mitted to accompany each hydrographic 

 sheet. The purpose of the report is to sup- 

 plement the smooth sheet and sounding 

 records by information that cannot be shown 

 graphically on the smooth sheet or to direct 

 attention to important results. It outlines 

 the conditions under which the work was 

 done and discusses factors affecting accuracy 

 of the results. It should be written with a 

 view to assist the cartographers who verify 

 and review the survey and chart the results. 

 It serves to index all records and reports 

 which are applicable to the survey, and to 

 give, in concise form, information on certain 

 standard subjects. The descriptive report 

 should, therefore, be written with these 

 purposes in mind. General statements, as 

 well as the detailed tabulation of self-evi- 

 dent data, such as inshore rocks and shoals, 

 or rocks or coral heads that are encircled 

 by depth curves, serve no purpose and should 

 not be included. 



A daily journal should be kept by the hy- 

 drographer, as a satisfactory descriptive 

 report cannot be written from memory nor 

 by an individual having no personal knowl- 

 edge of the field work unless he has such a 

 carefully prepared journal. 



Notes made on the boat sheet to supple- 

 ment the daily journal shall, if applicable, 

 be incorporated in the descriptive report. 



In surveys of large extent or of a compli- 

 cated nature, it may be advisable to write 

 special reports on certain phases of the work 

 covering the entire season or area. A cross 

 reference to each of these should be made 

 under the proper heading of the descriptive 

 report. 



The descriptive report of a limited isolated 



survey should include all data, computations, 

 forms, etc., ordinarily mailed as separate 

 reports, with the exception of those specifi- 

 cally required to be submitted separately, 

 such as coast pilot notes and landmarks for 

 charts. 



The various data which are required on 

 separate sheets shall be arranged before and 

 after the text in the sequence described 

 herein. 



Form 504, descriptive report, shall be used 

 as the outside cover sheet, all of the appro- 

 priate entries being made. 



7-2 Title sheet.— Titles shall not be 

 placed on hydrographic sheets by the field 

 party. But the information for the title of 

 a survey shall be furnished on Form 537, 

 Hydrographic Title Sheet. A copy shall be 

 forwarded attached to the smooth sheet, and 

 the original shall be inserted in the descrip- 

 tive report. Entries shall be made in all 

 applicable spaces on the form. The title of 

 a hydrographic survey must clearly indicate 

 the limits of the survey and agree with the 

 entries in the sounding records. The infor- 

 mation shall include the specific locality, year 

 of the survey, the names of those persons 

 actually in charge of sounding, the depth 

 unit, and the plane of reference. 



7-3 Index of sheets. — Where there are a 

 number of sheets in one project, a copy of 

 the sheet layout at a reduced scale should be 

 included in the descriptive report. The sub- 

 ject survey should be indicated on the sketch 

 and the adjoining sheets identified by regis- 

 try numbers. The scale of the index is im- 

 material but the size of the paper or drawing 

 should be 8 by IOI/2 inches. Photostat or 

 ozalid prints of the boat sheet layout will be 

 furnished by the Washington Office on 

 request. 



241 



