Hydrographer from the Danish Geodata Agency honored

Giuseppe Masetti, hydrographer of the Danish Geodata Agency and adjunct faculty with the UNH CCOM/JHC, has been awarded a Certificate of Commendation and a Gold Coin Medallion by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for his contributions to delineate the U.S. extended continental shelf — a maritime region potentially containing valuable resources and habitats for marine life.

NOAA Assistant Administrator Craig N. McLean wrote in a letter to Giuseppe that the commendation recognizes his

“extraordinary scientific achievement in seafloor mapping and data science initiatives imperative to fulfill the U.S. Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) Project goals”.

Such a project aims to define the geographical limits of the ECS zone that begins more than 200 nautical miles offshore. Multiple agencies are involved in the U.S. ECS project, and scientists like Giuseppe have helped in collecting all the information necessary to establish U.S. sovereign rights over the natural resources in the water column, the seabed and subsoil. Based on preliminary studies, the size of this region is estimated to be at least one million square kilometers (about twice the size of California and 24 times the size of Denmark).

^{Giuseppe Masetti, hydrographer of the Danish Geodata Agency, has been awarded a Certificate of Commendation and a Gold Coin Medallion by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for his contributions to delineate the U.S. extended continental shelf.}

Recognized coworker
The NOAA Certificate of Commendation is the latest in Giuseppe’s awards recognizing his scientific achievements; he was named NOS Team Member of the Year in 2017 by the NOAA's National Ocean Service (NOS) in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the agency mission. At that time, Giuseppe was selected for having developed the open-source HydrOffice framework and its impact toward increasing confidence and improving timeliness of seafloor map products, including nautical charts, for the ocean mapping community.

“I feel very honored to be recognized as part of NOAA’s effort on the U.S. Extended Continental Shelf Project and proud of the work accomplished with the HydrOffice applications for the ocean mapping community”, Giuseppe says.  “Much of that effort was carried out while working at the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping and Joint Hydrographic Center. Now that I have joined the Danish Geodata Agency, I want to use my research experience with automating hydrographic data production workflows to support the agency’s institutional mission.”

The Danish Geodata Agency is also very pleased with the words of praise for Giuseppe Masetti. “I am incredibly proud and happy on Giuseppe’s behalf. It is a great recognition of his professionalism. At the same time, it is a great gift to the Danish Geodata Agency that we can attract employees with such competencies”, says Pia Dahl Højgaard, director general at the Danish Geodata Agency.