Canada CHS update in the GeoGarage platform

56 nautical raster charts updated

see : GeoGarage News

Ocean floor to be mapped by 2030 ?

courtesy of GEBCO (Anthony Pharaoh, IHB)

From Hydro by Durk Haarsma

The first Forum for Future of the Ocean Floor Mapping was held in Monaco from 15 to 17 June 2016.
Some 200 delegates gathered, under the flag of General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO), to discuss the future of the mapping of the ocean floor, aiming to come up with a roadmap towards 100% coverage of a mapped ocean floor.
GEBCO was established 113 years ago, also in Monaco. (see communiqué)
Hydro International talked with the chair of GEBCO Guiding Committee, former chief hydrographer of Japan, Shin Tani.
Shin Tani is adamant about the need of sharing data to reach the goal of a completely mapped ocean floor.
He is less sure about a time-frame in which the international ocean community will achieve that full coverage.

 The Mid-Atlantic Ridge as portrayed in GEBCO charts since 1903

Could you please explain to me why it is such an urgent matter to have this Forum right now?

‘There are many, many reasons.
Let me name a few.
First of all, GEBCO has focused on the use by scientists.
Maybe a small group outside of the scientific community looked at GEBCO products as well; some keen about protecting the ocean, others interested in biodiversity or fisheries and recently ocean energy and tsunami modelling , but it is time now to broaden our scope.
GEBCO historically worked in areas deeper than 200 metres.
This was also even included in our guidelines, but that's almost obsolete.
We are looking at shallower water now as well.
We no longer have a hard boundary.
Inclusion of shallower-than-200m bathymetry was started around 1990, when gridding of digitised contour lines started, in order to restrict the funny reaction of gridding algorithm.
At around the same time the demand for new and bigger datasets arose, a demand that has grown ever since, in part also because of the focus on Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), wind turbines and the other areas of interest.
There is a clear demand for higher resolution data on shallower water.
We realise and recognise that we need to answer to that demand and therefore also have to consult on the exact demands.
Another factor that made clear that the boundary of 200 m depth is not a sustainable one, are the devastating tsunamis that have occurred over the last decades.
Scientists working on the prediction of tsunami’s propagation and inundation are also looking at us for answers on how the seafloor is shaped.
In general, one could say that there is a societal need, but also scientific curiosity and technological developments and GEBCO wants to respond to that.
A Forum such as this is the perfect way to discuss with stakeholders.’

Arctic Ocean Mapping from 1893 to 2016, IBCAO

courtesy of M. Jakobsson, University of Stockholm, Sweden

Will this result in a bigger role and more visibility for GEBCO?

‘Oh, yes.
By its nature, activities for GEBCO are of course voluntary and have been carried out in scientific environments.
The scientific researchers donate their time, in the office or maybe out of the office to contribute to GEBCO.
In addition, all data that we collect are basically data voluntarily donated from scientific vessels.
That also means that the data we obtain were limited to scientifically interesting areas, except for a few exceptions, for instance in Japan, where data was donated on the entire Exclusive Economic Zone around the island to GEBCO.
A very detailed bathymetric survey was conducted for the Extended Continental Shelf programme.
North American and European stakeholders have arranged the so called Galway Statement, which will end up in a lot of new data from the North Atlantic.
Similar project can be arranged between South Africa and Argentina and Chile and New Zealand, where bathymetric data are still really sparse.
I would like to improve the situation.
So there are already major developments that could make more data available for GEBCO to incorporate in its products and therefore its role will become more important.’

The year 2030 is a year that is buzzing around at the Forum as the turning point.
Where will we stand 15 years from now?

‘Maybe I'm just dreaming, but I think that at a certain point a dramatic change will take place.
One day, when people realise the importance of detailed bathymetry and start to hand over data, people may compete ot donate data and the amount of data becoming available will dramatically increase.
Many factors play a role in this: for example, internet and the smartphone, which will help us in a positive way.
When the truning point is reached, the situation will change drastically.
I expect this to happen to us.’

Crowdsourcing with Olex (SHOM study)

What about crowdsourced bathymetry as a major source for new data?

‘Crowdsourced bathymetry will become the major source of data for GEBCO, from any kind of ship sailing the world’s oceans.
I would like to remind you that the very first GEBCO relied largely on cable laying companies’ sounding data.
They were truly the crowdsourced bathymetry.’

 courtesy of M. Würtz and M. Rovere (eds.), IUCN

And do you dare to give an estimate of how much of the ocean floor will be mapped by 2030, in percentage terms?

‘Having a 100 percent coverage of bathymetry of the ocean is not that easy and simple.
It may not be impossible, but it is certainly very difficult.
In 10 years? I don't think so.
Can I replace 10 by 15 years or 20 years? Still hesitating...but 50 years, that maybe a yes.
But it depends on the size of the grid, in question, of course.
For example, bathymetry under ice cover needs dramatic development of surveying technology.
Otherwise 100 percent coverage will not be very easy.’

There are more than 12,000 hydrographers and oceanographers all over the globe reading Hydro International.
What would you like to tell them?

‘Share data! Keeping data to yourself is, in my view, a crime.
It should be shared.
Once everybody shares, 15%, the percentage of the ocean floor that has now been mapped, will easily become 40%.
I remember that I talked with a Russian guy who told me that a city called Obnisk, an academic city, but also a city where nuclear facilities were located, was not mapped correctly for intelligence reasons.
Once Google Maps became availabel, the correct details of this city became known to the world.
What I am saying is that what governments try to keep a secret, will no longer be secrets in the future.
And this goes for ocean depths as well.

There is no use in keeping data classified, because there is no way you can keep it secret.
Do you agree?

Indeed, and I would like to extend this especially to the Hydrographic Offices.
If you do not serve as a source of bathymetric information for more than just navigational charts, somebody else will do it for you.
If the Hydrographic Offices stick to nothing else than publishing nautical charts, that would be a disaster for the Hydrographic Offices and for the ocean community.
There are so many people who require shallow-water bathymetry, again for purposes of monitoring MPAs or predicting tsunamis.
The Hydrographic Offices have to serve them as well.

Do you have one last message to the industry in our field?

I would like to invite them all to become part of GEBCO.
They are stakeholders and we would like to include them, not just in this Forum but also in the future.
All stakeholders in bathymetric data should join our discussions.
In addition, I would like to extend my message of sharing data.
Data should not be kept to for just a few while it could be useful for the needs and safety of the public and in the end the fate of the ocean, the ecosystem, the earth.

Links :

• News : Scientists implementing a Google Maps-esque approach to unearthing the secrets of the world’s oceans
• Final Frontier vs. Fruitful Frontier: The Case for Increasing Ocean Exploration
• GeoGarage blog : Nasa-style mission needed to map ocean floor / It's time to geek out over a new global bathymetric data set / Evolution of ocean exploration: mapping the seafloor with geodesy / Inaccurate surveys of ocean depths a threat to mega-ships / MH370 spur to 'better ocean mapping' / When bathymetry determines who might live and who might die

One year time lapse of the 2015-2016 El Niño event

one year time lapse of the 2015-2016 El Niño event from cambecc

This time lapse animation shows Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly (SSTA) covering a period from April 2015 until mid-June 2016.
El Niño development is clearly visible along the equator, peaking around mid-Nov 2015.

The rebound back to cooler temperatures in June foreshadows a corresponding La Niña event.
For more information, see climate.gov/news-features/blogs/enso/june-enso-discussion-new-neutral.
In this animation, it's also possible to see typhoon tracks in the Western Pacific between July and September 2015.

Typhoons suck up heat from the ocean and pump that energy into the atmosphere.

As a result, they leave tracks of unusually cool water visible in the SSTA data.

But don't blink!

Each track is visible for only a fraction of a second.
Sea surface temperature data comes from the Marine Modeling and Analysis Branch / EMC / NCEP / NWS / NOAA (polar.ncep.noaa.gov).

SSTA calculations and rendering are by earth.nullschool.net using 1981-2011 climatology provided by MMAB.

Taking the pulse of our planet from space

Earth Observation explained to kids.
The value and beauty of Earth. 
Talk by Pierre-Philippe Mathieu (ESA)

Links :

• GeoGarage blog : Earth observation enters next phase / Copernicus Sentinel-1 : making our seas safer / Satellites guide sailor from treacherous waters / Sentinel's first map of sea-surface 'hills and valleys'

Virtual reality film explores deepest ocean

Come with us on part one of our 360 virtual reality 'Journey to the Deep', and unlock the mysteries of the ocean as you descend to its inky depths.
This experimental animated 360 degree film recreates the journey from the ocean surface to 'Challenger Deep' in the Marianas Trench of the Pacific.
Nekton Mission is a scientific expedition doing deep ocean exploration in the North West Atlantic. We're conducting the XL Catlin Deep Ocean Survey – a health check of our deep ocean, the planet’s beating heart

From RoyalGazette by Sarah Lagan

Explorers of the deep ocean Nekton who have been exploring Bermuda’s sea bed have produced a 360 degree virtual reality video that allows viewers to experience a virtual submersible dive to the deepest point of the world’s ocean.

The film shows footage of Challenger Deep which is located 6.83 miles under the Pacific Ocean in the Mariana Trench.

The video’s release marks the launch of Nekton’s first mission, sponsored by re/insurer XL Catlin, to investigate the condition of the deep ocean.
The findings will be released as part of the XL Catlin Deep Ocean Survey, a multidisciplinary marine research program investigating physical, chemical and biological indicators to assess the function, health and resilience of the deep ocean.

Scientists from a dozen marine research institutes are joining the four-week mission launched by the newly founded scientific research charity, Nekton.

The research program, based aboard two sea going vessels, is focusing on Bermuda, Nova Scotia, and the High Seas (north west Atlantic and the Sargasso Sea).

Nekton’s co-founder and submersible pilot, Oliver Steeds, who narrates the descent, said: “Whilst 12 people have walked on the moon, only three people have been to full ocean depth.
“People have spent 300 hours on the moon and only three hours at full ocean depth. Viewers will experience the descent into the darkest depths of the ocean, and encounter the inhabitants and hundreds of facts about the least known frontier on our planet.
“Look out for hammerhead sharks, blue whales, sperm whales and the terrifying fangtooth fish.”

The 10 minute video, Journey to the Deep, is divided into three episodes to be released over the course of the mission.

The first episode takes the viewer from the surface into the Twilight Zone (200m-1000m); the second explores the Midnight & Abyssal Zones (1000m-6000m); the third descends into the Hadopelagic Zone (6000m-11000m).

The videos can be viewed online at the Nekton Mission YouTube Channel and Facebook page via a smartphone and virtual reality headset or via tablet and computer using keystrokes to move through a 360 degree line of sight.

The Nekton team, in partnership with XL Catlin and Digital Explorer, has also developed an educational programme to support the mission, including a series of science challenges where students can earn Mission Badges, with a special Submarine Explorer certificate awarded when all six are completed.

www.nektonmission.org/education

Targeting eight to 14-year-olds, the resources support the Submarine STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths) initiative which aims to inspire STEM learning and young people’s environmental engagement.
All the digital resources are available online so that children can access the materials via their PC, tablet and smartphone at home.