The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) Data Centre for Digital Bathymetry (DCDB) was established in 1990 to steward the global collection of bathymetric data. The Centre archives and shares, freely and without restrictions, depth data contributed by mariners and other stakeholders consistent with IHO direction and guidance. The IHO DCDB is hosted by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on behalf of the IHO Member States.
The DCDB archive includes over 70 terabytes (uncompressed) of oceanic depth soundings acquired with multibeam and single beam sonars by hydrographic, oceanographic and industry vessels during surveys or while on passage.
Data Access
The IHO DCDB Data Viewer shows the global coverage of the DCDB's bathymetric data holdings as well as the spatial extent of data archived at other repositories via web services.
Project Overview
The IHO DCDB consists primarily of unedited single and multibeam bathymetric data contributed by industry, government, academia, and crowdsource efforts. These data are a public resource that are routinely used to produce and improve regional and global bathymetric maps and grids in support of science and exploration.
The DCDB also serves as the long-term archive for the GEBCO Ocean Mapping Programme, IHO Crowdsourced Bathymetry (CSB) Initiative, and the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project, which is a global initiative working to develop a complete global ocean map by 2030.
Bathymetric Data
The DCDB archive includes over 70 terabytes (uncompressed) of oceanic depth soundings acquired with multibeam and single beam sonars by hydrographic, oceanographic and industry vessels during surveys or while on passage.
How to Contribute Data to the IHO DCDB
Contact bathydata@iho.int for more information on contributing data or sharing web services to the IHO DCDB. The DCDB accepts submissions from government, academic, industrial, and research organizations, as well as individual researchers.
Data Submission and Packaging Instructions
Bathymetric data and metadata can be submitted via File Transfer Protocol (FTP), email, or mail (hard drive) in the formats listed below.
- Raw sonar data: native sensor format
- Processed data: gsf, BAG, NetCDF, tiff, xyz, sd, asc, etc.
- Metadata: XML or text
Other formats and products will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
CruisePack Software
CruisePack is a data packaging and metadata gathering software tool that simplifies the collection and submission process for cruise-based data.
IHO Crowdsourced Bathymetry Initiative
The IHO defines crowdsourced bathymetry (CSB) as depth measurements collected and contributed by vessels, using standard navigation instruments, while engaged in routine maritime operations.
In 2014, the IHO recognized that traditional survey vessels alone could not be relied upon to solve data deficiency issues and agreed there was a need to encourage and support all mariners in an effort to “map the gaps.” An initiative was established to support and enable mariners and professionally manned vessels to collect CSB. This approach leverages underway x, y, z, t data already being collected on vessels with common commercial echo sounders and Global Navigation Satellite System receivers. CSB can be used to supplement the more rigorous and scientific bathymetric coverage done by hydrographic offices, industry, and researchers around the world.
The DCDB accepts CSB contributions through a network of "Trusted Nodes," which may be organizations, companies or universities serving as data liaisons between mariners (data collectors) and the DCDB. Trusted Nodes may supply data logging equipment, provide technical support to vessels, download data from data loggers, or be responsible for data transfer directly to the DCDB.
CSB data must be provided in either CSV or GeoJSON, and capture the minimum required information (XYZ, timestamp). The IHO DCDB intends to publicly release the Trusted Node’s data in its original form under the CC0 public domain dedication via the IHO DCDB Viewer.
The following documents clarify some aspects on CSB related to the submission of data to IHO DCDB:
- IHO CSB Trusted Node Agreement Form Template
- Guidance for Submitting CSB Data to the IHO DCDB
- Sample CSB File Formats
- Example CSB GeoJSON file
Those interested in contributing data or becoming a Trusted Node should contact the DCDB at bathydata@iho.int.
The collection of crowdsourced bathymetry information contributions is authorized under the OMB Control Number included in the Paperwork Reduction Act and Privacy Act statements.
There are several ways to access CSB data, including:
CSB File Access
Download Comma Seperated Value (CSV) or GeoJSON files, including full metadata as contributed, via the IHO DCDB Viewer or NOAA’s Bathymetric Data Viewer. Data is delivered as a gzipped tar file with the contents nested in directories several levels deep.
You can also download CSV files directly from the NOAA Open Data Dissemination Program AWS S3 bucket. Users can review the registry of open data, browse data in the bucket and download individual files, or use standard AWS-provided and third-party S3 tools and SDKs for programmatic access. The files are organized by date and are as provided by the Trusted Nodes.
Note: CSV files downloaded from the S3 bucket contain the following attributes:
The metadata record can be accessed separately from the Crowbar API (described below).
CSB Soundings Access
Use the CSB Data Extract API to download soundings from a virtual seamless collection. You can call the API directly, or use the DCDB map viewer for a more human-friendly experience. Soundings are in CSV format with attributes including location, depth, time, platform name, and unique file identifier. Gridded soundings are also available by request at a specified resolution.
The Crowbar API is a RESTful API that can query for sounding metadata. To test queries, follow the link and select 'Search API' under ‘Select a definition’.
See Crowdsourced Bathymetry Frequently Asked Questions for additional information.
IHO Guidance on Crowdsourced Bathymetry
The IHO's Crowdsourced Bathymetry Working Group, comprised of international scientific, governmental and commercial hydrographic experts, was tasked by the IHO to develop a document that describes what constitutes CSB, the installation and use of data loggers, preferred data formats, and instructions for submitting data to the IHO DCDB.
The guidance document also provides information about data quality to help data collectors and data users better understand uncertainty and accuracy issues with crowdsourced bathymetry.
B-12 Edition 3.0 IHO Guidance Document on Crowdsourced Bathymetry
