Transit Mapping

Overview

Vessels in transit routinely cross unmapped (or poorly mapped) regions of the planet. Transits offer important opportunities to map the gaps and verify sonar performance prior to science missions.

This section provides resources for collecting high-quality transit mapping data with limited personnel or experience on board.

Purposes

There are several reasons to collect transit mapping data:

1. Contribute to the global grids, especially in areas without modern multibeam data
2. Verify sonar performance through opportunistic testing with minimal impact on science mission scheduling

Typical constraints during transits include:

1. limited availability (or over-scheduling) of marine technicians and experienced multibeam operators
2. limited route planning control for scientific objectives between ports

Resources

The resources below are intended to address the challenges of transit mapping identified above, with the goal of providing high-quality bathymetry that can be incorporated into the global grids.

Global grids

For broader data searches, see Finding existing data

[NEEDS ATTN] For streamlined compilations for the presence or absence of modern multibeam data, consider the following resources:

1. GEBCO data products

Route planning

GEBCO

Gap Filler

Data acquisition

Sonar operation

Sound speed