Current State of Deep Ocean Bathymetric Exploration

Karolina Zwolak 1, Andrzej Felski 2

1Polish Naval Academy, Gdynia, Poland

2Polish Naval Academy, Gdynia, Poland

DOI: 10.1515/aon-2017-0019

ABSTRACT

The paper presents current state of bathymetric survey concerning deep ocean rather than
shallow areas, which are better surveyed due to safety of navigation concerns. Rules and
requirements of the new challenge, called the Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE, became
a starting point for a discussion about the possibilities of mapping large areas of the ocean
using up-to-date and new technology. The amount of bathymetric data available nowadays
and the current state of ocean map compilations are also discussed in the paper as a motivation to inspire the new initiatives in the deep ocean.

KEYWORDS

bathymetry, ocean, multibeam echosounder, AUV, ASV, satellite altimetry, bathymetric map compilation.

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