Request for Comment on Satellite-Derived Bathymetry Addition to Standard Ocean Mapping Protocol

Samenvatting

The National Ocean Mapping, Exploration, and Characterization (NOMEC) Council and the Interagency Working Group on Ocean and Coastal Mapping (IWG-OCM) request input from all interested parties on the draft addendums to the Standard Ocean Mapping Protocol (SOMP). The SOMP was developed in accordance with Objective 2.1 of the National Strategy for Ocean Mapping, Exploring, and Characterizing the United States Exclusive Economic Zone (NOMEC Strategy), which directed the IWG-OCM to establish a SOMP to encourage consistency in data acquisition, stewardship, and management across a subset of ocean sensing capabilities for seafloor mapping. The first version of the SOMP was released in April 2024 and includes sections on bathymetry, seabed backscatter, water column backscatter, side scan sonar imagery, sub- bottom profiling, and magnetometer data readings. The draft addendums to the Bathymetry and Data Management chapters are focused on Satellite-Derived Bathymetry (SDB).