BATHYMETRIC NAVIGATION

BATHYMETRIC NAVIGATION

Bathymetry is the measurement of the depth of water in oceans, rivers,

or lakes. Bathymetric maps look a lot like topographic maps, which use lines to
show the shape and elevation of land features.

On topographic maps, the lines connect points of equal elevation. On

bathymetric maps, they connect points of equal depth. A circular shape with
increasingly smaller circles inside of it can indicate an ocean trench. It can also
indicate a seamount, or underwater mountain.

In ancient times, scientists would conduct bathymetric measurements by

throwing a heavy rope over the side of a ship and recording the length of rope it
took to reach these a floor. These measurements, however, were inaccurate and
incomplete. The rope often did not travel straight to the seafloor, but was
shifted by currents. The rope could also only measure depth one point at a
time. To get a clear picture of the seafloor, scientists would have had to take
thousands of rope measurements.

More often, scientists and navigators estimated the topography of the

seafloor. Sometimes, the seafloor’s hills and valleys were easy to predict. Other
times, an ocean trench or sandbar would surprise navigators. This could lead to
danger for a ship’s crew and economic losses if the ship hit the sandbar and
lost its cargo.

Echo Sounders

Today, echo sounders are used to make bathymetric measurements. An

echo sounder sends out a sound pulse from a ship’s hull, or bottom, to the
ocean floor. The sound wave bounces back to the ship. The time it takes for the
pulse to leave and return to the ship determines the topography of the seafloor.
The longer it takes, the deeper the water.
 An echo sounder is able to measure a small area of the seafloor.
However, the accuracy of these measurements is still limited. The ship from
which the measurements are taken is moving, changing the depth to the
seafloor by centimeters or even feet. Reflections from undersea organisms, such
as whales, can disrupt the sound wave’s path. The speed of sound in water also
varies, depending on the temperature, salinity (saltiness), and pressure of the
water. In general, sound travels faster as temperature, salinity, and pressure
increase. The ocean has different currents, with different temperatures and
salinities. The ocean’s constant movement makes bathymetry difficult.

To address these problems, engineers developed multi beam echo

sounders. Multi beam echo sounders feature hundreds of very narrow beams
that send out sound pulses. This array of pulses provides very high angular
resolution. Angular resolution is the ability to measure different angles, or
points of view, of a single object. Having high angular resolution means a single
feature of the seafloor—like the top of an undersea mountain—would be
measured from a variety of angles, from the sides as well as the top.

Multi beam echo sounders correct for the movements of the boat at sea,
further increasing the measurements’ accuracy. They also allow scientists to
map more seafloor in less time than a single-beam echo sounder.

Multi beam echo sounders can also provide information about the
physical characteristics of a seafloor feature. For instance, they can indicate
whether the feature is made of hard or soft sediments. If the material is hard,
the signal from the echo sounder will come back stronger.

Many interesting discoveries have been made by bathymetric technology.

For example, thousands of seamounts were discovered in the central Pacific
Ocean, near the U.S. state of Hawaii. These seamounts, called the Hawaii-
Emperor Seamount Chain, rise 1,000 or more meters (3,280 feet) above the
seafloor. Scientists thought they were ancient volcanoes, but they could not be
sure. Using bathymetric tools, samples of rocks from the tops of these
seamounts confirmed the theory. These seamounts contained fossils of reef-
building organisms that lived in shallow waters during the Cretaceous period.
These samples proved that the seamounts stood above the water in the time of
the dinosaurs.

Bathymetric Data

The U.S. National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) and the International
Hydrographic Organization (IHO )measure and archive bathymetric data. Their
bathymetric measurements support safe navigation and protect marine
environments around the globe.

The NGDC, for example, creates digital elevation models that are used
to simulate tsunamis. The presence of undersea trenches or mountains can
directly affect the strength and path of a tsunami or hurricane. The NGDC also
operates a worldwide digital data bank of bathymetric measurements on behalf
of the member countries of the International Hydrographic Organization.

The IHO, based in Monaco, works to achieve uniformity in nautical

charts, adopt reliable methods of carrying out ocean surveys, and develop the
sciences in the field of hydrography. Hydrography is the study of the depth and
characteristics of water. Bathymetry is a part of hydrography. It is
an integral part in this science of surveying and charting bodies of water.
The contour lines on this map show the bathymetry of the southern part of Lake
Michigan. Depths in excess of 275 meters (902 feet), the deepest of Lake
Michigan, are reached near the southern end of the South Chippewa Basin,
where a large segment of the lake bed extends below sea level. The contour lines
on this map show the bathymetry of the southern part of Lake Michigan. Depths
in excess of 275 meters (902 feet), the deepest of Lake Michigan, are reached
near the southern end of the South Chippewa Basin, where a large segment of
the lake bed extends below s

This map is both topographic and bathymetric. It displays the topography, or

elevation, of the Earth's surface, as well as the depth of the oceans and seas.
High elevations, such as the northern Andes Mountains in South America, are
colored yellow and brown. Deep ocean canyons, such as the Puerto Rico Trench,
running between the outer islands of the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean, are
colored dark blue.
 Multibeam echo sounders help cartographers and oceanographers accurately
study bathymetry, or the ocean's depth. These sonar systems emit sound waves
from directly beneath a ship's hull to produce fan-shaped coverage of the sea
floor. The systems measure and record the time between the emission of the
signal and the time it bounces back from the seafloor or other object

The Puerto Rico Trench is the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean and the
Caribbean Sea. The peninsula of Florida is visible at the upper right. The islands
of Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and the island group of the Virgin Islands are
all identified on this three-dimensional bathymetric map, which displays depth.
This bathymetric map of the Ngatoro Rift, in the Pacific Ocean near New Zealand,
shows a group of underwater volcanoes (whose elevations are shown in red) as
well as a deep ocean trench (in purple).
Bathymetric Chart

A bathymetric chart provides the mariner an accurate visualization of the

configuration of the seafloor, much like a topographic map shows the
configuration of the land. A bathymetric chart provides contours at a higher
density and accurately places them on the defining depths. In areas of dense
data collection a bathymetric chart can help the mariner determine their
position based on the location of charted bottom features.

In an ideal case, the joining of a bathymetric chart and topographic map

of the same scale and projection of the same geographic area would be
seamless. The only difference would be that the values begin increasing after
crossing the zero at the designated sea level datum. Thus the topographic
map's mountains have the greatest values while the bathymetric chart's
greatest depths have the greatest values. Simply put, the bathymetric chart is
intended to show the land if overlying waters were removed in exactly the same
manner as the topographic map.

A bathymetric chart differs from a hydrographic chart in that accurate

presentation of the underwater features is the goal while safenavigation is the
requirement for the hydrographic chart. A hydrographic chart will obscure the
actual features to present a simplified version to aid mariners in avoiding
underwater hazards.

Bathymetric surveys are a subset of the science of hydrography. They

differ slightly from the surveys required to produce the product of hydrography
in its more limited application and as conducted by the national and
international agencies tasked with producing charts and publications for safe
navigation. That chart product is more accurately termed a navigation or
hydrographic chart with a strong bias toward the presentation of essential
safety information.

Bathymetric surveys and charts are more closely tied to the science
of oceanography, particularly marine geology, and underwater engineering or
other specialized purposes.

Bathymetric charts can also be converted to bathymetric profiles.

 Bathymetric Map of Loihi Seamount

General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO)

The General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) is a publicly

available bathymetry of the world's oceans. The project was conceived with the
aim of preparing a global series of charts showing the general shape of the
seafloor. Over the years it has become a reference map of the bathymetry of the
world’s oceans for scientists and others.

GEBCO operates under the joint auspices of the International

Hydrographic Organization (IHO) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic
Commission (IOC) of UNESCO. Its work is done by an international group of
experts in seafloor mapping who develop a range of bathymetric data sets and
data products.

The GEBCO chart series was initiated in 1903 by an international group

of geographers and oceanographers, under the leadership of Prince Albert I of
Monaco. At that time there was an explosion of interest in the study of the
natural world and this group recognized the importance of a set of maps
describing the shape of the ocean floor. The first hundred years of the project
were described in the book The History of GEBCO 1903-2003published by GITC
in 2003. Nowadays GEBCO’s role has become increasingly important, due to
the increased interest in the oceans for scientific research and for the
exploitation and conservation of resources.

Since 1903, five separate editions of paper, bathymetric contour charts

covering the whole world have been produced. GEBCO is now maintained in
digital form as the GEBCO Digital Atlas.