The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grant to FarSounder, a leading developer of 3D forward looking sonar (FLS) technology.
Utilizing the funding from the SBIR Phase I grant, FarSounder will develop a project titled “Enabling Expanded Crowdsourced Bathymetry Contributions With High-Quality Metadata via Commercially Sustainable Incentives to Contributors”.
This project will enable the sharing of customer collected survey data via a cloud-based service with others across the FarSounder customer fleet, and with crowdsourcing initiatives like Seabed 2030 via the IHO’s Data Centre for Digital Bathymetry’s CSB database.
FarSounder state that the bathymetry of the seafloor can change dramatically over time due to seasonal and storm-related conditions, and that to date less than 25% of the world’s seafloor has been mapped.
FarSounder’s Argos sonars can produce a bathymetric survey of everywhere the vessel goes, as well as offering real-time, forward-looking capabilities. The survey data includes high-quality metadata with accurate vessel, sensor, and GPS details. FarSounder plans to retrieve these detailed surveys from vessels and upload them into the cloud for broader use.
FarSounder say that the NOAA’s mission to share knowledge and information with others and to conserve and manage coastal and marine ecosystems and resources aligns with the aims of its developing project.
Dr. Genevieve Lind, NOAA SBIR Program Manager, said; “We look forward to seeing the impacts that this innovative project will bring. FarSounder’s proposed technology for expanding bathymetry data tools aligns with NOAA’s goals of improving maritime navigational safety and enhancing our overall understanding of the ocean.”
FarSounder’s CEO Matthew Zimmerman commented; “FarSounder customers have been submitting data to the IHO’s Data Center for Digital Bathymetry (DCDB) for some time. This project will not only make these efforts easier for all involved parties, it will open the opportunity to share and use this crowdsourced data to countless others.”
