Abstract

Managing bathymetric data in a hydrographic survey company
Track: Ocean, Coastal, and Marine Resources
Authors: Duncan Mallace

As data volumes increase, managing the large bathymetric datasets is not limited to the world's hydrographic offices. Offshore survey companies working in all the survey sectors, from Oil and Gas through to Offshore Renewables, Hydrography through to Coastal Surveys produce huge datasets and these industries also increasingly require GIS based products, specifically based on ArcGIS.

MMT has, like most survey companies, bathymetric data in a flat, file server-based setup. MMT wanted a system that would not only store bathymetry but also sediment types, digital video, survey reports and sub-bottom data. The ESRI Bathymetric Information System (BIS) is a database specifically designed for this type of requirement and is accessed through the well-known and easily used ESRI ArcGIS software. This paper explains how the BIS was built and setup and shows examples of its use and the data currently served to the Cloud by the system.