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In the early-to-mid 1980s, NOAA created the next-generation data acquisition and processing system called Shipboard Data System, or SDS, III. In 1987, the project was terminated because of scheduling and technical issues. NOAA was left in an awkward situation: though personal computers were commonplace, NOAA hydrographic survey ships were still collecting data with antiquated paper punch tape technology.
As the SDS III project was in its final days, a small NOAA team began developing a system called the Hydrographic Data Acquisition and Processing System, or HDAPS. Two of NOAA's ships, Rude and Heck, had side-scan sonars on board, and HDAPS was designed to acquire and process this type of data.
After working out some software and hardware bugs on the systems installed on Rude and Heck, it became apparent that HDAPS would be useful for conducting basic hydrographic surveys. HDAPS was soon installed on the other NOAA hydrographic survey ships.
HDAPS served NOAA's hydrographic fleet well for about 10 years until other technologies were developed. During the 1990s, differential global positioning system, or DGPS, technology became the standard in hydrographic positioning. DGPS gave survey vessels instant, all-weather, high-accuracy positioning. Around the same time, shallow-water multibeam sonar systems were becoming operational. Unlike previous survey systems, multibeam systems allowed full coverage of the ocean floor — not just the area directly below the ship.
Members of the hydrographic team from the NOAA Ship Fairweather and the University of New Hampshire analyze mapping data in the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy’s computer lab while the cutter transits the Beaufort Sea, October 16, 2024. Healy’s crew supported an embarked science team during the first phase and conducted the Alaskan Arctic Coast Port Access Route Study and opportunistic mapping, which included bathymetric mapping in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. Image credit: U.S. Coast Guard/Lieutenant Junior Grade Haley Howard.
Today, NOAA teams process hydrographic survey data with a suite of multibeam, lidar, satellite, and side-scan sonar image processing tools. The tools allow the teams to sort through terabytes of bathymetric data to precisely define and picture bottom features for nautical charting. Three-dimensional images of the ocean floor are now routinely produced during data processing. One of the many challenges in today's data processing environment involves creating data sets that can easily be used with NOAA electronic navigational charts, or ENCs®. Another challenge is getting all the data off the ships and into products for the public.
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