The NOAA Office of Coast Survey (OCS) establishes requirements in the Hydrographic Surveys Specifications and Deliverables (HSSD), a document well-known and commonly referenced throughout the hydrographic community. While the HSSD is revised annually based on feedback from the hydrographic community, the overall foundation and structure of the document was in need of a more complete overhaul, to better suit the rapidly evolving industry and the technology within it. In 2022, the overhaul of the HSSD was commenced, with a vision to rewrite NOAA hydrographic survey specifications to be forward-looking with respect to new and developing technology, to best facilitate automated tools, and to better integrate with S-100 based products (including precision marine navigation products), and the National Bathymetric Source (NBS), the OCS high-resolution compilation of best-available bathymetry for navigation. Additionally, the new HSSD will better accommodate the increasing amounts of hydrographic data obtained opportunistically from external sources, with metadata tags to denote data quality, and universal data licenses to define terms of use, resulting in more streamlined, standardized workflows. This paper will discuss the re-envisioning of the HSSD, from the initial design phase to establish and socialize the vision; to the development phase, which assembled teams of subject matter experts to decide and compose the new content, and teams of developers to update critical supporting tools; and finally, to the roll-out phase consisting of both internal and external reviews, and field beta testing of the new HSSD. We will present the major changes introduced in the new specifications, as well as the discussion points that led to their adoption. The new HSSD is on-schedule to be published in 2024, and it is expected to play a key role in the future of OCS as a data-driven organization.

Acoustic backscatter is an indispensable tool for investigating marine geological, biological, and oceanographic subjects. Since publication of the 2015 BSWG Guidelines and Recommendations report, the use of backscatter has advanced substantially. Questions are emerging relating to data products produced from new technologies using new approaches, which are not represented in the original BSWG report. Prioritization is necessary to effectively map a trajectory for backscatter research over the next 5-10 years that addresses topics relevant to a diverse community of backscatter users. The goal of this project was to identify priority backscatter research questions within the community of practice. Specific objectives were i) to identify common backscatter research themes corresponding to different applications and interests, and ii) to suggest an ordered list of backscatter research priorities within each theme. An international community of experts was invited to submit priority questions related to acoustic backscatter research. All submitted questions were curated and grouped into themes. A survey based on the final list of questions per theme was distributed for the purposes of characterizing the community of stakeholders and identifying priority themes and questions. Statistical analyses were performed to examine trends among responses. After curation, 104 questions from 73 contributors were grouped into eight different themes. These were ranked by more than 120 respondents according to priority. Questions were selected most frequently from the themes Post-processing, quality control, data handling, and curation; Backscatter Data Analysis; and Calibration. Respondents consistently ranked several specific research questions as priorities for future backscatter research. We found no indication of bias related to the characteristics of respondents. The identification of priority questions within different themes of backscatter research suggests the need for contributions from multiple disciplines. Results suggest that several questions from broadly different research themes should be prioritized to advance the science of this field.

The NOAA Office of Coast Survey (OCS) embarked on a journey to completely overhaul their Hydrographic Surveys Specifications and Deliverables (HSSD) to better suit the rapidly evolving hydrographic industry. In conjunction with teams of subject-matter experts assembled to compose the new specifications, OCS took a unique approach to development by involving both programmers and field units during the writing phase, to ensure the specifications could be readily converted into automated tools to test compliance, and could be easily implemented into an operational setting. Working together with the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping/Joint Hydrographic Center (CCOM/JHC) and the NOAA Hydrographic Systems and Technology Branch (HSTB), the teams proactively developed quality analysis and processing tools (e.g., HydrOffice QC Tools, and NOAA Pydro applications) which provided a feedback loop of improvements to the specifications. Initial assumptions in the writing process were tested in-office using archived data before releasing a draft copy of the specifications for beta field testing. Training materials and lines of rapid communication were established with field units to aid in the beta testing of the draft specifications and to ensure efficient feedback to the writing teams. This paper discusses the iterative implementation and testing that occurred while re-envisioning the HSSD. From the proactive development of tools, to challenging of initial assumptions with in-office testing, to the NOAA field unit operational beta-testing of draft specifications, this paper will discuss how each of these activities shaped the final product. Finally, this paper also delves into future software and specification developments, aiming to enhance the overall efficiency and compatibility of the HSSD framework.

In 2016 the Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) created the Hydrographic Data Access Centre of Expertise (HDACoE) to focus on methods of improving access to the CHS’s data archives. HDACoE’s first foray into making CHS’ data more accessible was launched in 2020. The CHS NONNA Data Portal provides gridded bathymetric data free of charge. To date there have been more than 5 million downloads of this data. The HDACoE has been tasked with identifying, recovering and facilitating access to any CHS data that could be of use to our clients. First amongst these data are multibeam echo sounder (MBES) intensity values and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) reflectance measures. Decades of MBES and LiDAR acquisition has resulted in the capture of a wealth of “collateral” intensity data. While the CHS’ primary focus remains safety of navigation, it has become clear that intensity data is of great importance for environmental management and the Blue Economy. The interest in seafloor modelling continues to grow in the scientific, commercial, environmental and Indigenous communities. Modelling and mapping of the seafloor relies heavily on the access to intensity data. CHS is embarking on a pilot project to make our intensity data accessible with three objectives; to disseminate CHS' existing intensity products to support interested scientific communities; to gather feedback to better understand the community interested in intensity products and; to collect metrics to be responsive to these clients’ needs. These intensity products will be accessible in a new layer on the CHS NONNA Data Portal, allowing for downloads in GeoTIFF or ASCII formats with relevant meta data. Many challenges have been encountered while attempting to make the CHS’s intensity inventory available to the scientific community. This presentation will showcase the release of the new intensity layer and highlight the HDACoE’s efforts to make this data accessible.

Le Service Hydrographique et Océanographique de la Marine (Shom) et le Service Hydrographique Canadien (SHC) utilisent des outils de traitement de données bathymétriques similaires. Afin de s’assurer de la maitrise totale des transformations réalisées par les logiciels utilisés, il est de bonne pratique de tester l’ensemble des fonctions utilisées. Les deux organismes réalisent ces tests dans l’objectif de vérifier l’absence de régression en vue de valider chaque changement de version. Tout comme préconisé dans le cadre des développements informatiques, ces tests de non régressions se structurent en une série de tests unitaires. Chaque test unitaire évalue indépendamment du reste du programme, un module ou une partie de celui-ci. Pour chacun d’eux, un protocole est nécessaire ainsi que des jeux de données adaptés. Dans un souci d’optimisation et de partages des pratiques entre les deux organismes, le Shom et le SHC ont décidé de partager leurs méthodologies pour les logiciels HIPS et BDB. La présentation a pour objectif de détailler cette démarche, l’organisation commune utilisée, les objectifs communs d’automatisation de ces tests, ainsi que des résultats préliminaires concernant les tests menés sur HIPS 11.4.32 et BDB 6.1. The French Naval Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service (Shom) and the Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) use similar bathymetric data processing tools. To ensure total mastery of the transformations performed by the software used, it is good practice to test all the functions used. The two organizations carry out these tests with the aim of verifying the absence of regression, in order to validate each version change. As is recommended for IT developments, these non-regression tests are structured as a series of unit tests. Each unit test evaluates a module or part of the program independently of the rest. For each unit test, a protocol is required, along with suitable data sets. With a view to optimizing and sharing practices between the two organizations, Shom and SHC have decided to share their methodologies for HIPS and BDB software. The purpose of this presentation is to detail this approach, the common organization used, the common objectives for automating these tests, and preliminary results concerning tests carried out on HIPS 11.4.32 and BDB 6.1.