The Global Multi-Resolution Topography (GMRT) Synthesis

Topographic maps provide a backdrop for research in nearly every earth science discipline. There is particular demand for bathymetry data in the ocean basins, where existing coverage is sparse. Ships and submersibles worldwide are rapidly acquiring large volumes of new data with modern swath mapping systems. The science community is best served by a global topography compilation that is easily accessible, up-to-date, and delivers data in the highest possible (i.e. native) resolution. To meet this need, the NSF-supported Marine Geoscience Data System (MGDS; www.marine-geo.org) has partnered with the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC; www.ngdc.noaa.gov) to produce the Global Multi-Resolution Topography (GMRT) synthesis - a continuously updated digital elevation model that is accessible through Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC; www.opengeospatial.org) Web services. GMRT had its genesis in 1992 with the NSF RIDGE Multibeam Synthesis (RMBS); later grew to include the Antarctic Multibeam Synthesis (AMBS); expanded again to include the NSF Ridge 2000 and MARGINS programs; and finally emerged as a global compilation in 2005 with the NSF Legacy of Ocean Exploration (LOE) project. The LOE project forged a permanent partnership between MGDS and NGDC, in which swath bathymetry data sets are routinely published and exchanged via the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH; www.openarchives.org). GMRT includes both color-shaded relief images and underlying elevation values at ten different resolutions as high as 100m. New data are edited, gridded, and tiled using tools originally developed by William Haxby at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. Global and regional data sources include the NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM; http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/srtm/); Smith & Sandwell Satellite Predicted Bathymetry (http://topex.ucsd.edu/marine_topo/); SCAR Subglacial Topographic Model of the Antarctic (BEDMAP; http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/bedmap/); and International Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean (IBCAO; http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/bathymetry/arctic/). Local data sources include high-resolution bathymetry swaths and grids from over 210 research cruises, submersible dives, and related compilations to date. GMRT is accessible via a OGC Web Map Service (WMS) which offers dynamic resolution and on-the-fly map re- projection. A growing number of commercial and open-source clients support OGC protocols, including recent versions of Google Earth and Google Maps which now support WMS natively. GMRT is incorporated as a primary basemap in science Web portals and geobrowsers including EarthChem (www.earthchem.org) and GeoMapApp (www.geomapapp.org), which also serves the underlying elevation values. Future development work will include extension of GMRT to higher resolutions; addition of the International Bathymetric Chart of the Southern Ocean (IBCSO; www.ibcso.org) and the improved SRTM V2; and deployment of new OGC services including a Web Coverage Service (WCS) and Web Terrain Service (WTS).