According to Seabed 2030’s latest seabed mapping update, only 28.7% of the world’s seafloor has been mapped. Mapping the seafloor is anything but easy. Traditional mapping has been carried out by slow, vessel-based surveys that are costly and whose data accuracy is constrained by available technology. While predictive maps derived from satellite imagery have helped fill data gaps, they lack sufficient resolution for confident decision-making.
Mapping a Hidden World
Woolpert’s team of subject matter experts uses state-of-theart technologies to create Dave Neffrobust geospatial data products for decision-making. Advanced tools like uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) and multibeam sonar significantly enhance offshore data collection capabilities and are increasingly being used for deep-ocean missions.
Seafloor mapping stakeholders include federal, state, and local governments, industry (shipping, oil & gas, marine mining, etc.), research institutions, and coastal communities. Their motives for mapping the seafloor are extensive and include resource management, conservation of fragile habitats, mitigation of maritime hazards, and climate modeling, among others.
For example, bathymetry plays a key role in the creation of time and accurate tsunami warning systems. Tsunami modelers, armed with accurate seafloor data, can model how bathymetry would impact wave height and speed over distances—critical to delivering early warnings and arrival times. High-resolution seafloor maps can also inform coastal resilience. Data can be used to visualize and anticipate the impact of storm surge, advise floodplain management, and create building regulations in coastal communities.
A New Precedent
We are witnessing a shift in how we interact with our oceans. Uncrewed systems allow marine practitioners to collect highquality hydrographic data more efficiently and safely, particularly in challenging deep-ocean environments.
From deploying Saildrone’s Surveyor to map the seafloor off the coast of the Mariana Islands to using multiple aircraft and cutting-edge lidar sensors to produce high-resolution bathymetric data for the Florida Seafloor Mapping Initiative (FSMI), Woolpert and its partners are leveraging uncrewed systems to collect vital seafloor data.
More recently, we launched our first fully uncrewed offshore hydrographic survey for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) [Read more about this news on page 14]. The new seafloor maps will be used to develop habitat maps and characterizations to support the restoration of mesophotic and deep benthic communities in the region damaged by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
In an era where we often know more about the surface of the moon than our own seafloor, utilizing new-age tools, like uncrewed systems, represents our best chance at finally seeing the full picture of the world beneath the waves.
To learn more, visit: https://woolpert.com/
This Opinion was published in ECO’s Issue II 2026. To view in the magazine, please click here.
