A data-centered approach to hydrographic processing

Summary form only given. The rise of multibeam echo sounders and digital side scan sonar systems during the past decade has required that organizations engaged in hydrographic surveying must handle increasingly large volumes of complex data. Some organizations have investigated very large spatial databases as tools for managing these data, usually as a repository for final processed soundings and associated attributes. While this approach has many benefits for the management of hydrographic data, it does not address many of the difficulties inherent in processing, editing and modeling data from modern digital hydrographic surveys. Racal Pelagos Inc. has created a novel method of handling hydrographic data in a data-centered manner through the entire processing stream, thereby realizing substantial efficiency and quality benefits. This system enables management of the entire data stream, from acquisition to charting, within a relational database environment. The database schema models all aspects of the processing workflow and utilizes recent advances in spatial database technology to provide fast on-the-fly access to data at all processing steps. The system demonstrates a migration of relational database techniques from the periphery of hydrographic data processing, as file servers and data stores, to a central element of all processing tasks.