BlueTopo
Office of Coast Survey
Data Set
(DS)
| ID: 75311
| Published / External
Created: 2025-03-21
|
Last Modified: 2025-03-28
Project (PRJ) | ID: 37241
ID: 75311
Data Set (DS)
* Discovery• First Pass
» Metadata Rubric
Item Identification
| * » Title | BlueTopo |
|---|---|
| Short Name | BlueTopo |
| * Status | On Going |
| Creation Date | 2021-05-14 |
| Revision Date | |
| • Publication Date | |
| * » Abstract |
BlueTopo is a compilation of the nation's best available bathymetric data. Created as part of the NOAA Office of Coast Survey's nautical charting mission and its National Bathymetric Source (NBS) program, BlueTopo is curated bathymetric source data to provide a definitive nationwide model of the seafloor and navigational lakes. In the same way that a topographic map details the height of land, BlueTopo details the depth of lake beds and seafloor beneath navigationally significant U.S. waters. Primary sources of bathymetry in NBS compilations include NOAA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hydrographic surveys and topographic bathymetric (topo-bathy) lidar (light detection and ranging) data. Data submitted through the NOAA Office of Coast Survey's external source data process are also included. Coverage gaps in water over 200 meters are filled in BlueTopo through Global Multi-Resolution Topography, a merged model of bathymetry made available through Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. In addition to compiled bathymetry, BlueTopo contains metadata with quality metrics from the source data to enable the appropriate use of the product. |
| * Purpose |
Created as part of the NOAA Office of Coast Survey's nautical charting mission and its National Bathymetric Source (NBS) program, BlueTopo is curated bathymetric source data to provide a definitive nationwide model of the seafloor and navigational lakes. In the same way that a topographic map details the height of land, BlueTopo details the depth of lake beds and seafloor beneath navigationally significant U.S. waters. |
| Notes |
Primary sources of bathymetry in NBS compilations include NOAA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hydrographic surveys and topographic bathymetric (topo-bathy) lidar (light detection and ranging) data. Data submitted through the NOAA Office of Coast Survey's external source data process are also included. Coverage gaps in water over 200 meters are filled in BlueTopo through Global Multi-Resolution Topography, a merged model of bathymetry made available through Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. In addition to compiled bathymetry, BlueTopo contains metadata with quality metrics from the source data to enable the appropriate use of the product. |
| Other Citation Details | |
| • Supplemental Information | |
| DOI (Digital Object Identifier) | |
| DOI Registration Authority | |
| DOI Issue Date |
Keywords
Theme Keywords
| Thesaurus | Keyword |
|---|---|
| Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords | EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > BATHYMETRY/SEAFLOOR TOPOGRAPHY > BATHYMETRY |
Temporal Keywords
| Thesaurus | Keyword |
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* Spatial Keywords
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Stratum Keywords
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Instrument Keywords
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Platform Keywords
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Physical Location
| • » Organization | Office of Coast Survey |
|---|---|
| • » City | Silver Spring |
| • » State/Province | MD |
| • Country | United States |
| • » Location Description |
Data Set Information
| * Data Set Scope Code | Model |
|---|---|
| • Data Set Type | GeoTiff |
| • Maintenance Frequency | Continually |
| Maintenance Note | |
| » Data Presentation Form | Model (digital) |
| • Entity Attribute Overview |
For entity attribute information, please see: https://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/data/bluetopo.html |
| Entity Attribute Detail Citation |
https://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/data/bluetopo_specs.html |
| Entity Attribute Detail URL | https://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/data/bluetopo_specs.html |
| Distribution Liability |
Creative Commons - CC0-1.0 |
| Data Set Credit | Source information is included with each file. |
Support Roles
| * » Support Role | Data Steward |
|---|---|
| * » Date Effective From | 2025 |
| Date Effective To | |
| Organization | Office of Coast Survey (OCS) |
| Address |
1315 East West Highway Silver Spring, MD 20910 |
| Email Address | |
| Phone | |
| Fax | |
| Mobile | |
| URL | https://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/ |
| Business Hours | |
| Contact Instructions |
ocs.nbs@noaa.gov |
| * » Support Role | Distributor |
|---|---|
| * » Date Effective From | 2025 |
| Date Effective To | |
| Organization | Office of Coast Survey (OCS) |
| Address |
1315 East West Highway Silver Spring, MD 20910 |
| Email Address | |
| Phone | |
| Fax | |
| Mobile | |
| URL | https://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/ |
| Business Hours | |
| Contact Instructions |
| * » Support Role | Metadata Contact |
|---|---|
| * » Date Effective From | 2025 |
| Date Effective To | |
| Organization | Office of Coast Survey (OCS) |
| Address |
1315 East West Highway Silver Spring, MD 20910 |
| Email Address | |
| Phone | |
| Fax | |
| Mobile | |
| URL | https://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/ |
| Business Hours | |
| Contact Instructions |
ocs.nbs@noaa.gov |
| * » Support Role | |
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| * » Date Effective From | |
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| * Contact Instructions |
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| * Contact Instructions |
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| * » Contact | |
| * Contact Instructions |
Extents
| Currentness Reference |
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Extent Group 1
| Extent Description |
|---|
Extent Group 1 / Geographic Area 1
| * » W° Bound | 150 |
|---|---|
| * » E° Bound | 60 |
| * » N° Bound | 75 |
| * » S° Bound | 0 |
| * » Description |
Ocean Sector |
Extent Group 1 / Vertical Extent 1
| EPSG Code | EPSG:5703 |
|---|---|
| Vertical Minimum | -6000.0 |
| Vertical Maximum | 20.0 |
Extent Group 1 / Time Frame 1
| * » Time Frame Type | Continuing |
|---|---|
| * » Start | 1807 |
| End | |
| Alternate Start As Of Info | |
| Alternate End As Of Info | |
| Description |
Spatial Information
Spatial Resolution
| Angular Distance | |
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| Equivalent Scale Denominator | |
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Spatial Representation
| Grid Representation Used? | Yes |
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| Vector Representation Used? | |
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| TIN Representation Used? | |
| Stereo Model Representation Used? | |
| Video Representation Used? |
Grid Representation
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Vector Representation
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Reference Systems
Reference System
| EPSG Code | EPSG:5703 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Horizontal Resolution |
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Vertical Resolution |
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Reference System
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Horizontal Resolution |
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Vertical Resolution |
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Access Information
| Data License | CC0-1.0 |
|---|---|
| Data License URL | https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ |
| Data License Statement | These data were produced by NOAA and are not subject to copyright protection in the United States. NOAA waives any potential copyright and related rights in these data worldwide through the Creative Commons Zero 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication (CC0-1.0). |
| * » Security Class | Unclassified |
| * Security Classification System | |
| Security Handling Description | |
| • Data Access Policy | |
| » Data Access Procedure | |
| • » Data Access Constraints |
Unrestricted |
| • Data Use Constraints |
Data use constraints for BlueTopo vary as it is derived from multiple source datasets. Please check the source data layer for specific data use constraints. |
| Metadata Access Constraints | |
| Metadata Use Constraints |
Distribution Information
| Start Date | |
|---|---|
| » Download URL | https://noaa-ocs-nationalbathymetry-pds.s3.amazonaws.com/index.html#BlueTopo/ |
| Distributor | Office of Coast Survey (OCS) (2025 - Present) |
| File Name | |
| Description |
Three-layer GeoTIFFs with elevation, uncertainty, contributor information, and raster attribute table (RAT) layers. All layers are presented as 32-bit floating point values. Available to download through NOAA's Open Data Dissemination Program at Amazon Web Services bucket. |
| File Date/Time | |
| File Type (Deprecated) | |
| Distribution Format | GeoTIFF |
| File Size | |
| Application Version | |
| Compression | |
| Review Status |
| Start Date | |
|---|---|
| » Download URL | https://nowcoast.noaa.gov/geoserver/gwc/service/wmts?REQUEST=GetCapabilities |
| Distributor | Office of Coast Survey (OCS) (2025 - Present) |
| File Name | |
| Description |
BlueTopo is available to view and access through nowCOAST. The nowCOAST map viewer makes BlueTopo available through a web map tile service and the viewer |
| File Date/Time | |
| File Type (Deprecated) | |
| Distribution Format | TMS - Tile Map Service |
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Archive Information
| Location | |
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| File Identifier | |
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| URL | |
| Description | |
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URLs
| URL | https://noaa-ocs-nationalbathymetry-pds.s3.amazonaws.com/index.html#BlueTopo/ |
|---|---|
| Name | NOAA National Bathymetric Source Data AWS bucket |
| URL Type | Online Resource |
| File Resource Format | |
| Description |
| URL | https://nowcoast.noaa.gov/geoserver/gwc/service/wmts?REQUEST=GetCapabilities |
|---|---|
| Name | nowCOAST |
| URL Type | Other |
| File Resource Format | Web Map Tile Service |
| Description |
Web map tile service Elevation, Source Institution, Source Survey ID, Survey Date End, Bathy Coverage, Significant Features, Coverage, Uncertainty |
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Activity Log
| Activity Time | 2025-03 |
|---|---|
| Activity Type | InPort catalog item creation |
| Responsible Party | Courtney Thompson |
| Description |
Creation of InPort catalog item |
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Issues
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Technical Environment
| Description |
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Data Quality
| Representativeness | |
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| Accuracy |
Depth- and Source-dependent |
| Analytical Accuracy | |
| Horizontal Positional Accuracy |
Depth- and Source-dependent |
| Vertical Positional Accuracy |
Depth- and Source-dependent |
| Quantitation Limits | |
| Bias | |
| Comparability | |
| Completeness Measure | |
| Precision | |
| Analytical Precision | |
| Field Precision | |
| Sensitivity | |
| Detection Limit | |
| Completeness Report |
Complete |
| Conceptual Consistency |
Complete |
| » Quality Control Procedures Employed |
Data Management
| » Have Resources for Management of these Data Been Identified? | |
|---|---|
| » Approximate Percentage of Budget for these Data Devoted to Data Management | |
| » Do these Data Comply with the Data Access Directive? | |
| » Is Access to the Data Limited Based on an Approved Waiver? | |
| » If Distributor (Data Hosting Service) is Needed, Please Indicate | |
| » Approximate Delay Between Data Collection and Dissemination | |
| » If Delay is Longer than Latency of Automated Processing, Indicate Under What Authority Data Access is Delayed |
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| » Actual or Planned Long-Term Data Archive Location | |
| » If World Data Center or Other, Specify | |
| » If To Be Determined, Unable to Archive, or No Archiving Intended, Explain |
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| » Approximate Delay Between Data Collection and Archiving | |
| » How Will the Data Be Protected from Accidental or Malicious Modification or Deletion Prior to Receipt by the Archive? |
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Lineage
| » Lineage Statement |
BlueTopo is available for download as three layer GeoTIFFs with elevation, uncertainty, and raster attribute table (RAT) layers. All layers are presented as 32-bit floating point values. The bathymetry is compiled from multiple sources with varying quality and includes forms of interpolation. The bathymetric quality and interpolation is described through the vertical uncertainty layer and the associated data quality raster attribute table. |
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Sources
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Process Steps
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Acquisition Information
Instruments
| Instrument Unavailable Reason |
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| Docucomp UUID | |
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Platforms
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FAQs
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Child Items
Rubric scores updated every 15m
| Score | Type | Title |
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Related Items
| Item Type | Relationship Type | Title |
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Catalog Details
| Catalog Item ID | 75311 |
|---|---|
| Metadata Record Created By | Courtney Thompson |
| Metadata Record Created | 2025-03-21 11:17+0000 |
| Metadata Record Last Modified By | Brianna Key |
| » Metadata Record Last Modified | 2025-03-28 18:19+0000 |
| Metadata Record Published | 2025-03-28 |
| Owner Org | OCS |
| Metadata Publication Status | Published Externally |
| Do Not Publish? | N |
| Metadata Workflow State | Published / External |
| Metadata Last Review Date | 2025-03-28 |
| Metadata Review Frequency | 1 Year |
| Metadata Next Review Date | 2026-03-28 |
| Tags |
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