Swells, Soundings, and Sustainability, but…"Here Be Monsters"

Dawn Wright
2017 Oceanography  
We have been mapping the oceans for hundreds of years, from the stick charts of the ancient Marshall Islanders to the initial soundings of the 19 th -century Challenger expedition, to the multibeam sonars and robots of modern surveys. Today we map the oceans not only to increase fundamental scientific understanding of the ocean system, but also to protect life and property, promote economic vitality, and inform ecosystem-based management and policy. Towards this end, the United Nations
more » ... le Development Goals provide an overarching context for modern map development, drawing upon a vast wealth of maps and mapping experience that couples appropriate data with spatial analyses. At the same time, there is an overarching need for more compelling map design to help effectively communicate results and future predictions across a wide variety of specific questions. Indeed, modern-day mapping systems have become increasingly "intelligent," and these "smart maps" are changing what we measure, how we analyze and evaluate systems, how we forecast, and even how we develop new regulations. Intelligent maps are addressing a myriad of challenges from the tracking of marine debris and marine mammals, to "geodesigning" the ocean to support multiple uses (commercial fishing, recreation, alternative energy, transportation, conservation), to the creation of scientific cyberinfrastructures for ocean observatories. Yet "there be monsters"the major research challenges that continue to confound us. Despite the growing intelligence of mapping systems, we must cope with both the over-abundance and the paucity of ocean data (i.e., "big data" and "dark data"), data multidimensionality, the need to increase data resiliency and the ability to make data more accessible to many audiences. How do we address these major issues to create open and effective access to ocean science that will contribute to the global public good and ultimately to the sustainability of Planet Ocean?
doi:10.5670/oceanog.2017.207 fatcat:i34aw3ynrnahrfky2ztboa5nny