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Old 21-01-2012, 06:41   #1
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OpenCPN Depth Support and Bathymetric Data

I think there is a need for the ability to record depth along with the standard GPX data. This could be done as an extension like humming bird does:
<wpt lat="58.876224" lon="011.194387">
<time>2008-07-13T21:24:52Z</time>
<name>001</name>
<sym>Waypoint</sym>
<extensions>
<h:depth>739</h:depth>
<h:status>1</h:status>
</extensions>
</wpt>
[However the units should be meters not cm.]

Why? Well boats that can record depth remotely along with position could contribute to a bythymetric database like this project NOAA started but abandoned: ARGUS Beta Testing and more impressively check out their sample dataset in action: ARGUS Solution Sets

A public database could be setup so people could download this bathymetric data to OpenCPN (or others) and turn on the public depth layer for more information.

I've touched on this idea in an earlier thread about imgkap, but after more research I found this Argus project to really help illustrate the power of my point.

Could something like this be accomplished via a plug-in or is the NMEA/GPX data not accessible?

Thanks,
Eric
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Old 21-01-2012, 07:07   #2
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Re: OpenCPN depth support and Bathymetric data

Eric...
The NMEA stream is accessible to plugins very easily (look at dashboard plugin).
What I don't really like much is the idea that it should be stored in the navobject data - many reasons, including size, performance, manageability if there are more people who want to share the data etc. The argus project collected over 17 million soundings with just about 30 participating boats (the most active one produced almost 3.5 million) - stuff like this is clearly not a usecase for GPX.

Pavel
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Old 21-01-2012, 09:01   #3
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Re: OpenCPN depth support and Bathymetric data

"What I don't really like much is the idea that it should be stored in the navobject data - many reasons, including size, performance, manageability if there are more people who want to share the data etc. The argus project collected over 17 million soundings with just about 30 participating boats (the most active one produced almost 3.5 million) - stuff like this is clearly not a usecase for GPX."
My thinking is GPX (with depth extension) would just be the collection medium. The data would have to be collated on-line, corrected and smoothed and then redistributed as a layer that could be quickly displayed in OpenCPN perhaps as contours.

I was pretty excited to see the Argus project, but I think the data collection and processing would be better if in an open source domain.
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Old 21-01-2012, 09:12   #4
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Re: OpenCPN depth support and Bathymetric data

Eric...
Have a look at http://www.teamsurv.eu/ - Their server is awfully slow, but sure worth examining if you think about a project like this as they already have some experience in this area.

Pavel
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Old 22-01-2012, 05:38   #5
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Re: OpenCPN depth support and Bathymetric data

Quote:
Originally Posted by nohal View Post
Eric...
Have a look at http://www.teamsurv.eu/ - Their server is awfully slow, but sure worth examining if you think about a project like this as they already have some experience in this area.

Pavel
Wow, you weren't kidding! Glacial would be a better description. Interesting projects, Teamsurv and what Eric is proposing.
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Old 22-01-2012, 06:37   #6
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Re: OpenCPN Depth Support and Bathymetric Data

Are they using a laptop with dial-up for a server?

TeamSurv is pretty much my idea but using OpenCPN to produce the logs (GPX with extended depth). I also think there should be some bathymetric vector overlay data (which could be turned on and off) instead of how they are remaking the charts. Mostly because the depth data would be a bit dubious especially in remote, low traffic areas.

Computing the tidal estimates and discrepancies between boats (can't assume that each boat has dialed in their transducer offsets correctly) are also big sources for errors. So flipping on and off the crowd sourced data easily is probably important.

I was thinking that once the layer is built I suppose a OpenCPN plug-in could connect to the server and download and display the depth overlay for specified regions.

Perhaps we could get teamsurv involved since they have already done all the back end data processing...?
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Old 27-03-2012, 02:30   #7
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Re: OpenCPN Depth Support and Bathymetric Data

Eric...
I have done some initial coding, have a look at http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...gin-79178.html

Pavel
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Old 26-03-2013, 10:11   #8
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Re: OpenCPN Depth Support and Bathymetric Data

Actually you can already log data in OpenCPN using the VDR plugin.
See here for details on how to do this: TeamSurv - Navigation Software Compatability
And the server is a bit faster now, but bear in mind that we are rendering data from a database that has well over 50 million data points in it so far, rather than displaying pre-rendered images, so we will always have a challenge to enhance performance as the data set sizes.
Next iteration in the project is to make the output charts available in BSB format, so they will plug in to OpenCPN and other applications.
All data contributions welcome!
Tim
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