NOAA Expedition Data for Mid-Atlantic Ridge ROV Dives and Bathymetry

56,769 square kilometers of seafloor bathymetry and water column data were collected during a 28-day NOAA Ocean Exploration expedition in 2022. The expedition completed 9 remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dives, totaling 41 hours of bottom time at depths from 250 to 6000 meters. Data from the Voyage to the Ridge 3 expedition is archived and publicly available by NOAA.

Use Cases

• Classify seafloor terrain types using bathymetry depth and backscatter data from the EM304 multibeam sonar.
• Model species distribution by correlating ROV dive observation data with associated bathymetric features and water column properties.
• Analyze dive efficiency by examining ROV bottom time, dive count, and operational depth ranges across different geographic regions.
• Map geological features of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge using the high-resolution bathymetric data collected over the surveyed area.

Strengths

• Covers 56,769 square kilometers of mapped seafloor bathymetry.
• Includes data from 9 ROV dives providing 41 hours of direct seafloor observation.

Limitations

• Specific data formats (e.g., CSV, JSON) and column schemas for the bathymetry and ROV logs are not provided.
• The dataset's primary archival formats (XML, HTML) may require extraction for direct analytical use.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce.

Collection Method

Collected via ship-based EM304 multibeam sonar mapping and remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dives during the EX-22 06 expedition.

Time Range

August 6 to September 2, 2022.

Freshness

Data was collected in August-September 2022, with metadata last updated in April 2026.

Geography

Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Azores Plateau, and U.S. waters near Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.