Seabed 2030 partners TCarta and the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI) co-hosted a week-long regional training workshop on Satellite-Derived Bathymetry (SDB) in Mombasa, Kenya, held from 17-21 November. The workshop was delivered with funding and support from The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project and sponsorship from Esri Eastern Africa.
The training brought together 24 participants from eight Western Indian Ocean countries: Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Somalia and Tanzania. Attendees represented a wide range of professional backgrounds, including university students, GIS analysts, hydrographers, marine scientists and institutional leaders.
Over the course of the week, participants developed practical skills in marine remote sensing and end-to-end SDB production, including:
- Bathymetry extraction and processing
- Quality assessment and validation
- Integration of SDB into marine mapping workflows
- Space-based water quality assessment
- Shoreline, intertidal and seafloor mapping techniques
Using Esri ArcPro alongside TCarta’s Trident Tools, attendees gained hands-on experience in generating SDB products from start to finish. Esri provided ArcPro licences to facilitate the training.
A key component of the workshop involved the production of SDB data for Bazaruto Archipelago National Park, Mozambique, which is being contributed to Seabed 2030. Participants are now producing SDB in their own countries, which will further global ocean-mapping efforts.
TCarta’s work delivering SDB training has contributed valuable datasets to Seabed 2030, particularly in regions where traditional surveys are challenging. This recent workshop continues this collaborative effort, with participants now helping to expand the availability of satellite-derived bathymetry across the Western Indian Ocean.
The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project is proud to support initiatives that bring together regional expertise, cutting-edge tools and shared learning, all contributing to the global effort to map the ocean floor by 2030.