Development of New BAthymetric DAta for Ocean Numerical Model in South Korea: BADA 2019

The importance of accurate bathymetry data is widely recognized due to its broad applications to ocean science and related engineering fields. In South Korea, for the purpose of ocean numerical models, global bathymetry data such as GEBCO_2019 (GEBCO, 2019) and ETOPO1 (NOAA, 2008) are generally adopted. However, these datasets don't necessarily have enough spatial resolution for best performance of modeling. Furthermore, as they are made using nautical charts based on minimum safe depth, they do not reflect realistic bathymetry and should therefore be upgraded.

Following it, we developed a new bathymetry dataset, BAthymetric DAta 2019 (BADA 2019) using bathymetry survey data produced by Korea Hydrographic and Oceanographic Agency (KHOA). The new bathymetric map extends from coastal regions to Exclusive Economic Zone in South Korea with horizontal resolution of 5 arc-seconds (c.f. 15 and 60 arc-seconds for GEBCO_2019 and ETOP01 respectively). In this talk, we explain algorithm where we extract small-volume data for modeling from big-volume survey data. Among all datasets available, we demonstrate that BADA 2019 best reproduces major channels and complex coastlines in South Korea and discuss its utility for ocean numerical models.