Authorship and Acknowledgements

This document was commissioned out of the 16th annual meeting of the IHO Crowdsourced Bathymetry Working Group (CSBWG) held in March 2025 in Wellington, New Zealand. These efforts are the result of a request by new and interested Crowdsourced Bathymetry (CSB) initiatives within various member organizations for clear guidelinesguidance and examples for how to create, recruit, operate, and maintain a CSB program. This document draws on the knowledge and resources of several major Trusted Nodes and Hydrographic Offices that participate in the IHO CSBWG and highlights the information found to be most pertinent by these entities through trial-and-error. All information reflected here is an amalgamation of experience, but not necessarily the only path to success. 

WeThe authors would like to acknowledge the work of organizations which have contributed majorly to this effort including the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project, NOAA’sNational NCEIOceanic and DCDB,Atmospheric Administration's National Centers for Environmental Information and the co-located IHO Data Centre for Digital Bathymetry, University of New Hampshire's Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping (CCOM), University of South Florida’s Center for Ocean Mapping and Innovative Technologies (COMIT), Orange Force Marine, and the International SeaKeepers Society, as well as other partner organizations which have contributed to amassing the knowledge contained in this document.

We would also like to recognize the role of Seabed2030,global organizations and initiatives, such as the Nippon Foundation,Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project, the IHO,GEBCO Programme and GEBCOthe International Hydrographic Organization for their roles in bringing together interested parties to contribute to the overall use and compilation of global crowdsourced bathymetry data. 

This document provides technical and practical guidance only that in no way supersede national or international laws and regulations.