The International Bathymetric Chart of the Southern Ocean Project (IBCSO) aims to produce the authoritative map of the Southern Ocean and South Pacific, South Atlantic, and South Indian Ocean south of 50°S. It is a regional undersea mapping project of the General Bathymetric Chart of the Ocean (GEBCO). GEBCO again is under the auspice of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO. Since 2017, IBCSO is also part of the Nippon Foundation – GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project.

In June 2022, the second version of IBCSO (IBCSO v2) was published in Scientific Data and portraits the seafloor in so far unprecedented detail. 23.6% of seafloor (in 500 m × 500 m resolution) are covered by direct measurements. In total, IBCSO v2 is based on over 25 Billion soundings, the largest database of shipborne depth measurements for the seafloor south of 50°S. IBCSO v2 was only possible with data contribution from 88 institutes from 22 countries.

For continued improvements to IBCSO, we need your input. If you have data and you are happy share these, or if you want to give feedback and suggestions, please get in This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit us at ibcso.org.