Multibeam bathymetry raw data using the ship's own Kongsberg EM 122 multibeam echosounder was almost continuously recorded during RV MARIA S. MERIAN cruise MSM42. Data was recorded on 20 days between 2015-05-03 and 2015-05-22. This dataset contains a survey in the North Atlantic Ocean. The approximate average depth of the entire dataset is around 3900m.
The data are archived at the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency of Germany (Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie, BSH) and provided to PANGAEA database for data curation and publication. Ancillary sound velocity profiles (SVP) files from the cruise are archived at the BSH, thus SVP files are added to this dataset. Nevertheless, the origin of these SVP files is unknown. Data analysis of the multibeam raw data revealed that SVP has been changed several times during the survey. This publication is conducted within the efforts of the German Marine Research Alliance in the core area 'Data management and Digitalization' (Deutsche Allianz Meeresforschung, DAM).
Data are unprocessed and therefore contains incorrect depth measurements (artifacts) without further processing. Note that refraction errors can be expected due to the lack of proper SVP. Overall, it appears that the data quality is rather good since the gridded hillshade data showed relatively few obstacles. However continuous artifacts in the nadir range of the swath can be observed.
Data can be processed e.g. with the open source software package MB-System (Caress, D. W., and D. N. Chayes, MB-System: Mapping the Seafloor, http://www.mbari.org/products/research-software/mb-system/, 2022).
