Bathymetry — available datasets#
The bathymetry backend ships curated DEM rows across two transports. Pick one
with the dataset= argument. Every row is a static elevation grid with a single
band in metres relative to sea level (negative = below sea level).
- Global DEMs (ERDDAP
griddap) — GEBCO / ETOPO, served as NOAA ERDDAP coverages, subset server-side to the request bbox. - European high-resolution DEM (OGC WCS) — EMODnet Bathymetry, read through
pyramids
Dataset.from_wcs; the coastal / shelf complement to the global DEMs.
dataset= |
DEM | Native resolution | Band | Transport | Server / coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
gebco_2020 |
GEBCO 2020 (topography + bathymetry) | 15 arc-second | elevation |
ERDDAP griddap |
NOAA CoastWatch ERDDAP |
etopo1_ice |
ETOPO1 global relief, Ice Surface | 1 arc-minute | z |
ERDDAP griddap |
NOAA upwell ERDDAP |
etopo1_bedrock |
ETOPO1 global relief, Bedrock | 1 arc-minute | z |
ERDDAP griddap |
NOAA upwell ERDDAP |
emodnet |
EMODnet Bathymetry DTM, latest release (DTM 2024) | ~3.75 arc-second | elevation |
OGC WCS | EMODnet Bathymetry WCS (emodnet:mean) |
emodnet_2022 |
EMODnet Bathymetry DTM, 2022 release | ~3.75 arc-second | elevation |
OGC WCS | EMODnet Bathymetry WCS (emodnet:mean_2022) |
emodnet_2020 |
EMODnet Bathymetry DTM, 2020 release | ~3.75 arc-second | elevation |
OGC WCS | EMODnet Bathymetry WCS (emodnet:mean_2020) |
emodnet_2018 |
EMODnet Bathymetry DTM, 2018 release | ~3.75 arc-second | elevation |
OGC WCS | EMODnet Bathymetry WCS (emodnet:mean_2018) |
emodnet_2016 |
EMODnet Bathymetry DTM, 2016 release | ~3.75 arc-second | elevation |
OGC WCS | EMODnet Bathymetry WCS (emodnet:mean_2016) |
The ETOPO / EMODnet release is the dataset id, not a variables knob: choose
etopo1_ice vs etopo1_bedrock, or emodnet (latest) vs a year-stamped
emodnet_2022 / _2020 / _2018 / _2016.
EMODnet Bathymetry (European seas)#
dataset="emodnet" fetches the EMODnet Digital Terrain Model — a high-resolution
(~3.75 arc-second) grid of mean sea-floor depth harmonised from national
hydrographic surveys and satellite-derived bathymetry, covering European seas
and the extended NE-Atlantic domain (roughly longitude −70.5°..43°, latitude
11°..90°). It is read over OGC WCS via pyramids Dataset.from_wcs and cropped
to the request bbox.
Because the coverage is regional, a request whose bounding box falls entirely
outside that domain raises a clear error pointing you back at the global DEMs
(gebco_2020 / etopo1_ice) — the WCS server would otherwise return a
zero-filled grid rather than an error.
Licence / attribution. EMODnet Bathymetry is provided under the EMODnet use conditions (attribution required). Cite: EMODnet Digital Bathymetry (DTM 2024), EMODnet Bathymetry Consortium (doi:10.12770/cf51df64-56f9-4a99-b1aa-36b8d7b743a1). See the EMODnet terms of use.
Facade aliases#
Two friendly aliases route to the same backend, so a script reads the way you think about the data:
data_source="gebco"— then passdataset="gebco_2020".data_source="etopo"— then passdataset="etopo1_ice"ordataset="etopo1_bedrock".
data_source="bathymetry" works with any of the dataset= ids (including the
emodnet rows).
Listing the ids programmatically#
from earthlens.bathymetry import Catalog
catalog = Catalog()
sorted(catalog.datasets)
# ['emodnet', 'emodnet_2016', 'emodnet_2018', 'emodnet_2020', 'emodnet_2022',
# 'etopo1_bedrock', 'etopo1_ice', 'gebco_2020']
catalog.get("gebco_2020").variable # 'elevation'
catalog.get("emodnet").transport # 'wcs'
catalog.get("emodnet").dataset_id # 'emodnet:mean'
Versions#
The global rows are the versions cleanly subsettable over the public ERDDAP
griddap transport today (GEBCO 2020 and ETOPO1). For EMODnet, emodnet tracks
the latest published DTM release while the year-stamped ids pin an earlier one.
Newer global releases (ETOPO 2022, later GEBCO grids) are not yet exposed as a
bbox-subsettable ERDDAP coverage on the public hosts; when they are, they can be
added as extra catalog rows without any backend change.