In five years, a comprehensive map of Earth's oceans will be created, enabling us to explore the deepest, darkest corners of the seas.

The ocean covers 71% of the Earth's surface, is home to a vast number of species, and remains one of the greatest mysteries of our planet. This immense area of our world is poorly explored and understood, but now the new global initiative Seabed 2030 by the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO aims to change that. Experts intend to create a map of the entire ocean floor by the end of this decade, as reported by IFLScience.

This goal is extremely ambitious, given the array of technical, financial, and political challenges involved. Nevertheless, some experts are rather skeptical: mapping most of the ocean in five years seems like a daunting task, but scientists are working on developments that could make this goal attainable in a shorter timeframe.

One such approach has provided new data for mapping coastlines in 14 different countries. The total area mapped is 217,560 square kilometers with an average resolution of 100 meters, covering many regions that were previously uncharted, from the Solomon Islands to Baja California.

The work was carried out by the Greenwater Foundation under the support and guidance of Victor Vescovo's Caladan Oceanic. Experts note that in areas where the water is clear, mapping is done using light instead of sonar up to a depth of 30 meters. Generally, this process occurs using boats and planes, which often requires a lot of time and fuel. Instead, scientists employed a method called satellite-derived bathymetry (SDB), utilizing satellite data to create these detailed maps.

According to Victor Vescovo, last year he and his colleagues managed to map a quarter of a million square kilometers at approximately $2 per square kilometer — significantly cheaper than one might expect. Researchers highlight that sonar beams cannot travel long distances in shallow waters, thus the area that can be mapped using ship-based sonar is quite limited, making the method not very cost-effective.

However, satellites can simultaneously survey vast areas. During the study, the team also explored how to train machine learning tools to assist operators in creating even more coastal maps with greater efficiency and accuracy. Researchers hope that in the future, they will achieve accuracy of less than 1 meter.

Scientists have found that coastal areas can be easily mapped using satellites, but what about deeper points in the seas and oceans? In these areas, the water is too deep for light to penetrate, yet still close enough to the shore, with depths ranging from 30 to 500 meters. Experts believe that in these regions, automated vehicles can navigate up and down, mapping as they go.

According to Vescovo, they will be aided by a new vessel that experts are currently working on. The construction of this vessel is expected to be completed in the next few years. With a crew of just one or two people, it will essentially be a semi-autonomous ship that can head out to sea for two to three weeks at a time, covering large routes with the most powerful mapping sonar.

It is worth noting that currently around 300 million square kilometers of the ocean floor remains unexplored. Scientists hope that reducing the cost of mapping per square meter in the future will significantly accelerate the task of exploring the ocean floor on Earth.