The Shell Ocean Discovery Xprize Competition Impact on the Development of Ocean Mapping Possibilities

Abstract The paper presents the impact that the XPRIZE Foundation competition, the Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE, has had on the development of current ocean mapping possibilities. A race for the prize has accelerated the development of innovative seabed mapping approaches that concentrated on new systems engineering or cutting-edge and innovative methods of existing equipment exploitation. The GEBCO - Nippon Foundation (NF) Alumni Team’s entry is presented in details as a state of the art example of mature and robust oceanmapping solution utilizing a high degree of autonomy and providing the possibilities of deepocean mapping that were unattainable before.