Development of the Geophysical Data Base Variable resolution (GDBV) Version 2 using HDF5

The Geophysical Data Base Variable resolution Version 2 (GDBV V2) provides a high performance database format for ocean bottom characterization by utilizing a flexible data model implemented using the Hierarchical Data Format Version 5 (HDF5). GDBV V2 has been developed by the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and Lockheed Martin in close collaboration with the Naval Océanographie Office (NAVOCEANO). GDBV has been designed to support the parameters stored in NAV-OCEANO's ocean bottom database products: Low Frequency Bottom Loss (LFBL), High Frequency Bottom Loss (HFBL), and Bottom Sediment Type (BST). In this paper, we describe the initial study to select the HDF5 format, as well as details regarding the GDBV data model, utilities, and implementation. Using the current GDBV V2 release candidate, we also present the initial performance statistics, which reveal excellent performance as compared to the current NAVOCEANO database formats.