Stay up to date on news and features about aquatic habitat mapping with BioBase
BioBase is excited to announce the release of a new “Easy Button” for designing hydroacoustic (sonar) mapping surveys. The initial release of our Survey Toolkit Transect creator includes an automated transect creator based on basic information you provide about your waterbody, transect spacing, and orientation. The toolkit provides a .gpx route file compatible with any brand GPS chartplotter for navigation.
Continue reading “New Release: BioBase Survey Toolkit – Transect Creator”
BioBase software automates things, and water volume analysis was next on our list. Accurate water volume estimation is a foundational requirement for lake, pond, reservoir, and stormwater management, hydropower operations, sedimentation studies, and regulatory reporting. Until now, it was a complicated job of manual calculations left to civil engineers. As a result, despite its importance, everyday practitioners have been relegated to either using curves drawn on yellowing paper from the 1970’s or just “ballparking” water volume from some spot measurements and crude math. Not anymore!
BioBase now automates this process by generating hypsographic (otherwise known as hypsometric) water volume analyses for every upload and merged survey. These analyses quantify water volume as a function of depth, producing both visual and tabular outputs that are immediately usable for technical analysis.
Continue reading “Whole Lake Water Volume Analysis with BioBase: Hypsographic Curves”
With BioBase, we continue to make the process of creating aquatic maps faster and better and deliver data to practitioners that will make them better at their craft. A better lake manager, means better outcomes for clients/stakeholders and conservation. Here, we focus on our new Polygon Edit feature.
We’ve improved the process of creating polygons on user maps that allows them to analyze sections of a map and extract important information for research and management. The polygon feature is one of our most popular features used over a thousand times a year by BioBase users to calculate water volumes for herbicide treatments, dredge areas, sizing aeration systems, quantifying fish aggregations, etc.
First, for new comers to BioBase, review the basics of the polygon feature in the EcoSound User Manual found on our Support Resources page or watch a quick how to video.
Continue reading “Polygon editing and other processing improvements”
Since the launch of EcoFish™ in May 2025, we’ve focused primarily on how much the product can help Fisheries Researchers and Managers understand more about the critters they are charged with managing, especially how many fish are where and how are they relating to habitat. Well, in addition to managing the fish and habitat in private ponds, managers can also help their clients and guests find and catch more fish with BioBase tools. Specifically, our newly enhanced waypoint feature coupled with the EcoFish layer and Lowrance®/Simrad® Chart Export tool can help put anglers on fish!
This blog will be updated continuously to document dates of major feature releases, known bugs, and other release notes.
Continue reading “BioBase Mapping Application Release Notes”
Announcing EcoFish TM! A Game-Changing BioBase fish mapping layer powered by Echoview Software, the industry leader in fisheries hydroacoustic processing technology.
Now, anyone with a Lowrance® or Simrad® depth finder can generate detailed counts, depths, relative size, and location of fish. Not only that, but also at the same time with no additional work, acquire critical habitat details including surface water temperature, depth contours, bottom hardness, aquatic vegetation abundance, and detailed side-scan imagery of habitat. If you want the webinar version to learn more, check it out on our YouTube Channel, otherwise read on…
Continue reading “Announcing the BioBase Fish Mapping Layer: EcoFish!”
Guest Blog by
Dr. Jaime A. Cavazos-Álvarez
Volcanologist and Postdoctoral Researcher
Instituto de Geociencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)
jcavazos@geociencias.unam.mx
When gazing at a peaceful lake, have you ever wondered about its origin? What natural treasures are hidden underwater? How are rocks and life continuously adapting? Well, usually the answers to these questions are far from their characteristic steady landscapes. The answers to these questions lie underwater, usually leaving much to our imagination. Now, with BioBase we are closer than ever in seeing what’s inside these lakes. And, as expected, while solving these questions many others emerged. I will take this opportunity to share a couple of case studies of fascinating lakes in Mexico, and how BioBase has opened new paths towards their understanding.
2025-01-17
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BioBase LLC and Echoview Software Partner to Launch EcoFish: A Game-Changing Fish Mapping Layer
Nashville, TN USA — January 17th 2025 — BioBase LLC, a leader in cloud-based automated aquatic habitat mapping, is proud to announce a strategic partnership with Echoview Software Pty Ltd, experts in hydroacoustic science and software. In early 2025, BioBase is set to launch EcoFish: an innovative fish data and mapping layer generated by Echoview and seamlessly integrated into BioBase’s platform.
EcoFish will provide users with unprecedented insights into the location and number of fish in waterbodies mapped using Lowrance® and Simrad® sonars. Leveraging Echoview’s comprehensive and trusted data processing capabilities, EcoFish will offer valuable tools for fisheries management, research, and conservation.
“Our collaboration with Echoview represents a significant leap forward in our mission to democratize the process of creating powerful datasets and maps of aquatic environments,” said Ray Valley, President of BioBase. “We’ve long recognized that to take BioBase to the next level and enable better fisheries monitoring and conservation, fish need to be included in the suite of map layers BioBase creates. Our partnership with Echoview gets us there.”
Echoview’s expertise in processing and visualizing sonar data is the cornerstone of EcoFish’s capabilities. By integrating this technology into the BioBase platform, users will benefit from:
“We’re thrilled to partner with BioBase to bring EcoFish to life,” said Brett Merritt, CEO of Echoview Software. “This collaboration aligns with our vision of increasing the accessibility and usage of active acoustic data across a wide range of sectors, budgets, and experience. We expect that EcoFish will be used to inform sustainable management decisions for aquatic ecosystems by offering a way to quickly and easily extract valuable information about organisms in their survey data.”
EcoFish will be officially launched in early 2025, with demonstrations and early access opportunities available. To receive updates follow us at biobasemaps.com, our blog, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, or X
About BioBase LLC. BioBase (biobasemaps.com) is the only commercial cloud platform specifically focused on automating the processing and map creation from off-the-shelf sonars. Through automation and cloud processing, BioBase enables the freshwater and coastal science professionals to focus their efforts on aquatic resource conservation and not making a map.
About Echoview Software. Echoview Software (echoview.com) provides industry-leading software and expertise in hydroacoustic data processing. Our flagship product, Echoview®, facilitates echosounder and sonar data analysis for fine-scale behavioral observations, ecosystem-level monitoring, stock assessments, ecological research, and more. Echoview has been used in more than 70 countries by governments, scientists, commercial fishing companies, environmental consultants and non-government organizations for 30 years, supporting the understanding and sustainable use of aquatic resources.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Ray Valley
President, BioBase LLC
ray.valley@biobasemaps.com
(+1) 651-204-0640
As part of our ongoing efforts to enhance security and improve user experience, BioBasemaps.com will be updating its sign-up and sign-in process. These changes took effect on October 22nd, 2024. Existine customers should follow the steps outlined here to log in and merge their trips/merges into the new accounts.
Optimizing GPS Heading for Accurate Data
“Discover how the correct heading of your portable GPS puck in the BioBase portable kit can dramatically impact the accuracy of your maps and data outcomes. In this tutorial, we guide you through the importance of proper alignment and demonstrate the effects of incorrect positioning on your aquatic habitat maps. Perfect for aquatic habitat managers and anyone using the BioBase portable kit, this video ensures you get the most precise data from your GPS setup. Watch now to optimize your mapping accuracy!”
For more tips and tricks or how to use BioBase visit our support resources page, or other tips and tricks like Tips and Tricks – Upload Trips Remotely
