BioBase Mapping Application Release Notes

This blog will be updated continuously to document dates of major feature releases, known bugs, and other release notes.

Date of Deployment

2026-06-22

FEATURES/IMPROVEMENTS

• • Seamless compatibility with Deeper Sonar-collected csv files.
  • Range of back office feature enhancements for better customer support
  • Record ID is now included in any csv point export. Numeric Records are appended with a “-s” which stands for “sonar” and “-m” which stands for “manual”
  • Removed “Apply Processing Preferences” button from the trip reprocessing form that was causing user confusion when trying to change processing settings for a specific trip.
  • Users can now fully delete csv maps they don’t want in their trip library.
  • Enhanced date/time compatibility for csv uploads.

2026-06-02

Features/improvements

• • Removal of encryption for Lowrance Chart File (AT5) generation of BioBase maps. This now allows users to generate Lowrance chart files that will work on any newer generation Lowrance chartplotter. NOTE: Chart files cannot be generated and resold for commercial purposes.
  • Database updates

Known Bugs

• • Intermittent drawing order bug that draws the polygon layer under other the vegetation and bottom hardness layer making polygons impossible to see with 100% opacity. (fixed 6/22/26)
  • Users may encounter problems with reprocessing trips. In the map of the affected trip go to Details – Ask the Expert and send us a request to manually reprocess. (fixed 6/4/2026)

2026-03-24

Features/improvements

• • Migration off Bing to Azure Maps as the background BioBase Map Engine
  • A variety of required formatting changes to the map and some tools (e.g., Polygon Tool, Transect Tool)
  • Print to PDF tool for Automated Reports
  • Improvements to the Accuracy of the Sync feature for EcoFish maps and companion data
  • Fix for inaccurate storage calculations
  • Variety of other backend and processing improvements

Known Bugs

• • The export imagery tool may not load and screenshot all the image tiles present in the map. (fixed 4/9/2026)
  • Azure Map instances in the Print to PDF reports intermittently load (fixed 4/9/2026)
  • Metric conversion error in Biovolume Analysis by Depth in Reports. For users with imperial measurement settings, analysis reports list the units in feet but the numbers are actually meters. (fixed 6/2/2026)

2026-02-18

Features/improvements

• • Improvement to the Survey Toolkit/Transect Planner that allows users to request waterbody boundaries necessary for the clipping feature if we don’t have the waterbody shapefile already in our database.
  • More seamless copy paste of Lat/Long location from Google Maps to the Transect Planner “Focus Map” feature
  • Improved naming conventions of csv exports (e.g., [trip ID]_[Layer]_[Data Type – point or grid])

2026-02-09

Features/improvements

• • NEW FEATURE: Users can now upload their own analysis polygon templates (zipped .shp, .dbf, .shx files in WGS84 Coord. System)
  • Bug Fixes:
    • Tickmarks in sonar imagery now display shallower depths in MLLW tide offset trips correcting a sign issue for the tides that made the tickmarks deeper
    • Trip comments are now saving
    • Bulk Export requests are now being processed
  • Numerous other small enhancements and bug fixes

2026-01-21

features/improvements

• • NEW FEATURE: Survey Tool Kit Add-on that allows user to create transect plans for a waterbody and download the created gpx file and load into their navigation software or chartplotter.
  • NEW FEATURE: Agnostic processing of .csv files of depth and generation of bathymetric maps.  BioBase now processed generic csv files of depths manually collected or from any sonar or hydroacoustic device. Feature is available with all plans. Habitat+ subscribers get full hypsographic analyses, reports, and data exports
  • NEW FEATURE: Processing .zip files. Users can now upload compressed zip files (only one file can be in a zip file).  This is helpful for reducing file sizes of large files and speeds up uploads for users with slow internet speeds.
  • NEW FEATURE: “Trip Summary” and “Recent Activity” pages. Makes searching for trips and merges across waterbodies, dates, and users faster and easier.
  • Fix for hypsographic methods and simplification of outputs. All outputs now use the “disk” or “Trapezoidal” method of water volume calculation
  • GPX export feature now selects the active trip(s) in the viewer.
  • Additional UI enhancements, minor bug fixes, and database cleanup and upkeep.

2026-01-05

• • Released updated pricing and new full-featured deluxe BioBase Complete Plan. See the plans page (biobasemaps.com/plans) for more detail

2025-December-18

Features/improvements

• • NEW FEATURE: Automated Full Waterbody Volume Hypsographic/Hypsometric Data and Graphic Summaries for Every Habitat+ Trip/Merge
  • NEW FEATURE: Advanced back office processing controls that enhances noise filtering in shallow environments (available only on customer requested trips/uploads)
  • Additional minor bug fixes and processing improvements

2025-December-8

Features/improvements

• • NEW FEATURE: Cursor position when user clicks on the Sonar Imagery in the BioBase Map Viewer is preserved when toggling different sonar/fish views
  • Polygon and EcoFish processing improvements
  • Additional minor bug fixes and backend administration improvements

2025-November-18th

Features/improvements

• • NEW FEATURE: Users can now edit pre-existing polygons
  • Fixed a bug that listed inaccurate preferences on the web upload page.

2025-October-22nd

Features/improvements

• • Bug fix for the bulk export feature
  • Refresh of the plans page
  • HOA or Pond owners can now contact us to find a service provider in their area on our Partners Page
  • Notes are now added to waypoint exports and imports
  • Other small enhancements and bug fixes

2025-October-10th

Bug: Bulk Export feature delivers empty zip files. All individual exports at the trip or merge level still function as normal.  (fixed 10/22/25)

2025-October-6th

Features/improvements

• • Users can now export vegetation and bottom hardness shapefiles in addition to depth
  • Fixed an issue where shapefile and Google Earth exports were timing out on large waterbodies
  • Other small enhancements and bug fixes

2025-September-10th

Small enhancements and bug fixes

2025-September-4th

Features/improvements

• • Measuring tool: Measure distance between waypoints or a line created in the BioBase trip viewer
  • Export your GPS trackline from any uploaded trip and import back into any brand chartplotter as .gpx
  • See more detail about what Trips and Merges are in the Processing Queue (in the My Account Menu).
  • Waypoint labels

New EcoFish Features

• • Settings for minimum and maximum depth to locate fish.
  • Contours on EcoFish Google Earth Exports
  • Merges for EcoFish Abundance Maps can now be exported to Google Maps
  • Merges for EcoFish now have CSV exports
  • Polygon tool in Merges now displays fish statistics
  • Analysis Reports for merges now has fish data for users with EcoFish enabled

Bug fixes

• • On the Trip Dashboard: when doing a search, the user will remain on the chosen category. My Trips, My Merges or Organizations.
  • Merges will now display manual depth points added from trips before the merge.
  • EcoFish abundance layer not always appearing in a merge.
  • Using a Drag Box to delete coordinates that would display an error message
  • Adding a manual data point on to waypoint will make that waypoint disappear
  • Other minor bug fixes and enhancements

Known issues or bugs

• • Several values in the Processing Preference Form in the Web Upload page is not accurate. Review https://www.biobasemaps.com/Account/ProcessingPreferences for the correct values (fixed 11/18/2026)
  • Newly processed merges and some trips are not generating full datasets and require a special backend processing request by the customer. (fixed 9/10/25)

2025-July-24th

Features/IMPROVEMENTS

• • Updated Operators Guide

Other notes

• • GPS AT5 Chart Generation Error Fixed
  • Restored several legends missing in image exports
  • Other minor backend improvements and bug fixes

2025-July-7th

Features/IMPROVEMENTS

• • Improvements to .csv and .gpx waypoint uploads. File size and waypoint restrictions expanded
    • 10 MB file size
    • 10,000 waypoints
    • User can download all waypoints as gpx or csv
  • EcoFish improvements
    • Reduction of false detections in aquatic vegetation
  • WGS84 .prj file now included with all Shapefile Exports
  • Analysis Polygon processing moved from a instant Web Request which was prone to timeouts and generation failures to more a more stable Processing service

2025-June-9th

Features

• • Merging EcoFish Outputs with limited functionality
    • Full online heatmaps and export imagery
    • Polygon tool and csv export is still pending (fixed 9/3/2025)

Other Notes

• • Assorted bug fixes (See below)

2025-May-28-29th

Features

• • None

Other Notes

• • Assorted bug fixes (See below)

2025-May-19th

Features

• • Release of EcoFish Fish Mapping Layer
  • Opacity tool in Trip Viewer
  • Settings adjustments on upload

Known Issues or Bugs

• • Checkboxes on upload page will not override processing preferences in My Account (fixed 6/9/2025)
  • User can check on/off feature settings upon upload even though their subscription does not allow access. User can check/uncheck boxes but will not have access to the features. Forthcoming fix will gray out boxes if the user does not have access to the feature (fixed 5/28/2025)
  • Processing may not create a complete set of EcoFish sonar images compared with the other sonar channels. Truncation of images is happening on some large file uploads. (fixed 5/29/2025)
  • Record Create Date on first row in csv file of fish detections is the first timestamp in the file and not the timestamp of the first fish detection. (fixed 6/9/2025)
  • Sonar imagery overlay will not generate for the Downscan channel (fixed 6/9/2025
  • Unit conversion error in Automated Report Settings for Min and Max Depth of Veg Detection. Shows units in metric for users with imperial settings (fixed 5/29/2025)
  • User cannot submit vegetation threshold setting changes in Trip Reprocessing Forms (fixed 5/29/2025)
  • Some users report that they cannot reprocess with different grid cell or buffer sizes (fixed 5/29/2025)

Other Notes

• • EcoFish Size classifications are still experimental and may change with future deployments
  • Future improvements include merging, custom depth exclusion zones, vegetation exclusion zones (complete 9/3/2025)