The International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP) developed and published this standard in October 2011.
The SSDM template is provided as an Esri ArcGIS geodatabase,[2] but other implementations of the model are allowed.
[3] Outputs of seabed surveys usually contain CAD files, log imagery, surface grids and many other documents.
SSDM provides a complete survey data management workflow with improved integration with geoscience software.
[5] Exploration and production companies may also extend the data model to fulfill their specific requirements.
SSDMobject uniquely identifies and describes a geographic object that is acquired, processed, or interpreted from seabed survey data, such as sounding points, and individual pockmark features.
The SSDM allows survey contractors to provide a standardized method for their customers but it also brings some problems.
There are huge amounts of valuable legacy data stored in old standards that cannot be directly used in SSDM.
The combination of SSDM and ArcGIS enables information contained within legacy survey data to be more accessible and much more useful.