Water data and depth
How deep is it? We tell you how sure we are
Every depth in Scuber comes with a label and a source, so a blank never looks like 'shallow'.
Four confidence tiers
| Tier | What it means | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Surveyed depth | Measured by an agency and shown as a depth range for the spot. | Public bathymetry data from agencies, for example state natural-resource departments, NOAA (Great Lakes) and USGS lidar in selected areas. |
| Diver-reported | Readings logged by Scuber divers near the spot, with a count and date. | Scuber divers |
| Estimated | A model based on distance from shore. Always shown as a range. | Shoreline geometry, scaled to a lake's maximum depth where a dataset gives one. |
| No depth data yet | We have nothing for this spot. | - |
Surveyed coverage is patchy: it exists only where an agency has published suitable data and we have loaded it. Most places will show an estimate or no data. The depth overlay on the map only appears where surveyed data exists.
Depth, visibility and hazard information is informational and can be wrong. It is never a substitute for a diver's own assessment of the conditions.
What it looks like on the map
Depth bands run from light (shallow) to darker blue (deep), in the same colours the app uses. In the app they only appear where surveyed data exists; the bands below are an illustration.
Example water card
Beaver Lake
Depth at pin Estimated
4 to 10 ft, about 7 ft. Estimated from distance to shore: no survey is loaded for this lake yet.
Sources and credits
- Lake and pond outlines: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), and the USGS National Hydrography Dataset.
- Lake outlines (global): HydroLAKES (Messager et al. 2016), CC BY 4.0.
- Maximum lake depth: GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022), CC BY 4.0.
- Surveyed depth: the publishing agency and year are shown next to the number, for example "Surveyed depth, MN DNR 2019".
Place search in the app uses Google Places. Scuber stores only a place identifier from Google, not its content, and shows "Powered by Google" next to those results.
The map data we show is provided under each source's own licence. We keep a record of the sources and review their terms before loading a dataset.
Ready to get started?
The Scuber app is on the App Store for iPhone and on Google Play for Android. Pick your path to see how it works.
By signing up you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge the Privacy Policy.