Beagle Marine Park Seafloor Backscatter Grids At 1-Meter Resolution

11 backscatter grids cover 364 square kilometers of the Beagle Marine Park seafloor. The data was collected by Geoscience Australia and the University of Tasmania's Institute for Marine & Antarctic Studies in June 2018 using multibeam sonar from the RV Bluefin. This survey established baseline information for benthic habitats to support a 10-year marine park management plan.

Use Cases

• Classify benthic habitat types by analyzing backscatter intensity patterns across the 11 grids.
• Map seafloor hardness and texture variations using the 1-meter resolution backscatter data.
• Establish a baseline for monitoring changes in seafloor characteristics over time within the 364 km2 survey area.
• Integrate backscatter grids with other survey phase data (e.g., AUV imagery, sediment samples) for multi-faceted habitat modeling.

Strengths

• 11 distinct backscatter grids provide detailed spatial coverage.
• Data is gridded at a high 1-meter spatial resolution.
• Covers a combined survey area of 364 square kilometers.
• Collection is documented in a detailed 2019 post-survey report.

Limitations

• Dataset is limited to a single survey period in June 2018, providing only a temporal snapshot.
• Specific column names, data formats within the ZIP, and total file size are not provided in the metadata.
• The 1-meter resolution may be coarse for analyzing very small-scale seabed features.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia and the Institute for Marine & Antarctic Studies (University of Tasmania).

Collection Method

Multibeam sonar data acquisition from the RV Bluefin, processed into backscatter grids.

Time Range

Data collected from 17–26 June 2018.

Freshness

Metadata was last updated in April 2026, but the underlying data collection occurred in 2018.

Geography

Beagle Marine Park, located in Bass Strait, part of the South-east Marine Park Network, Australia.