Darwin Harbour Seabed Habitat Maps from Multibeam Surveys

1978 square kilometers of seabed were mapped in Darwin and Bynoe Harbour regions using multibeam echosounders, sub-bottom profilers, and underwater cameras. The collaborative program was conducted by Geoscience Australia, the Australian Institute of Marine Science, and the Northern Territory Government between 2015 and 2018. Data acquisition occurred over 247 days across four marine surveys.

Use Cases

• Classify benthic habitat types from multibeam bathymetry and backscatter data layers.
• Model sediment distribution patterns using grab sampler and sub-bottom profiler data.
• Analyze seabed feature relationships with underwater camera imagery annotations.
• Create baseline maps for environmental impact assessments of marine infrastructure.
• Study spatial-temporal changes in tropical marine environments across the survey time range.

Strengths

• Covers a 1978 km2 area with 1754 km2 of high-resolution multibeam mapping.
• Data integrated from four separate marine surveys conducted over 247 days.
• Multimodal acquisition includes multibeam, sub-bottom, camera, and physical samples.

Limitations

• Specific row counts, column names, and data formats are not provided in the description.
• Geographic scope is limited to the Darwin-Bynoe Harbour region of northern Australia.
• Data collection ended in 2018, potentially lacking recent environmental changes.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, aggregating data from Geoscience Australia, Australian Institute of Marine Science, and the Northern Territory Government.

Collection Method

Marine surveys utilizing multibeam echosounders, sub-bottom profilers, underwater cameras, and grab samplers.

Time Range

2015 to 2018

Freshness

Last metadata update was 2026 -04-04, but underlying survey data is from 2015-2018.

Geography

Darwin and Bynoe Harbour regions, Northern Territory, tropical northern Australia.