Defra Marine Digital Elevation Model for UK Coastal Waters

A 1 arc-second resolution Digital Elevation Model for UK coastal waters to a depth of 200 metres. The dataset was created by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs using data licensed from the UK Hydrographic Office. It is referenced to the ETRS89 datum horizontally and Chart Datum vertically.

Use Cases

• Coastal flood risk modeling based on detailed seabed elevation data.
• Marine habitat mapping based on bathymetric features.
• Navigation and maritime route planning based on depth contours.
• Coastal erosion and sediment transport studies based on underwater topography.

Strengths

• Covers waters surrounding the United Kingdom to a depth of 200 metres.
• Provides a 1 arc-second resolution for coastal areas.
• Uses authoritative source data from the UK Hydrographic Office.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Access is restricted to a large data request via SFTP, which may hinder immediate use.

Provenance

Source

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), using data licensed from the UK Hydrographic Office.

Collection Method

Likely compiled from hydrographic survey data.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-29 22:06:00.980102; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Waters surrounding the United Kingdom, primarily coastal areas.