Elizabeth and Middleton Reef Bathymetry Grids at 5m Resolution

Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs within the Lord Howe Marine Park were surveyed from 31 January to 6 February 2020. Geoscience Australia collected this data using multibeam sonar, AUV imagery, sediment grabs, and BRUVs, producing two 5m-resolution bathymetry grids covering 312 km². The survey provides baseline information for benthic habitats to support a 10-year marine park management plan (2018-2028).

Use Cases

• Modeling seafloor topography and habitat structure based on high-resolution bathymetry grids.
• Establishing environmental baselines for marine park monitoring based on the described multibeam, AUV, and BRUV data.
• Analyzing the relationship between seabed geomorphology and benthic communities using the integrated survey data.

Strengths

• High-resolution 5-meter gridded bathymetry data.
• Covers a combined survey area of 312 square kilometers.
• Data collected using multiple complementary methods (multibeam sonar, AUV, BRUVs, sediment grabs).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia, in collaboration with the National Environmental Science Program Marine Biodiversity Hub and partner institutions.

Collection Method

Seabed mapping via multibeam sonar (Kongsberg EM 2040C HD, 300 kHz), AUV imagery, sediment grabs, and baited remote underwater video (BRUV).

Time Range

31 January 2020 to 6 February 2020

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-25 17:20:34.695272; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs, Lord Howe Marine Park, Australia