FK200930: Northern Great Barrier Reef Bathymetry from 2020 Survey

Northern Great Barrier Reef bathymetry data acquired over 47 days in 2020 by the RV Falkor. The survey used Kongsberg EM302 multibeam sonar to map the Cape York Peninsula shelf edge, the Swain underwater landslide, and reefs in the eastern Coral Sea Marine Park. This dataset contains fifteen geotiff files at resolutions from 4m to 32m, published by Geoscience Australia.

Use Cases

• Mapping submarine canyon networks based on high-resolution bathymetry data.
• Analyzing the extent and morphology of underwater landslides like the Swain slide.
• Identifying and characterizing drowned reefs and other seabed features in a frontier marine region.
• Filling data gaps between existing LIDAR and multibeam surveys around coral reef slopes.

Strengths

• Data was collected over a 47-day survey in a frontier marine region with previously limited coverage.
• Includes backscatter and water column data from multibeam systems.
• Contains fifteen geotiff files at multiple resolutions (4m, 9m, 10m, 16m, 32m).

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.
• The dataset explicitly states it is not to be used for navigational purposes.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, published with permission of Geoscience Australia.

Collection Method

Geophysical mapping using Kongsberg EM302 and EM710 multibeam sonar systems on RV Falkor, operated in Dual Swath mode.

Time Range

Survey conducted from September 30, 2020 to November 17, 2020.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-16 23:19:14.466109; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Northern Great Barrier Reef, including Cape York Peninsula, Swain Reefs, and eastern Coral Sea Marine Park (Saumarez, Frederick, Kenn, Wreck, Cato Reefs).