Forster, NSW Bathymetry and Backscatter Survey (2019-2020)

Forster, Cape Hawke to Black Head in New South Wales, Australia, is covered by this seabed survey. The dataset contains 32-bit floating point GeoTIFF files of bathymetry and backscatter data at a 5-meter resolution, acquired by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment between 27 February 2019 and 14 October 2020. Data was collected using an R2Sonic 2022 multibeam sonar onboard the RV Bombora as part of the SeabedNSW program.

Use Cases

• Modeling coastal erosion and sediment transport based on high-resolution bathymetry.
• Mapping benthic habitats and seabed types using the backscatter data.
• Creating baseline environmental datasets for marine park management, as referenced in the description.
• Integrating seabed data with other marine spatial planning layers for the NSW coast.

Strengths

• Data has a high spatial resolution of 5 meters.
• Survey period is explicitly defined as 27 Feb 2019 – 14 Oct 2020.
• Processing details and standard operating procedures are documented in a linked report.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and total file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic and temporal bias inherent to the specific survey area and period.

Provenance

Source

NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DPE), Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Acquired via multibeam sonar survey from the RV Bombora, processed with Hypack, R2Sonic GUI, POSView, POSPac, Qimera, and FMGT software.

Time Range

27 February 2019 to 14 October 2020

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-30 12:29:56.154923; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Forster, from Cape Hawke to Black Head, New South Wales, Australia