Multibeam Sonar Survey of Seabed Bathymetry and Backscatter

Multibeam sonar data collected from March 2019 to August 2022 by the New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment aboard the Research Vessel Bombora. This dataset provides 32-bit floating point GeoTIFF files of bathymetry and backscatter at a 5-meter resolution for the Forster Pacific Palms Cape Hawke area. It was created as part of the SeabedNSW program to establish a baseline and map seabed type distribution.

Use Cases

• Modeling seabed roughness and hardness by analyzing backscatter intensity values in the GeoTIFF files.
• Creating high-resolution (5m) digital elevation models of the seafloor using the bathymetry GeoTIFF data.
• Classifying seabed types (e.g., sand, rock, seagrass) by correlating bathymetry depth and backscatter texture features.
• Monitoring coastal erosion or sediment deposition by comparing bathymetry layers from different survey periods.

Strengths

• Data collection spanned over three years from March 2019 to August 2022.
• Provides high-resolution (5-meter grid) bathymetry and backscatter layers.
• Processing followed documented standard operating procedures published by the NSW government.

Limitations

• The exact spatial extent and total area covered by the survey are not specified.
• The dataset consists of processed raster files; raw sonar ping data and detailed columnar metadata are unavailable.

Provenance

Source

New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment (DPE).

Collection Method

Acquired using a R2Sonic 2022 multibeam sonar system onboard the Research Vessel Bombora, processed with Hypack, Qimera, and FMGT software.

Time Range

2019-03-01 to 2022-08-12

Freshness

Data collection concluded in August 2022, with metadata last updated in April 2026.

Geography

Forster Pacific Palms Cape Hawke, New South Wales, Australia.