Geomorphometry of Australian Marine Parks with Bathymetry Coverage Percentages

Seamap Australia generated this dataset of geomorphic features for Australian Marine Parks in 2022. It provides multi-resolution bathymetry mosaics and geomorphon-derived seabed classifications for parks with at least 25% bathymetry coverage, with data available as Web Map Services and downloadable geotiffs. The dataset includes coverage percentages for each park, ranging from 25% to 100%.

Use Cases

• Classify seabed morphology based on geomorphon-derived features.
• Develop benthic habitat maps by combining geomorphic units with visual validation methods.
• Analyze bathymetry coverage and seafloor characteristics across different Australian Marine Parks.

Strengths

• Includes bathymetry data for all parks with 25% or more coverage, with specific percentages listed for each.
• Uses a consistent classification method (Dove et al 2020 Seabed Morphology Features Glossary) for geomorphic features.
• Data is available in multiple formats including WMS, geotiffs, and styling files for ESRI and QGIS.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Bathymetry coverage varies significantly between parks, from 25% to 100%, which may affect analysis completeness.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

Seamap Australia, funded by the Australian Government's Our Marine Parks project.

Collection Method

Bathymetry data was collated from AusSeabed holdings and processed using Whitebox tools in R with the geomorphron function.

Time Range

Bathymetry data current as of 30 June 2022, with Macquarie Island boundaries updated 25 August 2023.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-17 01:09:35.412976; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australian Marine Parks, including listed parks such as Abrolhos, Coral Sea, and Macquarie Island.