Darwin Harbour Seabed Habitat Maps and Bathymetry

2011 and 2013 surveys mapped the seabed of Darwin Harbour, Australia. The dataset includes detailed bathymetry, derived parameters like slope and rugosity, and a classification of six seascape habitats. It resulted from a collaboration between Geoscience Australia, the Australian Institute of Marine Science, the Department of Land Resource Management, and the Darwin Port Corporation.

Use Cases

• Analyze seabed geomorphic features like banks, ridges, plains, and channels using bathymetry and derived slope data.
• Classify substrate type (hard vs. soft) and associated habitats like rocky reef or sponge gardens from backscatter and classification layers.
• Model sediment distribution by correlating acoustically soft substrates in plains and channels with fine sediment data.
• Identify statistically unique seascape classes based on combinations of substrate, relief, bedform, and sediment veneer presence.

Strengths

• Surveys conducted in two distinct years, 2011 and 2013, providing temporal snapshots.
• Classification derived six distinct seascape classes using an Iterative Self Organising unsupervised scheme.
• Data produced by authoritative national agencies including Geoscience Australia and the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

Limitations

• Specific row counts, sample sizes, and spatial resolution for raw data points are not provided.
• Data is from 2011 and 2013, potentially not reflecting recent changes in the harbor seabed.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, aggregating data from Geoscience Australia, AIMS, DLRM, and Darwin Port Corporation.

Collection Method

Marine habitat mapping program using seabed surveys, likely involving multibeam profiling sonar for bathymetry and backscatter.

Time Range

2011, 2013

Freshness

Metadata was last updated in April 2026, but the underlying survey data is from 2011 and 2013.

Geography

Darwin Harbour, Northern Territory, Australia.