Temperate Seagrass Beds in Tasmanian Waters, Mapped via Satellite and Field Data

Seagrass bed mapping data for the Furneaux Group of Islands (Tayaritja) in Tasmania, derived from the NESP MaC Project 3.6. The dataset was created using high-resolution Sentinel-2 satellite imagery, bathymetric LiDAR, and field validation from approximately 400 locations using underwater video and photo quadrats. It shows the extent and composition of seagrass, sand, and macroalgae, produced in partnership with the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre.

Use Cases

• Modeling blue carbon storage potential based on mapped seagrass extent and composition.
• Assessing habitat connectivity and health for marine protected area planning based on species distribution.
• Validating remote sensing algorithms for benthic habitat classification using the field validation data.
• Analyzing the relationship between seagrass presence and oceanographic variables mentioned in the methodology.

Strengths

• Field validation from approximately 400 locations using underwater video and photo quadrats.
• Integration of multiple data sources: Sentinel-2 satellite imagery, bathymetric LiDAR, and oceanographic variables.
• Mapping extends from the high tide line to a depth of approximately 30 meters, covering a significant coastal zone.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the focused study area around Flinders Island.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, rehosted from https://doi.org/10.25959/E4S6-GE74 (NESP MaC Project 3.6).

Collection Method

Combination of remote sensing (Sentinel-2, LiDAR) and field validation (BOSS, stereo-uBRUV) at approximately 400 sites.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-04 12:03:15.410977; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Coastal waters of the Furneaux Group of Islands (Tayaritja), Tasmania, Australia, focusing on Flinders Island.