NESP A12: Northern Australian Estuary Habitats from Landsat Imagery

Seven northern Australian estuaries were examined using the Digital Earth Australia Landsat archive. The report demonstrates methods for mapping intertidal areas, mangrove extent, and habitat change over a three-decade time series. This work supports the management of threatened and migratory shorebird species.

Use Cases

• Map intertidal extent and morphology based on the Intertidal Extent Model mentioned in the description
• Detect mangrove expansion or dieback over time based on the three-decade Landsat time series
• Analyze tidal dynamics' effects on habitats based on tide-tagging of satellite imagery
• Create cloud-free composite images of coastal areas based on the geometric median technique

Strengths

• Analysis covers seven specific estuaries: Darwin Harbour, Keep, Daly, Roper, Macarthur, Flinders, and Gilbert River
• Utilizes a three-decade long Landsat time series for change detection
• Employs tide-tagging to isolate habitat change from tidal variation

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Data format is PDF, which may require extraction for computational analysis
• Geographic scope is limited to seven selected estuaries in northern Australia

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing analysis using the Digital Earth Australia platform and Landsat archive.

Time Range

Time series spans approximately three decades (specific years not stated).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-16 17:31:03.745589; freshness should be verified

Geography

Seven estuaries in northern Australia: Darwin Harbour, Keep, Daly, Roper, Macarthur, Flinders, and Gilbert River.