NESP D3 Hunter Marine Park Bathymetry 2019: Multi-Beam Seafloor Mapping

Multi-beam echosounder data provides gridded bathymetry for the Hunter Marine Park's continental shelf reef habitats. Surveys funded by NSW DPIE and the National Environmental Science Program in 2015 and 2018 targeted the Key Ecological Feature 'Continental Shelf Reef'. Reports by Davies et al (2016) and Williams et al (2020) detail these surveys alongside towed video and BRUVs for habitat and fish assemblage characterisation.

Use Cases

• Modeling seafloor topography based on gridded multi-beam echosounder data.
• Identifying and monitoring reef habitats based on the described focus on the 'Continental Shelf Reef' Key Ecological Feature.
• Characterising seabed habitats for marine park management based on the integrated survey methodology.
• Analyzing changes in bathymetry between exploratory (2015) and focused (2018) survey periods.

Strengths

• Data is associated with detailed published reports (Davies et al 2016, Williams et al 2020) available from the NESP Marine website.
• Surveys combined multiple methods (MBES, towed video, BRUVs) for comprehensive seabed characterisation.
• Focused mapping in 2018-19 achieved 100% coverage over previously identified key reef areas.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The description explicitly states 'Not to be used for navigational purposes', indicating potential data processing limitations.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network via data_gov_au.

Collection Method

Acquired using NSW Department of Planning Industry and Environment MBES system aboard RV Bombora.

Time Range

Surveys conducted in 2015 and 2018.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-16 19:36:14.885069; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Hunter Marine Park, specifically areas east and south-east of Seal Rocks, Outer Gibber north-east of Broughton Islands, and east to north-east of Broughton Island.