North Wollongong Bathymetry and Backscatter Survey (5m Resolution)

A 4.5-year seabed mapping project from Bellambi Point to Stanwell Park, NSW, captured detailed 5-meter resolution bathymetry and backscatter data using an R2Sonic 2022 multibeam sonar. This 32-bit floating point GeoTIFF dataset provides a baseline for seabed type distribution and was processed through a rigorous pipeline including Hypack, Qimera, and FMGT software. The survey was funded by the NSW government's SeabedNSW program as part of coastal reforms and habitat mapping initiatives.

Use Cases

• Coastal habitat modeling based on seabed type distribution mapping.
• Baseline change detection for coastal erosion or sediment transport studies using high-resolution bathymetry.
• Seafloor characterization for marine park management using backscatter intensity data.
• Integration with terrestrial datasets for coastal infrastructure planning using the geospatial raster format.

Strengths

• High spatial resolution of 5 meters for both bathymetry and backscatter layers.
• Long temporal coverage from August 2017 to March 2022, indicating comprehensive data collection.
• Rigorous processing methodology documented in a standard operating procedure and specific survey reports.
• Cross-platform presence on data.gov.au signals official importance and data stewardship.

Limitations

• Metadata completeness is low: column names, row counts, file size, license, and author information are unavailable.
• Dataset is explicitly not for navigational purposes, limiting its operational use cases.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates (2026-04-30 and 2026-04-20) suggest potential metadata synchronization issues.

Provenance

Source

NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DPE), acquired onboard the RV Bombora.

Collection Method

Multibeam sonar survey using an R2Sonic 2022 system, processed with Hypack, R2Sonic GUI, POSView, POSPac, Qimera, and FMGT software.

Time Range

2017-08 13 to 2022-03-04

Freshness

2026-04-30 14:03:10.615594

Geography

North Wollongong, NSW, Australia, from Bellambi Point to Stanwell Park.