Outer Darwin Harbour Marine Survey 2015: Bathymetry and Seabed Data

Geoscience Australia, AIMS, and the Northern Territory Government collaborated on the Outer Darwin Harbour Mapping Survey (GA0351/SOL6187) from 28 May to 23 June 2015. The survey collected 720 km² of multibeam sonar bathymetry and acoustic backscatter data, along with seabed samples and oceanographic information from 96 stations. This work was the first of four surveys in the 2014-2018 Darwin Harbour Seabed Habitat Mapping Program, funded by the INPEX-led Ichthys LNG Project.

Use Cases

• Generate high-resolution seabed habitat maps based on bathymetry and acoustic backscatter data.
• Characterize sediment substrates for environmental studies based on grain size and sediment chemistry samples.
• Model tidal patterns for the survey area based on collected tidal data.
• Analyze seabed biodiversity and composition based on underwater photography and video imagery.

Strengths

• Covers a 720 km² survey area with high-resolution multibeam sonar data.
• Includes multimodal data from 96 sampling stations, combining physical samples, imagery, and oceanographic measurements.
• Part of a structured 4-year program (2014-2018) with clear objectives for baseline data collection.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data freshness should be verified as the survey was conducted in 2015.
• The primary data files are in report formats (DOCX, PDF, HTML), which may require extraction of underlying data.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia (GA), Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), Department of Land Resource Management (Northern Territory Government).

Collection Method

Marine survey conducted aboard the RV Solander, utilizing multibeam sonar, seabed sampling, and oceanographic instruments.

Time Range

Survey conducted from 28 May to 23 June 2015.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-05 06:06:59.450167; survey conducted in 2015.

Geography

Outer Darwin Harbour and Shoal Bay, Northern Territory, Australia.