RV Investigator Bass Strait Bathymetry Survey, May-June 2018

May 28 to June 8, 2018 multibeam echosounder data collected by the RV Investigator during a hydrographic survey in Bass Strait. The Kongsberg EM710 MKII system acquired seafloor bathymetry, backscatter, and watercolumn backscatter data, totaling 119 GB of raw bathymetry data and 269 GB of raw watercolumn data. The survey was conducted by the Australian Ocean Data Network to facilitate safe navigation in primary shipping routes.

Use Cases

• Create navigational safety charts based on modern bathymetry surveys of Bass Strait.
• Analyze seafloor composition and texture using processed backscatter data.
• Study watercolumn acoustic properties from the raw watercolumn backscatter files.
• Apply motion and tide corrections to bathymetry data for precise geospatial modeling.
• Generate processed bathymetry grids in GeoTIFF format for integration with other marine datasets.

Strengths

• 372 files totaling 119 GB of raw bathymetry and backscatter data provide a substantial volume for analysis.
• 241 files totaling 269 GB of raw watercolumn backscatter data offer detailed acoustic profiles.
• Data has been corrected for motion, position, and tides during processing.
• Processed data is available in multiple formats (.gsf, ASCII, GeoTIFF) for different applications.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Acquired using a Kongsberg EM710 MKII multibeam echosounder on RV Investigator voyage IN2018_C01.

Time Range

May 28, 2018 to June 8, 2018

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-05 02:01:45.183304; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Bass Strait, near Wilson's Promontory, and transit from Hobart.