Solitary Islands Marine Park Bathymetry and Backscatter Survey, 2022-2023

Geotiff files of seabed bathymetry and backscatter data for the Solitary Islands Marine Park, acquired by the New South Wales government between 31 August 2022 and 31 July 2023. The data was collected using an R2Sonic 2022 multibeam sonar system onboard the RV Bombora and processed to a 5-meter resolution. This dataset provides a baseline for mapping seabed types and is part of the SeabedNSW program.

Use Cases

• Create high-resolution seabed habitat maps based on the bathymetry and backscatter data.
• Establish baseline conditions for environmental monitoring within the marine park.
• Analyze seabed morphology and sediment distribution for coastal management planning.
• Support marine spatial planning and conservation efforts using the spatial distribution of seabed types.

Strengths

• Data has a high spatial resolution of 5 meters.
• Survey period is explicitly defined as 31 Aug 2022 – 31 Jul 2023.
• Processing methodology and standard operating procedures are documented via a provided link.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The dataset is explicitly not to be used for navigational purposes, limiting its application scope.

Provenance

Source

New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment (DPE), Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Acquired via multibeam sonar survey from the RV Bombora, processed with Hypack, R2Sonic GUI, POSView, POSPac, Qimera, and FMGT software.

Time Range

31 August 2022 to 31 July 2023

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-14 09:00:02.950702; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Solitary Islands Marine Park, New South Wales, Australia