South-west Corner Marine Park Seabed Backscatter at 4-Meter Resolution

Geoscience Australia collected 330 km² of seabed backscatter data in the South-west Corner Marine Park during two surveys in 2020 and 2021. This 4-meter resolution geotiff provides baseline information for benthic habitats on the continental shelf to support a 10-year environmental monitoring plan. The project was a collaboration between Geoscience Australia, the University of Western Australia, the University of Tasmania, and the Australian Centre for Field Robotics.

Use Cases

• Map seabed hardness and texture for benthic habitat classification based on the backscatter data.
• Establish a baseline for monitoring changes in marine park ecosystems based on the survey's stated purpose.
• Integrate backscatter with bathymetry and underwater imagery for comprehensive seafloor analysis as mentioned in the description.

Strengths

• Covers a specific 330 km² area offshore from Cape Naturaliste to Cape Leeuwin.
• Provides high-resolution (4 m) backscatter data processed from a Kongsberg EM2040C multibeam sonar system.
• Funded and developed through a collaborative project involving multiple Australian research institutions.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for certain analyses.
• The dataset is a single geotiff file; integration with other survey data (e.g., imagery) requires separate downloads.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia

Collection Method

Data acquired via multibeam sonar from the charter vessel Santosha and processed using the CMST-GA MB Process toolbox.

Time Range

Survey periods: 9–12 March 2020 and 27 January–16 February 2021.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-14 09:09:44.737101; freshness should be verified.

Geography

South-west Corner Marine Park, offshore from Cape Naturaliste to Cape Leeuwin, Western Australia.