Standard Operation Procedures for Multibeam Survey Acquisition and Processing

Geoscience Australia hosts bathymetry data covering an Australian Maritime Jurisdiction of approximately 7,000,000 km², with at most 25% surveyed at high resolution. This document provides standards and guidance for personnel and contractors conducting multibeam data acquisition and processing to improve consistency. It includes critical steps, a mandatory checklist, and specific processing tips for Caris HIPS & SIPS software and Kongsberg EM series data.

Use Cases

• Standardizing multibeam survey workflows based on the provided critical steps and checklist.
• Improving data processing efficiency using the specific guidance for Caris HIPS & SIPS software.
• Ensuring data consistency when merging datasets from different vessels and sonar systems.
• Training new personnel on established procedures for bathymetric data acquisition.

Strengths

• Document is tailored for a specific, large jurisdiction of approximately 7,000,000 km².
• Addresses a known challenge of merging data from 48 vessels and 26 different multibeam sonar systems.
• Provides concrete, software-specific guidance in its appendices.

Limitations

• Documentation is procedural (PDF, DOCX, HTML) rather than a structured dataset; column-level documentation is absent.
• The data described is from multiple sources with varying quality, which the document aims to standardize.
• Last updated 2026-05-14 03:50:23.732366; freshness should be verified.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Compilation of standards and guidance based on experience with multibeam survey data.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-14 03:50:23.732366.

Geography

Australian Maritime Jurisdiction