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Multi-resolution bathymetry composite surface for Australian waters (EEZ)

This dataset is a mosaicked product of all publicly available bathymetry data within the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The data package consists of 8x bathymetry mosaics (and associated bathymetry derivatives: hillshade, slope, aspect) for each of the 8x Parks Australia Management Effectiveness Ecosystem Component depth zones ("Ecosystem Zones"). The grid resolution of the mosaics has been guided by the depth gridding recommendations of the AusSeabed Australian Multibeam Guidelines (2020) to produce the following mosaics:


• shallow zone (0-30m): 10m resolution

• mesophotic zone (30-70m): 10m resolution

• rariphotic zone (70-200m): 10m resolution

• upper-slope zone (200-700m): 32m resolution

• mid-slope zone (700-2,000m): 64m resolution

• lower-slope zone (2,000-4,000m): 128m resolution

• abyss zone (4,000-6,000m): 210m resolution

• hadal zone (>6,000m): 210m resolution


A systematic prioritisation approach was used to preferentially use newer, high-resolution, and cleaner bathymetry inputs from remote sensing (multibeam, singlebeam, satellite, seismic etc), with Digital Elevation Models (DEM) used as foundational data in regions where survey data was not available. This approach optimised spatial resolution by preserving higher resolutions in shallower waters as supported by the data, while also ensuring the output datasets remain manageable for downstream applications. The result is suite of depth-stratified bathymetry mosaics and associated derivatives that provide full coverage of Australia's marine estate (clipped to the boundaries of the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)). All publicly available bathymetry data as at July 2024 for was included.


Data can be visualised and used in GIS packages as maps of hillshaded bathymetry and hillshaded slope at the following WMS endpoints:

• bathymetry: https://geoserver.imas.utas.edu.au/geoserver/bathy_composites/AusEEZ_bathy_composite_multires/wms?request=GetCapabilities&service=WMS

• hillshade: https://geoserver.imas.utas.edu.au/geoserver/bathy_composites/AusEEZ_bathy_hillshade_composite_multires/wms?request=GetCapabilities&service=WMS

• slope: https://geoserver.imas.utas.edu.au/geoserver/bathy_composites/AusEEZ_bathy_slope_composite_multires/wms?request=GetCapabilities&service=WMS

• aspect: https://geoserver.imas.utas.edu.au/geoserver/bathy_composites/AusEEZ_bathy_aspect_composite_multires/wms?request=GetCapabilities&service=WMS

• aspect-slope (for mapping applications only): https://geoserver.imas.utas.edu.au/geoserver/bathy_composites/AusEEZ_bathy_aspectSlope_composite_multires/wms?request=GetCapabilities&service=WMS


Data is available for download in the following packages (each structured as 8x mosaics for each Ecosystem Zone at the gridding resolution specified above): (1) bathymetry composites; (2) hillshade composites; (3) slope composites; (4) aspect composites.


An ancillary Shapefile footprint index file is also available showing the source data used in generating each region of the mosaics.


Note that minimal cleaning of input data was conducted, and no attempt was made to smooth or blend the transitions between swath edges, or between swaths and the underlying DEMs. Consequently, noise and edge effects between adjacent input data may be visible. This should be considered when interpreting the data, and the data should not be used for navigational purposes.


See the Lineage section of this record for full methodology.

Simple

Identification info

Date (Creation)
2024-03-21
Date (Last Update)
2024-09-25

Principal investigator

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania (UTAS) - Flukes, Emma
ROR ID >

ORCID ID >

Credit
National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Marine and Coastal Hub
Status
Under development

Point of contact

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania (UTAS) - Flukes, Emma
IMAS - Hobart
Private Bag 129
Hobart
Tasmania
7001
Australia
ROR ID >

ORCID ID >

Topic category
  • Geoscientific information
  • Boundaries
  • Environment
  • Oceans

Extent



Temporal extent

Time period
1989-01-01

Vertical element

Minimum value
0
Maximum value
7000
Identifier
EPSG::5715
Name
MSL depth
Maintenance and update frequency
Unknown
Keywords (Theme)
  • acoustic mapping
  • digital elevation models (DEM)
  • seafloor features
  • multibeam bathymetry
  • Parks Australia Management Effectiveness
  • imagery composites
NASA/GCMD Keywords, Version 8.5
  • BATHYMETRY
  • WATER DEPTH
  • CONTINENTAL MARGINS
  • FRACTURE ZONES
  • SEAMOUNTS
  • SUBMARINE CANYONS
  • SEAFLOOR TOPOGRAPHY
Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC): Fields of Research
  • Surveying (incl. Hydrographic Surveying)
  • Geospatial Information Systems

Resource constraints

Classification
Unclassified

Resource constraints

Linkage
http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png

License Graphic

Title
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License


>

Website
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

License Text

Other constraints
Cite data as: Flukes, E., (2024). Multi-resolution bathymetry composite surface for Australian waters (EEZ). Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS). Data accessed from https://metadata.imas.utas.edu.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/69e9ac91-babe-47ed-8c37-0ef08f29338a on [access date].
Other constraints
This dataset is the intellectual property of the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, but was made possible by the data contributions of AusSeabed (Geoscience Australia), CSIRO Marine National Facility (MNF), the Australian Hydrographic Office, and various Universities and state and federal organisations around Australia. This data is not to be used for navigational purposes.
Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8
Supplemental Information
Picard et al., 2020. Australian Multibeam Guidelines v2.0. Geoscience Australia & NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub. http://dx.doi.org/10.11636/Record.2018.019

Distribution Information

Distribution format
  • GeoTIFF package

OnLine resource
DATA ACCESS OPTION 1 - single tifs

Explore and download single GeoTIFFs by depth zone or derivative type

OnLine resource
DATA ACCESS OPTION 2 - pre-zipped download packages

Download zipped packages (all depth zones) of bathymetry and derivatives. NOTE: unzipped packages may exceed 100GB

OnLine resource
Explore the data through the interactive Seamap Australia portal

Select from a bathymetry view or derivative type in the left-hand panel.

OnLine resource
RELATED DATA - Coverage database of Australian bathymetry surveys, compilations, and depth models

OnLine resource
AusEEZ_bathy_composite_multires

WMS: bathymetry composite for Australian waters

OnLine resource
AusEEZ_bathy_slope_composite_multires

WMS: bathymetric slope composite for Australian waters

OnLine resource
AusEEZ_bathy_hillshade_composite_multires

WMS: a hillshade composite map for Australian waters

OnLine resource
AusEEZ_bathy_aspect_composite_multires

WMS: bathymetric aspect composite for Australian waters

OnLine resource
AusEEZ_bathy_aspectSlope_composite_multires

WMS: an aspect-slope composite map for Australian waters

OnLine resource
footprints_multires_bathymetry_composite_EEZ

WMS: spatial footprint index of source bathymetry data used in mosaics

OnLine resource
WFS [data download]: spatial footprint index of source bathymetry data used in mosaics

Resource lineage

Statement
The steps below outline the broad approach taken to generating the bathymetry mosaics. For the methodology, including sample code, see the attached data documentation linked to this record. ---Collating input bathymetry data--- Relevant input bathymetry data was identified using Seamap Australia's 'Coverage of Australian bathymetry surveys' database [https://metadata.imas.utas.edu.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/bfaac2bc-0c11-4991-b0fa-2a1dc7fd6e61]. AusSeabed's 'Bathymetry acquisitions coverage database' [https://dx.doi.org/10.26186/148613] and 'Bathymetry compilations coverage database' [https://dx.doi.org/10.26186/148614] may also be used. The AusSeabed Data Portal and other relevant portals (AODN Portal, WA Bathymetry Portal, NSW SEED, CSIRO DAP) were used to download source data in GeoTIFF format. Only bathymetry datasets intersecting the Australian EEZ were retained. ---Organising and processing input data--- Input data was resampled to the target resolution for the intersected Ecosystem Zone using gdalwarp. For example, input data at 15m resolution intersecting the upper-slope zone was downsampled to 32m. Resampled files were catalogued according to the relevant intersected depth zone. ---Generating mosaics--- For each depth zone, an order of priority was determined for mosaicking input files. In general: higher resolution > lower resolution; newer > older; survey > compilation. Directly sampled bathymetry (multibeam, singlebeam, lidar, seismic, satellite etc) was always prioritised above Digital Elevation Models. Input files were mosaicked in the determined order of priority for each depth zone using gdal_translate. ---Post-processing mosaics--- Each of the generated 8x depth zone bathymetry mosaic surfaces was clipped to the boundaries of (1) the Aus EEZ; and (2) depth zone masks prepared from the Geoscience Australia 2023 250m bathymetry grid [https://doi.org/10.26186/148758]. A slight positive buffer was applied to depth masks to ensure contiguous coverage of clipped mosaics. Bathymetry derivatives were generated using gdaldem for hillshade, slope, and aspect. For hillshade, a a z-factor of 1 (no vertical exaggeration) was applied, with azimuth 315° and altitude 45m. For slope and aspect, the Horn algorithm was used. All output files were exported as Cloud Optimised GeoTIFFs (COGs) for optimal performance in Web Mapping applications. ---Generating Shapefile footprint index of coverage--- A Shapefile footprint was generated for each input GeoTIFF. All footprints were merged into a single master index with the following attributes: filename, resolution, depth zone, target resolution, resolution flag (meets target Y=1 N=0), sort order (from mosaicking prioritisation). This file can be used to provide a rapid visualisation of the coverage and 'quality' of mosaics (in terms of data resolution relative to target) which will facilitate future updates.
Hierarchy level
Dataset

Metadata

Metadata identifier
urn:uuid/69e9ac91-babe-47ed-8c37-0ef08f29338a

Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8

Point of contact

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania (UTAS) - IMAS Data Manager ()

Type of resource

Resource scope
Dataset
Metadata linkage
https://metadata.imas.utas.edu.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/69e9ac91-babe-47ed-8c37-0ef08f29338a

Point of truth URL of this metadata record

Date info (Creation)
2024-03-21T11:44:25
Date info (Revision)
2025-01-14T10:26:30

Metadata standard

Title
ISO 19115-3:2018
 
 

Overviews

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SS02.png
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SeamapAus_logo_sq.jpg

Spatial extent

Keywords

Parks Australia Management Effectiveness acoustic mapping digital elevation models (DEM) imagery composites multibeam bathymetry seafloor features
Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC): Fields of Research
Geospatial Information Systems Surveying (incl. Hydrographic Surveying)
NASA/GCMD Keywords, Version 8.5
BATHYMETRY CONTINENTAL MARGINS FRACTURE ZONES SEAFLOOR TOPOGRAPHY SEAMOUNTS SUBMARINE CANYONS WATER DEPTH

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