• IMAS Metadata Catalogue
  •  
  •  
  •  

Bathymetry of the Australian Marine Parks

This dataset is a compilation product of all publicly available surveyed bathymetry within the Australian Marine Parks (AMPs, 2023 boundaries), merged into a single multi-resolution composite per AMP. The data was compiled by Seamap Australia as part of an Our Marine Parks (Parks Australia) project with funding from the Australian Government to improve knowledge relating to classification of the Australian Marine Parks real estate. This compilation of bathymetry data was the first step in generating geomorphometry classifications (see https://metadata.imas.utas.edu.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/40e9283b-d4ed-4176-8fe6-112b8697003f for derived geomorphometry maps).


Bathymetry data was collated from AusSeabed data holdings ( https://portal.ga.gov.au/persona/marine), the WA Bathymetry Portal ( https://dot-wa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=d58dd77d85654783b5fc8c775953c69b), the Australian Ocean Data Network ( https://portal.aodn.org.au/) and other existing public data repositories. A single multi-resolution bathymetry mosaic, and associated multi-resolution hillshade mosaic, was generated for each AMP.


Data is supplied as a single Web Map Service of bathymetry on hillshade for the mapped regions. Data is available for download as (1) bathymetry, and (2) hillshade, Geotiff files for each AMP.


The table below indicates the Parks included in this data package, and the percent coverage of bathymetric data for each. Parks not expressly listed below had no publicly accessible bathymetry data available from the sources listed in the 'lineage' section below. This dataset was last updated on 06/03/2025 and represents all public bathymetry data intersecting AMPs that could be located as of that date.


PARK % COVERAGE

Abrolhos 56%

Apollo 62%

Arafura 11%

Argo-Rowley Terrace 34%

Ashmore Reef 68%

Beagle 56%

Boags 31%

Bremer 71%

Carnarvon Canyon 82%

Cartier Island 9%

Central Eastern* 48% (42%)

Christmas Island* 43% (41%)

Cocos (Keeling) Islands* 25% (19%)

Cod Grounds 97%

Coral Sea* 100% (30%)

Dampier 60%

East Gippsland 100%

Eastern Recherche 37%

Eighty Mile Beach 69%

Flinders 32%

Franklin 51%

Freycinet 59%

Gascoyne 67%

Geographe 25%

Gifford* 100% (70%)

Great Australian Bight 40%

Gulf of Carpentaria 6%

Heard & McDonald Islands*† 100% (0%)

Hunter 90%

Huon 95%

Jervis 100%

Jurien 18%

Kimberley 14%

Lord Howe* 16% (14%)

Macquarie Island 48%

Mermaid Reef 83%

Montebello 89%

Murray 50%

Nelson 62%

Ningaloo 55%

Norfolk 42%

Oceanic Shoals 23%

Perth Canyon 100%

Roebuck 100%

Shark Bay 16%

Solitary Islands 100%

South Tasman Rise 82%

South-west Corner 53%

Tasman Fracture 99%

Twilight 1%

Two Rocks 32%

Wessel 1%

West Cape York 11%

Western Eyre 27%

Western Kangaroo Island 10%

Zeehan 73%


* indicates Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data was included in compilation. Coverage of surveyed (non-modelled) bathymetry is shown in parentheses ()

† has been included in analysis but is not an Australian Marine Park

Simple

Identification info

Date (Creation)
2023-05-31
Date (Last Update)
2025-03-06

Principal investigator

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania (UTAS) - Flukes, Emma
IMAS - Hobart
Private Bag 129
Hobart
Tasmania
Private Bag 129
Australia
0408901952
ORCID ID >

Credit
Australian Government’s Our Marine Parks Grant
Status
On going

Point of contact

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania (UTAS) - Flukes, Emma
IMAS - Hobart
Private Bag 129
Hobart
Tasmania
Private Bag 129
Australia
0408901952
ORCID ID >

Topic category
  • Geoscientific information

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
As needed
Keywords (Theme)
  • geomorphometry
  • geomorphology
  • seafloor features
  • mapping
  • seafloor morphology
NASA/GCMD Keywords, Version 8.5
  • EARTH SCIENCE | LAND SURFACE | GEOMORPHIC LANDFORMS/PROCESSES
Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC): Fields of Research
  • Geospatial Information Systems
  • Surveying (incl. Hydrographic Surveying)

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., Monk, J. & Lucieer, V. (2024). Bathymetry of the Australian Marine Parks. Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania (UTAS). Data accessed from https://metadata.imas.utas.edu.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/fb451be4-9de1-4bc2-8fd6-0f285f90916f on [access date].
Other constraints
This dataset is the intellectual property of the University of Tasmania through the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, but is a collaborative effort between AusSeabed (Geoscience Australia), the Australian Hydrographic Office, various universities and state and federal organisations around Australia. This dataset is not to be used for navigational purposes.
Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8

Distribution Information

Distribution format
  • Web Map Service, Geotiffs per AMP

OnLine resource
DATA ACCESS - bathymetry mosaics per AMP (Geotiff)

OnLine resource
DATA ACCESS - hillshade for bathymetry mosaics (to use as backdrop)

OnLine resource
RELATED DATA - geomorphometry of AMPs (derived dataset)

OnLine resource

Explore the data through the interactive Seamap Australia portal

OnLine resource
seamap:bathymetry_AMP_grp

Bathymetry of AMPs Web Mapping Service layer (for use in desktop GIS or similar)

Resource lineage

Statement
Bathymetry mosaics for each Australian Marine Park were generated by collating all available bathymetry survey data intersecting AMPs, at the highest available gridded resolution. Data was mosaiced into a single multi-resolution raster product for each AMP. All source bathymetry surveys intersecting the AMP boundaries was first projected into the most suitable UTM zone for that Park using bilinear interpolation (in cases where a park spanned multiple zones, the central-most zone was used). Reprojected rasters were then clipped to Park boundaries using the ArcGIS Pro tool CLIP RASTER. A single VRT file was generated from all homogenously projected, clipped input rasters. Datasets were ordered in the VRT such that the highest priority (aka mosaicked last) was assigned to: (1) highest resolution; and (2) most recent data (where resolution was identical. This meant that, where bathymetry datasets overlapped in the mosaic, only the first (higher resolution) data was retained for each area. In cases where input data had clear artefacts or errors, these areas were clipped out, or the input Geotiff was deprioritised in the mosaic. GDAL_TRANSLATE was then used to generate a mosaiced product with the resolution of the output file set to the highest resolution of all input data sources (bilinear interpolation). Hillshade (z-factor = 5m, azimuth = 315°, altitude = 45°) was computed for each homogenously projected, clipped input raster. These were then mosaicked into a second raster product for each AMP using the process described above. This enabled preservation of the highest-resolution hillshading detail available for each AMP. Bathymetry and hillshade mosaic datasets for each AMP were translated to COGs to optimise cloud mapping performance with DEFLATE compression applied.
Hierarchy level
Dataset

Metadata

Metadata identifier
urn:uuid/fb451be4-9de1-4bc2-8fd6-0f285f90916f

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/fb451be4-9de1-4bc2-8fd6-0f285f90916f

Point of truth URL of this metadata record

Date info (Creation)
2015-05-06T11:44:25
Date info (Revision)
2025-03-06T15:29:57

Metadata standard

Title
ISO 19115-3:2018
 
 

Overviews

SeamapAus_logo_sq.jpg
map01.png
map02.png

Spatial extent

Keywords

geomorphology geomorphometry mapping seafloor features seafloor morphology
Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC): Fields of Research
Geospatial Information Systems Surveying (incl. Hydrographic Surveying)
NASA/GCMD Keywords, Version 8.5
EARTH SCIENCE | LAND SURFACE | GEOMORPHIC LANDFORMS/PROCESSES

Provided by

Share on social sites

Access to the record in catalogue
Read here the full details and access to the data.

Associated resources

Not available


  •  
  •  
  •