The MOU74 Box, off the northwest Australian coastline, is an area of approximately 50,000 sq. km within the Australian Fishing Zone. It contains five large, shallow reef systems (less than 15 m deep) ranging in size from 227 sq. km (Ashmore Reef) to 4.5 sq. km (Browse Island). They total approximately 560 sq. km in area. Immediately north of the MOU74 Box within the Australian Fishing Zone (Little Area A) is another shallow reef, Hibernia Reef. In addition to the shallow reefs, there is approximately 925 sq. km of shoal areas (15 to 50 m deep) within the MOU74 Box and 301 sq. km of shoal areas in Little Area A. The reefs and shoals support populations of sedentary reef resources including several species of holothurians (beche-de-mer, sea cucumbers) and trochus, as well as reef-associated fin-fish and sharks. These resources have been fished for many years by Indonesian fishers. Ashmore Reef was declared a Marine Nature Reserve in 1983, banning the removal of fauna and flora to a depth of 50 m. The remaining reefs in the area are under continued, and probably increasing, fishing pressure. The marine resources of the MOU74 Box are managed by the Australian Government. Under the terms of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Australian and Indonesian governments, continued traditional fishing by Indonesian fishing vessels is allowed, principally for sedentary resources such as beche-de-mer (trepang) and trochus, but also fin-fish and reef shark. Apart from limited catch data collected by surveillance and regulatory authorities, little is known about the catch of the Indonesian fishers and the effects of fishing on the target species. There are concerns that the current level of fishing may be unsustainable. In September and October 1998, CSIRO Division of Marine Resources surveyed the shallow reefs (0-15 m deep) and shoal areas (15-50 m deep) of the MOU74 Box area and Little Area A to the north. Its purpose was to assess the status of the reef resources in the area, and the environment that supports them. Fieldwork for the survey was completed on 10 October 1998. Overall, the sedentary marine living resources on the shallow reefs were heavily depleted with the high-value species over-exploited and the lower value species probably either fully or over-exploited. Despite the low density, there appears to be a sustained fishing effort by Indonesian fishers in the area. A drastic reduction in effort would be required to allow for a recovery of the higher value species, and to protect other species from severe depletion. The exception is Ashmore Reef, where there were significant populations of most target species. However, there is most likely some illegal fishing occurring on Ashmore Reef and there is clear evidence of exploitation of at least the high-value resources. The nature of these fisheries and the depleted state of the other reefs in the MOU74 Box suggests that the remaining resources on Ashmore Reef could be quickly depleted if the protection currently given to the reef is not maintained and possibly enhanced. For many reasons, including the potential for recruitment of larvae to depleted reefs, it is important that these populations are protected. Year round protection of the resources on Ashmore Reef should be considered. This record describes the following survey data for the Timor MOU74 Box: • Classified satellite habitat map for Scott and Seringapatam Reefs. • Classified satellite habitat map for Ashmore, Hibernia and Cartier Reefs.

Seagrass meadow extent and meadow-scape was mapped using four alternative approaches at Yule Point, a coastal clear water habitat, in the Cairns section of the Great Barrier Reef, between October 2017 and July 2020. Approach 1 included mapping meadow boundaries and meadow-scape during low spring tides on foot using a handheld GPS. Approach 2 was where the meadows were surveyed at low tide with observations from a helicopter, with observational spot-checks conducted at a number haphazardly scattered points. Approach 3 used imagery collected during low spring tides with a UAV at an altitude of 30 m with a resolution of 0.2cm/pixel. Approach 4 used PlanetScope Dove imagery captured on 05 September 2017 and 09 August 2019 coinciding as close as possible to the field-surveys in 2017 and 2019, with 3.7 m x 3.7 m pixels (nadir viewing) acquired from the PlanetScope archive. This record describes meadow extent data collected using Approach 4 (PlanetScope imagery). View the original metadata record at https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.946604 for the full data collection.

A supervised classification was applied to a Landsat TM5 image. This image was acquired on the 8th August 2004, 15 minutes after low tide. The image classification was applied on areas of clear waters up to three metres depth and for exposed regions of Moreton Bay. Field validation data was collected at 2800 survey sites by UQ, 18 Seagrass-Watch sites and 60 Port of Brisbane Corporation survey sites. GPS referenced field data were used as training areas for the image classification process. For this training the substrate DN signatures were extracted from the Landsat 5 TM image for field survey locations of known substrate cover, enabling a characteristic "spectral reflectance signature" to be defined for each target. The Landsat TM image, containing only those pixels in water < 3.0m deep, was then subject to minimum distance to means algorithm to group pixels with similar DN signatures (assumed to correspond to the different substrata). This process enabled each pixel to be assigned a label of either seagrass cover (0, 1-25 %, 25-50 %, 50-75 % and 75-100 %). The resulting raster data was then converted into a vector polygon file. Species information was added based on the field data and expert knowledge. Both polygon files were joined by overlaying features of remote sensing files with the EHMP field data to produce an output theme that contains the attributes and full extent of both themes. If polygons of remote sensing were within polygons of field data the assumption was made that the remote sensing polygon was showing more detail and the underlying field polygon was deleted.

Seagrass meadow extent and meadow-scape was mapped using three alternative approaches at Midge Point, a coastal turbid water habitat, in the central section of the Great Barrier Reef, in September/October 2017. Approach 1 included mapping meadow boundaries and meadow-scape during low spring tides on foot using a handheld Garmin GPS. Approach 2 was where the meadows were surveyed at low tide with observations from a helicopter, with observational spot-checks conducted at a number haphazardly scattered points. Approach 3 used PlanetScope Dove imagery captured on 09 October 2017 coinciding as close as possible to the field-surveys, with 3.7 m x 3.7 m pixels (nadir viewing) acquired from the PlanetScope archive. This record describes meadow extent data collected using Approach 3 (PlanetScope imagery). View the original metadata record at https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.946606 for the full data collection.

Mangroves are a globally important ecosystem subject to significant anthropogenic and climate impacts. Tidally submerged forests and those that occur in arid and semi-arid regions are particularly susceptible to sea level rise or are growing at the margins of their their ecophysiological limits. The spatial extent of these types of mangroves over broad scales are typically poorly documented as their structural and environmental characteristics make them difficult to detect using remote sensing models. This study utilised the entire Landsat 8 satellite collection between January 2014 and June 2021. A new cloud-based time-series method was used that accounts for tidal variance in detecting mangrove areas that are periodically inundated and have historically been difficult to detect with traditional remote sensing methods. A habitat area model was derived for remote North-western Australia and detected an additional 32% (76,048 hectares) of mangroves that were previously undocumented. The accuracy of the model was assessed within the distinct geomorphic zones of the region through visual validation from high-resolution imagery. See accompanying report for full methodology: Hickey, S.M.; Radford, B. Turning the Tide on Mapping Marginal Mangroves with Multi-Dimensional Space–Time Remote Sensing. Remote Sens. 2022, 14, x. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14143365

Seagrass meadow extent and meadow-scape was mapped using two alternative approaches at Green Island, a reef clear water habitat, in the Cairns section of the Great Barrier Reef, in November 2020. Approach 1 included mapping seagrass meadow-scape using imagery captured during low spring tides with a DJI Mavic 2 Pro UAV at an altitude of 100 m, with a resolution of 2.45cm/pixel. Approach 2 used PlanetScope Dove imagery captured on 05 November 2020 coinciding as close as possible to the field-surveys from 25 to 27 November 2020, with 3.7 m x 3.7 m pixels (nadir viewing) acquired from the PlanetScope archive. This record describes meadow extent data collected using Approach 2 (PlanetScope imagery). View the original metadata record at https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.946605 for the full data collection.

Coastal features within and adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area (such as the Queensland Mainland and Islands, Indicative Reef boundaries and Rocks.). Major coral cay features,major and other coral reef structures (as defined by the reef shoal edge) and tidal, drying or emergent reef areas within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

A supervised classification was applied to a Landsat TM5 image. This image was acquired 9:40 am, on the 27th July 2011 (5.14 am low tide at Brisbane Bar). The image classification was applied on areas of clear waters up to three metres depth and for exposed regions of Moreton Bay. Field validation data was collected at 4797 survey sites by UQ. GPS referenced field data were used as training areas for the image classification process. For this training the substrate DN signatures were extracted from the Landsat 5 TM image for field survey locations of known substrate cover, enabling a characteristic "spectral reflectance signature" to be defined for each target. The Landsat TM image, containing only those pixels in water < 3.0m deep, was then subject to minimum distance to means algorithm to group pixels with similar DN signatures (assumed to correspond to the different substrata). This process enabled each pixel to be assigned a label of either seagrass cover (0, 1-25 %, 25-50 %, 50-75 % and 75-100 %). The resulting raster data was then converted into a vector polygon file. Species information was added based on the field data and expert knowledge. Both polygon files were joined by overlaying features of remote sensing files with the EHMP field data to produce an output theme that contains the attributes and full extent of both themes. If polygons of remote sensing were within polygons of field data the assumption was made that the remote sensing polygon was showing more detail and the underlying field polygon was deleted.

Providing accurate maps of coral reefs where the spatial scale and labels of the mapped features correspond to map units appropriate for examining biological and geomorphic structures and processes is a major challenge for remote sensing. The objective of this work is to assess the accuracy and relevance of the process used to derive geomorphic zone and benthic community zone maps for three western Pacific coral reefs produced from multi-scale, object-based image analysis (OBIA) of high-spatial-resolution multi-spectral images, guided by field survey data. Three Quickbird-2 multi-spectral data sets from reefs in Australia, Palau and Fiji and georeferenced field photographs were used in a multi-scale segmentation and object-based image classification to map geomorphic zones and benthic community zones. A per-pixel approach was also tested for mapping benthic community zones. Validation of the maps and comparison to past approaches indicated the multi-scale OBIA process enabled field data, operator field experience and a conceptual hierarchical model of the coral reef environment to be linked to provide output maps at geomorphic zone and benthic community scales on coral reefs. The OBIA mapping accuracies were comparable with previously published work using other methods; however, the classes mapped were matched to a predetermined set of features on the reef.