Seabed Habitat Mapping of Darwin Harbour, Northern Australia: Using Acoustic and Optical Data for Seabed Classification - AMSA Conference 2014  

Authors / CoAuthors

Siwabessy, P.J.W. | Tran, M. | Huang, Z. | Nichol, S.L. | Whiteway, T.G.

Abstract

The effective management of Darwin Harbour in Northern Australia is dependent upon accurate spatial information of seabed habitats that is required by multiple stakeholders. To develop this information, a combination of spatially continuous multibeam data, and targeted video and sediment data were used to classify the seabed and generate habitat maps. These data were acquired during collaborative surveys between Geoscience Australia, the Northern Territory Department of Land Resource Management (DLRM), the Australian Institute of Marine Science and the Darwin Port Corporation. A seascape analysis was used to classify the seabed, incorporating information from multibeam data and underwater video characterisations. We used the Iterative Self Organising Unsupervised Classification technique to combine the information from five variables to form a single classification showing potentially different seabed habitats. The 'probability of hard seabed' (p-rock) variable was derived by comparing the angular backscatter response of known areas of hard seabed to all other angular backscatter responses. We found that six habitat classes were statistically optimal and related to a unique combination of seabed substrate, relief, bedform, presence of a sediment veneer and presence of epibenthic biota and rock/reef. This presentation focuses on methods used to produce a continuous map of the harbour showing the distribution of multiple habitat types. We demonstrate the value of acoustic data for the characterisation of the seabed substrate. The resultant maps are being used by the Northern Territory DLRM to inform ongoing management of Darwin Harbour, with additional mapping planned for offshore areas and adjacent harbours in the region.

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nonGeographicDataset

eCat Id

79254

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Keywords

• External Publication

( Theme )

• multibeam

( Theme )

• bathymetry

( Theme )

• backscatter

( Theme )

• mapping

( Theme )

• marine

• NT

Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)

• Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience

• Published_Internal

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2014-01-01T00:00:00

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Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem    

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence    

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geoscientificInformation

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