<p>Australia has established a network of 58 marine parks within Commonwealth waters covering a total of 3.3 million square kilometres, or 40 per cent of our exclusive economic zone (excluding Australian Antarctic Territory). These parks span a range of settings, from near coastal and shelf habitats to abyssal plains. Parks Australia manages the park network through management plans that came into effect for all parks on 1 July 2018. Geoscience Australia is contributing to their management by collating and interpreting existing environmental data, and through the collection of new marine data. “Eco-narrative” documents are being developed for those parks, where sufficient information is available, delivering collations and interpretations of seafloor geomorphology, oceanography and ecology. Many of these interpretations rely on bathymetric grids and their derived products, including those in this data release. <p>Geoscience Australia has developed a new marine seafloor classification scheme, which uses the two-part seafloor mapping morphology approach of Dove et al (2016). This new scheme is semi-hierarchical and the first step divides the slope of the seafloor into three Morphological Surface categories (Plain, <2°; Slope, 2-10°; Escarpment, >10°). This classification was applied to the portion of the Beaman and Spinnocia (2018) 30 m grid within the marine park. <p>Beaman, R.J. and Spinoccia, M. (2018). High-resolution depth model for Northern Australia - 30 m. Geoscience Australia. <p>Dove, D., Bradwell, T., Carter, G., Cotterill, C., Gafeira, J., Green, S., Krabbendam, M., Mellet, C., Stevenson, A., Stewart, H., Westhead, K., Scott, G., Guinan, J., Judge, M. Monteys, X., Elvenes, S., Baeten, N., Dolan, M., Thorsnes, T., Bjarnadóttir, L., Ottesen, D. (2016). Seabed geomorphology: a twopart classification system. British Geological Survey, Open Report OR/16/001. 13 pages. <p>This research is supported by the National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Marine Biodiversity Hub through Project D1.

<p>This dataset provides the spatially continuous data of seabed gravel (sediment fraction >2000 µm), mud (sediment fraction < 63 µm) and sand content (sediment fraction 63-2000 µm) expressed as a weight percentage ranging from 0 to 100%, presented in 10 m resolution raster grids format and ascii text file.</p> <p>The dataset covers the eight areas in the Timor Sea region in the Australian continental EEZ.</p> <p>This dataset supersedes previous predictions of sediment gravel, mud and sand content for the basin with demonstrated improvements in accuracy. Accuracy of predictions varies with sediment types, with a VEcv = 71% for mud, VEcv = 72% sand and VEcv = 42% for gravel. Artefacts occur in this dataset as a result of noises associated predictive variables (e.g., horizontal and vertical lines resulted from predictive variables derived from backscatter data are the most apparent ones). To obtain the most accurate interpretation of sediment distribution in these areas, it is recommended that noises with backscatter data should be reduced and predictions updated.</p> <p>This research is supported by the National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Marine Biodiversity Hub through Project D1.

<p>The dataset measures the long-term seasonal means of the chlorophyll a concentrations of ocean surface waters. They are derived from MODIS (aqua) images using NASA's SeaDAS image processing software. The monthly chlorophyll a images between July 2002 and December 2017 are used to calculate the means of the four austral seasons: winter (June, July, and August), spring (September, October and November), summer (December, January and February) and autumn (March, April and May). The extent of the dataset covers the entire Australian EEZ and surrounding waters (including the southern ocean). The unit of the dataset is mg/m3. <p>This research is supported by the National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Marine Biodiversity Hub through Project D1.

<p>Flythrough movie of Bremer Commonwealth Marine Reserve, southwest Western Australia showing bathymetry of Bremer Canyon, Hood Canyon, Henry Canyon and Knob canyon. <p>This research is supported by the National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Marine Biodiversity Hub through Project D1.

This resource includes multibeam sonar backscatter data for Middleton Reef and Elizabeth Reef within Lord Howe Marine Park collected by Geoscience Australia during the period 31 January to 6 February 2020 on the Australian Maritime College vessel, TV Bluefin. The survey was undertaken as a collaborative project funded through the National Environmental Science Program Marine Biodiversity Hub, with the Institute for Marine & Antarctic Studies (University of Tasmania), NSW Department of Primary Industries, University of Sydney (Australian Centre for Field Robotics) and Parks Australia (Marine Park managers, Commonwealth Government). The purpose of the survey was to collect baseline information for benthic habitats within the National Park Zone (Middleton Reef) and Recreational Use Zone (Elizabeth Reef) of the marine park. These data will support ongoing environmental monitoring within the Temperate East Marine Park Network as part of its 10-year management plan (2018-2028). Data acquisition for the project included seabed mapping using multibeam sonar (Kongsberg EM 2040C HD, 300 kHz), seabed imagery acquisition by Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV Sirius and AUV Nimbus), sediment samples (grab) and imagery of demersal fish communities by baited remote underwater videos (BRUVs). This dataset comprises two bathymetry grids derived from multibeam sonar data gridded at 4 mspatial resolution. A detailed report on the survey is available on the Marine Biodiversity Hub’s website (https://www.nespmarine.edu.au/reports; Carroll, A et al., 2020,. Australian Marine Park Baseline and Monitoring Survey: Post Survey Report, Middleton and Elizabeth Reefs, Lord Howe Marine Park. This dataset is not to be used for navigational purposes. This dataset is published with the permission of the CEO, Geoscience Australia

Australia has established a network of 58 marine parks within Commonwealth waters covering a total of 3.3 million square kilometres, or 40 per cent of our exclusive economic zone (excluding Australian Antarctic Territory). These parks span a range of settings, from near coastal and shelf habitats to abyssal plains. Parks Australia manages the park network through management plans that came into effect for all parks on 1 July 2018. Geoscience Australia is contributing to their management by collating and interpreting existing environmental data, and through the collection of new data. This includes compiling existing bathymetry datasets for select marine parks. This dataset includes a compilation of multibeam sonar bathymetry (gridded to 100 m spatial resolution) for Bremer Marine Park, in the South-west Marine Park Network. The park incorporates Bremer Canyon and adjacent smaller canyons that incise the continental slope and outer shelf. This research is supported by the National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Marine Biodiversity Hub through Project D1.<p><p>This dataset is not to be used for navigational purposes.

Australia has one of the world’s largest marine estates, but without some common and agreed standards, information collected may not be comparable with other areas or sectors. Due to the large geographic area, diverse flora and fauna, and range of environmental conditions represented by the Australian Marine estate, a single method of sampling is neither practical nor desirable (Bouchet et al. 2018, Przeslawski et al. 2018). For this reason, we present a standard approach for each of seven key marine benthic sampling platforms that were identified based on frequency of use in previous open water sampling and monitoring programs: Multibeam sonar (MBES), Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), benthic Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUVs), towed video, grabs and box cores, sleds and trawls, and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). n addition, we provide a field manual for pelagic BRUVs as a concept sampling method in pelagic ecosystems due to its similarity to benthic BRUVs. This field manual package aims to provide a standardised national methodology for the acquisition of marine data from a prioritised set of frequently-used sampling platforms (below diver depths) so that data are directly comparable in time and through space. This will then facilitate national monitoring programs in Australian open waters and contribute to the design of an ongoing monitoring program for AMPs. The long-term goal is to produce a set of manuals that is applicable to a broad range of users and to be prescriptive enough that all data are collected without unnecessary technical variation. Using an inclusive and collaborative approach, over 115 individuals from 50 organisations contributed to versions 1 and 2 of the field manual package, Version 1 of the field manual package was released in February 2018, and Version 2 was released two years later in June 2020. All original chapters were updated in Version 2 with stakeholder feedback, corrections, and updates where applicable. The chapter ‘Seafloor Mapping Field Manual for Multibeam Sonar’ was substantially changed in Version 2 to amalgamate it with the Australian Multibeam Guidelines which were released in June 2018 by AusSeabed, a nationally seabed mapping coordination program. The unified multibeam manual in Version 2 addresses stakeholder concerns about maintaining two separate SOPs for multibeam sonar. In addition, a new manual on ROVs was developed for the Version 2 package. The ROV was chosen based on findings from a report titled Scoping of new field manuals for marine sampling in Australian waters. One of the most notable changes for Version 2 was the development of an online portal for the field manuals (https://marine-sampling-field-manual.github.io). While Version 1 was released as static pdfs through the NESP Marine Hub website, Version 2 was released through GitHub. <b>Citation:</b> Przeslawski R, Foster S [Eds.]. (2020). Field Manuals for Marine Sampling to Monitor Australian Waters, Version 2. Report to the National Environmental Science Program, Marine Biodiversity Hub. Geoscience Australia and CSIRO. http:dx.doi.org/10.11636/9781925848755

A scientific workshop for NESP Project D1 ¿Developing a toolbox of predictive models for the monitoring and management of KEFs and CMRs in the North and North-west regions¿ was held at Geoscience Australia 9-10 September 2015. The objectives of the workshop were to discuss future research priorities for the North and North-West regions and to define current knowledge gaps by consolidating existing datasets from AIMS, GA and UWA. Several robust datasets for the North and North-West region were identified which may be used to validate, refine, or extend existing models, particularly in the Oceanic Shoals CMR and along the North-west coastline, including the Kimberley CMR. There are still large regions for which very little scientific information exists, notably the Argo Rowley Terrace CMR and other deep-sea areas. However, when balanced against stakeholder interests and marine management priorities, data-poor CMRs closer to the coast such as the Kimberley and 80 Mile Beach CMRs are the most likely candidates for future research. <b>Citation:</b> Przeslawski, R, Miller, KJ, Nichol, SL, Bouchet, PJ, Huang, Z, Kool, JT, Radford, B, Thums, M., 2015, <i>Developing a toolbox of predictive models for the monitoring and management of KEFs and CMRs in the North and North-west regions - Scientific Workshop Report</i>, Report in Marine Biodiversity Hub, National Environmental Science Programme (NESP)

<p>The dataset measures the long-term seasonal means of the sea surface temperature (SST) of ocean surface waters. They are derived from MODIS (aqua) images using NASA's SeaDAS image processing software. The monthly SST images between July 2002 and December 2017 are used to calculate the means of the four austral seasons: winter (June, July, and August), spring (September, October and November), summer (December, January and February) and autumn (March, April and May). The extent of the dataset covers the entire Australian EEZ and surrounding waters (including the southern ocean). The unit of the dataset is Celsius degree. <p>This research is supported by the National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Marine Biodiversity Hub through Project D1.

<p>The dataset indicates the seasonal primary productivity hotspots of ocean surface waters. They are derived from MODIS (aqua) images using NASA's SeaDAS image processing software. The monthly chlorophyll a images between July 2002 and August 2014 are used to identify the primary productivity hotspots of the four austral seasons: winter (June, July, and August), spring (September, October and November), summer (December, January and February) and autumn (March, April and May). The extent of the dataset covers the entire Australian EEZ and surrounding waters (including the southern ocean). The value (between 0 and 1.0) of the dataset represents the likelihood of the location being a primary productivity hotspot. <p>This research is supported by the National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Marine Biodiversity Hub through Project D1.