Mapping and Classification of Darwin Harbour Seabed
This report presents the results of seabed mapping and habitat classification surveys completed in Darwin Harbour during 2011 and 2013 as part of the Northern Territory Government's marine habitat mapping program. This research aims to provide baseline data on the existing marine habitats and characteristics of the Darwin Harbour region. It is a collaboration between Geoscience Australia (GA), the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), the Department of Land Resource Management (DLRM) and the Darwin Port Corporation. Key objectives are to:
- Produce detailed maps of the bathymetry and derived parameters such as slope and rugosity,
- Classify the seabed into areas of hard and soft substrate, and,
- Produce seabed habitat maps (or seascapes).
Data collection was completed in two stages comprising a multibeam survey, undertaken on the MV Matthew Flinders in 2011 by DLRMs predecessor, the Department of Natural Resources, Environment, the Arts and Sport (NRETAS), GA, AIMS and the Darwin Port Corporation; and, a seabed sampling survey undertaken in 2013 on the MV John Hickman, by DLRM and GA. Data acquired from the surveys included continuous high-resolution multibeam sonar bathymetry and acoustic backscatter, video and still camera observations of seabed habitats and biological communities, and physical samples of seabed sediments.
Key outcomes from the surveys include:
1. Improved understanding of the seabed of Darwin Harbour. The main seabed geomorphic features identified in Darwin Harbour include banks, ridges, plains and scarps, and a deep central channel that divides into smaller and shallower channels. Acoustically hard substrates are found mostly on banks and are associated with rocky reef and sponge gardens, and are often overlain by a thin veneer of sandy sediment. In contrast, plains and channels are characterised by acoustically soft substrates and are associated with fine sediments (mud and sand).
2. Classification of physical seabed properties to produce a Seascape Map for Darwin Harbour. Six seascape classes (potential habitats) were derived using an Iterative Self Organising (ISO) unsupervised classification scheme. These six classes are related to statistically unique combinations of seabed substrate, relief, bedform and presence of sediment veneer (quite often inferred from presence of epibenthic biota).
The results presented in this report demonstrate the utility of multibeam acoustic data to broadly and objectively characterise the seabed to describe the spatial distribution of key benthic habitats. This is particularly important technique in high-turbidity settings such as Darwin Harbour where the application of satellite and aerial remote sensing techniques can be limited.
The results of this study will be used for the planning and analysis of data from upcoming benthic biodiversity studies as they:
- Provide robust near-continuous physical variables that can be used to predictive modelling of biodiversity;
- Provide high-resolution coverage of near-continuous variables that describe the key physical characteristic of the seabed of the harbour, and;
- Enhance survey sample design by providing indicative locations of likely similar biology communities.
Simple
Identification info
- Date (Publication)
- 2015-01-01T00:00:00
- Citation identifier
- Geoscience Australia Persistent Identifier/https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/79212
- Citation identifier
- Digital Object Identifier/http://dx.doi.org/10.11636/Record.2015.018
- Cited responsible party
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Publisher Geoscience Australia
Canberra Author Siwabessy, P.J.W.
1 Author Tran, M.
2 Author Huang, Z.
3 Author Nichol, S.L.
4 Author Atkinson, I.
5
- Name
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Record
- Issue identification
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2015/018
- Point of contact
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Custodian EGD
Owner Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Custodian Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice
- Topic category
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- Geoscientific information
- Maintenance and update frequency
- Unknown
Resource format
- Title
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Product data repository: Various Formats
- Website
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Data Store directory containing the digital product files
Data Store directory containing one or more files, possibly in a variety of formats, accessible to Geoscience Australia staff only for internal purposes
- Keywords
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GA Publication
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Record
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- Theme
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marine environmental baselines
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- Theme
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backscatter
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- Theme
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bathymetry
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- Theme
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mapping
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- Theme
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marine
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- Keywords
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NT
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- Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)
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Marine Geoscience
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- Keywords
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Published_External
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Resource constraints
- Title
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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence
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CC-BY
- Edition
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4.0
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- License
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Resource constraints
- Title
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Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem
- Edition date
- 2018-11-01T00:00:00
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- Unclassified
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
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Distribution Information
- Distributor contact
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Distributor Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice
- OnLine resource
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Download the Record (pdf)
Download the Record (pdf)
- OnLine resource
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Download the Record (docx)
Download the Record (docx)
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Link to p-rock (probability of rock) grids from the Darwin Harbour 2011 Marine Survey (GA0333)
Link to p-rock (probability of rock) grids from the Darwin Harbour 2011 Marine Survey (GA0333)
- OnLine resource
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Link to Seascape classification layer from the Darwin Harbour 2011 Marine Survey (GA0333)
Link to Seascape classification layer from the Darwin Harbour 2011 Marine Survey (GA0333)
- OnLine resource
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Link to Bathymetry Grid of Darwin Harbour From Survey Onboard the Matthew Flinders - 2011
Link to Bathymetry Grid of Darwin Harbour From Survey Onboard the Matthew Flinders - 2011
- OnLine resource
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Link to Topographic Slope Grid of Darwin Harbour
Link to Topographic Slope Grid of Darwin Harbour
- OnLine resource
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Link to Rugosity Grid of Darwin Harbour
Link to Rugosity Grid of Darwin Harbour
- OnLine resource
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Link to Backscatter Grid of Darwin Harbour From Survey Onboard the Matthew Flinders - 2011
Link to Backscatter Grid of Darwin Harbour From Survey Onboard the Matthew Flinders - 2011
Resource lineage
- Statement
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unknown
- Hierarchy level
- Non geographic dataset
- Other
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GA Publication
- Description
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Source data not available.
Metadata constraints
- Title
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Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem
- Edition date
- 2018-11-01T00:00:00
- Classification
- Unclassified
Metadata
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urn:uuid/f4878405-a569-0030-e044-00144fdd4fa6
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GeoNetwork UUID
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Point of contact Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice
Type of resource
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GA Record
Alternative metadata reference
- Title
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Geoscience Australia - short identifier for metadata record with
uuid
- Citation identifier
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- Date info (Revision)
- 2018-04-20T06:08:53
- Date info (Creation)
- 2014-03-14T00:00:00
Metadata standard
- Title
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AU/NZS ISO 19115-1:2014
Metadata standard
- Title
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ISO 19115-1:2014
Metadata standard
- Title
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ISO 19115-3
- Title
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Geoscience Australia Community Metadata Profile of ISO 19115-1:2014
- Edition
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Version 2.0, September 2018
- Citation identifier
- https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/122551