1. Towards a regional high-resolution bathymetry of the North West Shelf of Australia based on Sentinel-2 satellite images, 3D seismic surveys and historical datasets.
- Author
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Lebrec, Ulysse, Paumard, Victorien, O'Leary, Michael J., and Lang, Simon C.
- Subjects
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SEISMIC surveys , *REMOTE-sensing images , *BATHYMETRY , *DIGITAL elevation models , *MARINE habitats , *ARTIFICIAL satellites , *DEPTH sounding - Abstract
High-resolution bathymetry is a critical dataset for marine geoscientists. It can be used to characterize the seafloor and its marine habitats, to understand past sedimentary records and even to support the development of offshore engineering projects. Most methods to acquire bathymetry data are costly and can only be practically deployed on relatively small areas. It is therefore critical to develop cost-effective and advanced techniques to produce large-scale bathymetry datasets. This paper presents an integrated workflow that builds on satellites images and 3D seismic surveys, integrated with historical depth soundings, to generate a regional high-resolution digital elevation model. The method was applied to the southern half of Australia's North West Shelf and led to the creation of a new high-resolution bathymetry, with a resolution of 10 × 10 m in nearshore areas and 30 × 30 m elsewhere. The vertical and spatial accuracy of the datasets have been thoroughly assessed using open source Laser Airborne Depth Sounder (LADS) and Multi Beam Echo Sounder (MBES) surveys as a reference. The comparison of the datasets indicates that the seismic-derived bathymetry has a vertical accuracy better than 1 m + 2 % of the absolute water depths, while the satellite-derived bathymetry has a depth accuracy better than 1 m + 5 % of the absolute water depths. This dataset constitutes a significant improvement of the pre-existing regional 250 × 250 m grid and will support the onset of research projects on costal morphologies, marine habitats, archaeology, and sedimentology. All datasets used as inputs are publicly available and the method is fully integrated in Python scripts making it readily applicable elsewhere in Australia and around the world. The workflow as well as the resulting bathymetry have been independently reviewed and approved for release by a technical committee from the AusSeabed Community (Geoscience Australia). The regional digital elevation model as well as the underlying datasets can be accessed at: https://doi.org/10.26186/144600. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
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