Great Barrier Reef Bathymetry, 2000 (CRC Reef Research Centre, GBRMPA)

Depth and Elevation Model of the Great Barrier Reef (GBRDEM), a regional-scale terrain model covering the Great Barrier Reef, catchments which flow into the Great Barrier Reef and, where data are available, depths beyond the edge of the continental shelf. Data are presented as Mean Sea Level (MSL, unit: m), a measure indistinguishable from the Australian Height Datum (AHD) in accuracy at the regional scale. The main data for the model originated from 176,000 depth soundings from the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Hydrographic Survey Office, which cover much of the GBR Lagoon at varying spatial density. As soundings in the northern and southern ends of the GBR are extremely sparse, some additional depths were digitised from hydrological charts 375 and 4621. The GBRMPA reef outlines data were included and interpreted as corresponding to a depth of approximately 10.5 m below MSL. Also included were some LASER Airborne Depth Sounder data, seabeam multi-beam echo-sounder data, soundings taken from charts and, in deep water beyond the continental shelf, depths modelled from remotely sensed data. In most cases, primary data consist of irregular point depth soundings, which were interpolated to a regular 250 m lattice.

Bathymetry data are essential for a scientific understanding of the physical and biological processes that are strongly linked to depth. The data are suitable for analyses at regional scales.

Note: For a more up-to-date bathymetry dataset see the gb100 dataset.

Data Units: Mean Sea Level (MSL): m

Reference: - Lewis, A. (2001) Great Barrier Reef Depth and Elevation Model: GBRDEM. CRC Reef Research Centre Ltd Technical Report No. 33. Townsville; CRC Reef Research Centre Ltd, 58 pp. ISBN 1 876054 64 6