Standard Presentation (15 mins) Australian Marine Sciences Association 2022

Semi-automated GIS Tools for Mapping Seabed Morphology (#367)

Zhi Huang 1 , Rachel Nanson 1 , Scott Nichol 1 , Alix Post 1 , Michal Wendelich 1
  1. Geoscience Australia, Canberra, AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY, Australia

Seabed morphology mapping provides fundamental information to understand geological and oceanographic processes and the distribution of seabed habitats. Seabed morphology mapping also forms the first of two steps in mapping seabed geomorphology. To facilitate this first step we have developed ArcGIS python tools to semi-automate the mapping and classification of 18 morphological features, as defined by Dove et al. (2020). The tools semi-automate three sub-steps: (1) definition of the boundaries of individual morphological features from bathymetry data; (2)  calculation of a range of metrics for each feature, based on shape, topography and cross-sectional profile; and (3) classification of each seabed feature into one of the morphology feature types on the basis of these metrics. In this talk, we will demonstrate the application of these semi-automated mapping tools to several bathymetry datasets from the Australian and Antarctic margins. These results demonstrate the ability of these tools to consistently and accurately map complex seabed morphology at a range of spatial scales and between disparate regions. This is turn provides valuable insights into seabed processes that drive change and influence habitat characteristics. These tools also offer flexible, user-defined settings to allow customisation for specific applications and for continuous future development.