Australia New Mapping Tender

For the first time the Great Barrier Reef will be mapped in unprecedented 3D detail thanks to a collaboration between Australias lead managers of the Reef and spatial experts.The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and the University of Queensland UQ are teaming up to use state-of-the-art satellite imagery and other data to map the area thats bigger in size than Italy.Dr Chris Roelfsema and Professor Stuart Phinn from UQs Remote Sensing Research Centre believe the project is both revolutionary and essential.The Great Barrier Reef is the planets largest living structure yet theres no biological or geomorphic maps of all of the individual reefs that make up the Reef principal investigator Dr Roelfsema said.Theres been several efforts to map the Reef since 1802 but todays charts only outline the location of 3000 reefs that make up the Reef lacking critical biological and geomorphological information.Thanks to technology advancements were now able to combine state-of-the-art satellite imagery bathymetry slope wave data climate data and modelling techniques as well as our own knowledge of reef environments to fill these gaps.Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authoritys reef knowledge director Dr Roger Beeden said it was a game changer for Reef management including how managers look at reef monitoring and restoration.This mapping builds on more than 20 years of work by remote sensing experts and combines the knowledge of ecologists Reef managers and citizen scientists he said.Developing detailed habitat mapping layers will assist enormously with how we manage the Reef and will underpin all future Reef monitoring and modelling.The maps will be used as a base layer in the development of a Reef knowledge system which is the online visualisation component of the Reef 2050 Integrated Monitoring and Reporting Program.The knowledge system will provide access to spatial and technical information to guide and inform resilience-based management decisions.Researcher Dr Eva Kovacs said the satellites passed over the Reef every five days capturing multi-spectral data at a high spatial resolution.Working with one of our project partners earth observation and environmental services company EOMAP well combine data from satellites with field validation data to confirm the composition of reefs Dr Kovacs said.This will allow us to build a highly detailed picture of the mid-shore and outer shelf reefs to a depth of up to 10 metres.It is invaluable data for anyone with an interest in the Great Barrier Reef from government to conservation groups.We are incredibly excited about collaborating on this project to deliver history-making maps.The new habitat mapping approach will be rolled out over the next 18 months with the maps being available in 2021.Australian Institute of Marine Science Dr Juan Oritz said as project partners they would develop ecological models to generate additional maps.We will be using field observations and wave data to create maps of areas likely dominated by different coral types for every individual reef Dr Oritz said.The project will be delivered by the University of Queensland with support from EOMAP and the Australian Institute of Marine Science.