Recent datasets

This layer shows a 500m resolution image of the world derived from the Blue Marble Next Generation April 2004 image (86400x43200 pixels). As the image was derived from MODIS satellite imagery during Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere the high latitude countries (Russia, Canada, etc) are covered in snow. The colour and tonal range of the original Blue Marble image was compressed and brightened to make the image suitable for use as a basemap.

This dataset consists reprocessing and reformatting the SRTM30 PLUS v8.0 Digital Elevation Model (DEM) dataset developed by Scripps Institute Of Oceanography, University of California San Diego (UCSD) to produce a single raster covering the globe in GeoTiff format and create a full and low resolution hillshading from this DEM. The aim of this derived dataset is to reformat the data to allow easy use with GIS applications. Full resolution hillshading: The hillshading was produced by combining the 33 source DEMs using gdal_translate then processing using gdaldem with a z-factor of 0.0001.

This dataset shows the ocean side boundary of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, excluding the inner boundary along the Queensland coastline. This dataset was derived from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Boundary dataset by loading the GBRMPA_BOUNDS_Line.shp (supplied by GBRMPA) into ArcMap then deleting the verticies along the coastline, breaking the original closed line loop. This dataset is not authorive and was produced for use in the eAtlas. Contact the Spatial Data Centre at GBRMPA for the official boundaries.

Originator

During the central and eastern Torres Strait survey in November 2006, tissue samples of 10 individuals of the sponge Coscinoderma matthewsi were collected from 5 island groups: Ugar (Stephen Island) and Erub (Darnley Island) in eastern Torres Strait; and the Masig group (Kodall Island and Keats Island), Poruma (Coconut Island) and Warraber (Sue Island) in central Torres Strait. These island groups are on average, 66 km apart. All sponge samples were placed in separate cryo-tubes and preserved in liquid nitrogen until they could be stored at -80°C.

The eAtlas baselayer is a collection of datasets from third parties styled and combined together to produce a world wide map layer with reasonable detail across the Great Barrier Reef suitable as a baselayer in web mapping applications. The primary basis for this baselayer is the Natural Earth 2 public domain raster map of the world. Overlaid on this is country outlines, cities and Great Barrier Reefs. It has a focus on Australia and the Great Barrier Reef and includes a high resolution coast for Australia (100k) and an even high resolution coast for Queensland (50k).

Size frequency surveys of the sponges Coscinoderma matthewsi, Hyrtios erecta and Ianthella basta (yellow color morph) were conducted at Masig Island, central Torres Strait, in March 2007. At each of eight sites, separated by at least 200 m, three randomly positioned 30 x 1 m transects were surveyed, with each transect separated by at least 20 m. All transects were located on sloping reef at between 10 and 12 m depth.The greatest dimension of each sponge was measured for Coscinoderma matthewsi and Ianthella basta, and used as an approximation of overall sponge size.

Surveys were undertaken in February/March 2007 (Autumn), August/September 2007 (Spring) and October 2009 (Spring) on two pairs of discrete deepwater shoals in the mid-shelf section of the southern Great Barrier Reef. The objective was to find pairs of shoals that were matched in terms of depth, habitat, areal extent, cross shelf position and latitude. Within each pair, one shoal was to be from a 'green zone' (closed to all fishing) and the other from a 'blue zone' (open to fishing), based on the rezoning of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, carried out in 2004.

This dataset is a complete state-wide digital land use map of Queensland. The dataset is a product of the Queensland Land Use Mapping Program (QLUMP) and was produced by the Queensland Government. It presents the most current mapping of land use features for Queensland, including the land use mapping products from 1999, 2006 and 2009, in a single feature layer. This dataset was last updated July 2012. The dataset comprises an ESRI vector geodatabase at a nominal scale of 1:50,000 in coastal regions and 1:100 000 in Western Queensland.

The Wet Tropics World Heritage Area (WTWHA) is famous for its wildlife, biodiversity and natural beauty, but none of these important assets are bought or sold in the market place, so none are explicitly ‘valued’ with a price. Recognising that absence of price does not mean absence of value, this project seeks to improve our understanding of the importance of these non-market ‘values’ to a variety of different stakeholders. How important is a beautiful view or a cassowary to the community, to tourists and to the tourism industry?

Turbidity is a measure of water clarity that quantifies the amount of small particles suspended in the water, and is a fundamental environmental parameter influencing coastal marine ecosystems. Turbidity reduces the light needed for photosynthesis by corals and seagrasses, and suspended particles also transport nutrients, pollutants and diseases. Previous research based on 3 years of turbidity data collected from 15 inshore reefs by the Reef Rescue Marine Monitoring Program has shown that it can take several months for water clarity to improve after river floods.

This project focuses on relationships between socio-economic systems and the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). It comprises three interrelated activities to investigate: 1. Resident and tourist views about the relative ‘value’ of key ecosystem services that are provided by the reef. Researchers will design, distribute and analyse the results of a survey instrument to assess the relative value of different goods and services produced by the GBR to stakeholder groups using both traditional money-based valuation techniques and Larson’s non-monetary based technique. 2.

This dataset is a photo mosaic of historic aerial imagery of the southern Atherton Tablelands from 16th June 1978. It includes the towns of Atherton, Malanda, Yungaburra and Tolga. It has a southern boundary just north of Millaa Millaa, a northern boundary of Lake Tinaroo, an eastern boundary of a quarter of Wooroonooran National Park and a western boundary of Atherton.

This phase of Project 3DGBR involved manual digitising of geomorphic map boundaries for the key seafloor features identified in the gbr100 grid, particularly for the inter-reefal area on the GBR shelf and in the Coral Sea Conservation Zone (CSCZ). See map for CSCZ boundary at: https://www.environment.gov....tion-zone Methods: GIS spatial analysis of the gbr100 grid was conducted in order to derive a number of useful background datasets for assisting in the digitising process, such as slope, aspect, hillshading, and dense contour lines.

Catch data from fisheries independent sampling in inshore habitats (inshore reefs, intertidal flats/foreshores, seagrasses and mangroves) of the GBRWHA (Cleveland Bay and Halifax Bay) using bottom-set multihook research lines (long lines) geared to capturing sharks Data includes catch and effort data for all species captured. Data includes biological data of captured blacktip reef sharks - BTS (Carcharhinus melanopterus). Data also includes simple water quality parameters for sample locations (temperature, secchi disc depth, dissolved oxygen, salinity measured with a YSI).

This dataset shows a raster spatial model of the distribution and relative density of dugongs (Dugong dugong) in the Torres Strait region based on an aggregate of 24 years (1987 - 2011) of systematic aerial surveys. Aerial surveys were conducted using the strip transect method described by Marsh and Sinclair (1989). The survey region was divided into blocks containing systematic transects of varying length, which were typically perpendicular to the coast across the depth gradient.

The Biophysical Oceanography Group produces monthly oceanographic reports for the eastern Australian coast, including the Torres Strait, which summarise key environmental variables such as sea surface temperature (SST) and chlorophyll concentration. These variables are important indicators for coral reef ecosystems and other biological processes.

The rezoning of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP) in 2004 increased the number and extent of ‘no-take’ areas within the Park. This project surveys pairs of reefs, one in a ‘no-take’ or green zone and the other a similar reef where fishing is allowed (blue zone), in five regions of the GBRMP. Green and blue zones will be surveyed for the abundance and size of fishery species, particularly coral trout, as well as wider effects on coral reef communities. The results of reef surveys will be used to: 1.

Little is known about the impacts of fire on rainforest vegetation or the animals which depend on it. This project will investigate the positive and negative impacts of fire on rainforest vegetation and wildlife. In collaboration with NPRSR rangers, and where possible with local NGOs and Indigenous Rangers, we propose to establish vegetation and faunal monitoring sites across the rainforest/woodland boundaries and associated vegetation types in key areas of the Mission Beach, Tully lowlands and Hinchinbrook Channel areas to assess faunal and floral status and trends.

This project will implement monitoring programs for the endangered southern cassowary, Casuarisus casuarius, and the vulnerable spectacled flying-fox, Pteropus conspicillatus. Cassowary monitoring will be based on regular surveys to collect dung. DNA fingerprinting of the bird dung will provide data on cassowary abundance and distribution, the influence of habitat type and the structure and phylogeography of cassowary populations across the region. For spectacled flying-fox monthly surveys of all known spectacled flying-fox camps in the Wet Tropics Region will be conducted.

This project is providing a direct assessment of the ecological effects of multiple-use zoning on inshore reefs of the GBRMP. Underwater visual census (UVC) monitoring of fish and benthic communities is being carried out at 50 no-take marine reserve (green zone) sites and at 50 sites that have remained open to fishing within the Palm, Magnetic, Whitsunday and Keppel Island groups. Long-term monitoring surveys are providing information on: 1. The effects of no-take marine reserves on populations of both species that are fished and other non-fished species. 2.