Marine LiDAR classified point cloud data (LAS)

Remotely sensed topographic (elevation) and bathymetric (depth) information were acquired for the NSW coast (Point Danger to Cape Howe) and southern Queensland (Palm Beach to Point Danger) using Airborne LiDAR Bathymetry (ALB - a combination of Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) and Laser Airborne Depth Sounding (LADS) sensors) during July – December 2018. Data were acquired by Fugro Pty Ltd on behalf of NSW Office of Environment and Heritage using a Riegl VQ-820-G ALB (LiDAR) and Fugro LADS High-Definition sensors aboard sub-contracted Corporate Air Cessna C441 (VH-VEH). Funding was provided through the NSW Coastal Reforms package. The objective of the project was to provide high-resolution data better than 3-5 m spaced soundings (0.5 m spot spacing terrestrial; 3.4 m spot spacing marine) from the mean high-water mark to ~200m inland, and from the shore, seaward (LADS - bathymetry) to the point of laser extinction (~20-40m water depth depending on in-water conditions). Positioning data were collected on the ellipsoid ITRF 2014 GRS80 in UTM Z56 and post-processed using local base stations (CORSnet NSW) to provide a Post Processed Kinematic GNSS solution for final aircraft trajectory before being applied to all data. The data provided here are classified LAS format point clouds, subset into 1) 1 x 1 km tiles of classified height (combined topo-bathymetry) and 2)areas of reflectivity (strength of signal return) data, both in GDA 2020 (horizontal datum; Zones 55 or 56) at Australian Height Datum (vertical datum) with vertical precision to International Hydrographic Order (IHO) 1B. Point cloud data tied to GRS80 ellipsoid is also available. Reflectivity data is further subset into 1) LADS and 2) Riegel sensors. Data covers an area of 6862 km2 and is subdivided into 48 sub-datasets, the extents of which are generally defined in their alongshore extent by the boundaries of NSW Secondary Sediment Compartments (Geosciences Australia). Each data file is prefixed with the compartment name and year of collection. Data provided are available on the ELVIS website (Geosciences Australia - https://elevation.fsdf.org.au). Metadata, data quality statements and geographical data coverage ArcGIS shapefiles are available via SEED https://www.seed.nsw.gov.au/edphome/home.aspx, as are links to the datasets. The data are intended to inform coastal and marine management and should not be used for navigation without additional processing.