Bathymetric grid of South Africa’s mainland maritime domain

Bathymetric data underpin most approaches to mapping habitats and ecosystems in the ocean environment, as the depth and shape of the seafloor controls many hydrographic and biological processes. Various researchers, organisations and private companies have collected multibeam echo-sounding (MBES) data over a growing number of areas within South Africa’s maritime domain. Although these data are frequently not publicly available, their owners may be willing to share them for the purpose of contributing progress on a national-scale bathymetry map. This project sought to leverage all available bathymetry datasets that could be collated from a wide range of partners, and to create an updated national-scale bathymetry map. Although many of the input datasets cannot be distributed in the native resolution they were provided, the resulting 100m resolution grid is publicly shared as a valuable resource for researchers, managers and anyone interested in the best-available information on the depths of South Africa’s mainland maritime domain. The intention is that this bathymetric grid can be improved upon over time as more and better data become available. The details of input datasets used and approaches applied are outlined in the report released alongside the data layer, but please use this DOI citation when referring to the bathymetry layer.