A 20 m spatial resolution seamless multisource Digital Elevation/Depth Model for Lizard Island, northern Great Barrier Reef

The proposed framework ranks data reliability internally, thereby avoiding the requirements to quantify absolute error and results in a high resolution, seamless product. Nested within this approach is an effective spatially explicit technique for improving the accuracy of bathymetry estimates derived empirically from optical satellite imagery through modelling the spatial structure of residuals. The approach was applied to data collected on and around Lizard Island in northern Australia. Collectively, the framework holds promise for filling the white ribbon zone in coastal areas characterised by similar data availability scenarios. The seamless DEM is referenced to the horizontal coordinate system MGA Zone 55 - GDA 1994, mean sea level (MSL) vertical datum and has a spatial resolution of 20 m. A range of datasets are integrated: Field-collected GPS elevation points, terrestrial and bathymetric LiDAR, single and multibeam bathymetry, nautical chart depths and empirically derived bathymetry estimations from optical remote sensing imagery.