This document captures the decision-making and technical processes involved in generating the coastal sediment compartment data sets for Australia. The Australian Coastal Sediment Compartments Project was undertaken by Geoscience Australia with the aim of generating and delivering a series of discrete spatial units (compartments) in the Australian coastal zone at several spatial scales. The compartments are intended to provide a framework for integrating data and information relevant to sediment movement systems in the Australian coastal zone, and the geomorphic processes that drive them. Such data and information provide a fundamental baseline necessary for benchmarking predictions of shoreline response to sea-level rise and other met-ocean processes under varying climate scenarios. In turn, such information is therefore critical to the development of fit-for-purpose adaptation planning and management instruments. By contributing to a robust, nationally-consistent, process-based coastal classification, outputs of this project provide a conceptual framework to support coastal management at a range of scales, and guide the selection of approaches for modelling shoreline response.
The compartments data sets have been generated through the combined experience of an expert panel of coastal scientists. The compartment boundary points along the coastline are typically defined by prominent geological or geomorphic features and were identified by the expert panel as being potentially significant for sediment movement processes in the coastal zone. The attributes contained in these data sets relate to the boundary points only and thus the compartments themselves do not have any data or information attributed to them. The compartments provide a framework within which consideration can be given to the implications of coastal engineering works and other management and planning decisions (Thom, 2014).
In this document, we present a high-level description of the methodology applied to create the coastal sediment compartments down to the regional (primary) and sub-regional (secondary) level, along with information regarding the spatial analysis and quality assurance processes used to generate the data sets. This methodology has not included a systematic analysis of sediment movement. For a more detailed explanation of the compartments methodology the reader is referred to Eliot et al. (2011a, b), while further contextual information can be found in Thom (2014).
