GAIA Marine delivered an integrated shallow-water survey program in the Pilbara, combining USV-based multibeam bathymetry, sub-bottom profiling, metocean monitoring and benthic habitat assessment to support port infrastructure planning in a constrained operational marine environment.
The project required multiple survey disciplines to be delivered across active port waters, including high-resolution bathymetry, shallow sub-seafloor characterisation, directional wave and current monitoring, and seabed habitat assessment. GAIA deployed a Uni-Mini USV equipped with a Norbit iWBMS multibeam system to acquire full-coverage bathymetry in shallow, confined and safety-restricted zones, supported by crewed vessels for sub-bottom profiling, ADCP deployment and recovery, and drop-camera habitat work. This platform mix allowed the team to operate effectively close to infrastructure and across very shallow margins where conventional survey vessels would have been more constrained.
The final dataset included bathymetric terrain models, sub-bottom profiles, shallow geological interpretation, 112 days of wave and current monitoring, georeferenced benthic imagery, habitat classifications and GIS-ready deliverables. The survey achieved full bathymetric coverage across the required areas, with no material data gaps, strong beam performance and good line-to-line consistency. The USV’s very shallow draft allowed acquisition into shallow margins while maintaining safe clearance and suitable sensor geometry.
This project is a strong example of GAIA Marine’s integrated survey model: one field program, multiple sensor streams, disciplined QA/QC and practical outputs suitable for engineering, environmental and planning teams. Rather than treating bathymetry, geophysics, metocean and benthic habitat as disconnected work packages, GAIA combined them into a coherent technical evidence base that could support design, assessment and future project development.