Environmental conditions and anthropogenic impacts are key influences on ecological processes and associated ecosystem services. Effective management of Tonga’s marine ecosystems therefore depends on accurate and up-to-date knowledge of environmental and anthropogenic variables. Although many types of environmental and anthropogenic data are now available in global layers, they are often inaccessible to end users, particularly in developing countries with limited accessibility and analytical training.
Information on Tonga's oceanscape.
This report describes the high-resolution bathymetric mapping survey carried out in 2004. The survey achieved good coverage of the seafloor from approximately 10 m depth in the nearshore reef slope area, to an average offshore depth of some 2000 m, at an average slope angle of 2. The objective was to investigate the seabed and provide information about water depths around the islands using a multibeam echosounder (MBES).