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Abstract

The bathymetry of coastal bay environments, like Moreton Bay around Brisbane in eastern Australia, is constantly reworked because of changes in the patterns of energy dispersal and related sediment transport pathways. Updated and accurate bathymetric models are a crucial component for scientific, environmental, and ship safety studies.NASA’s Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) was launched in September 2018 and carries a single instrument, ATLAS (Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System). ATLAS is a green wavelength, photon-counting lidar, enabling global measurement and monitoring of elevation with a primary science focus on the cryosphere. However, ATLAS’s green laser frequently penetrates the air–water interface, and under the right conditions and in shallow waters (<40 m), these photons are reflected back to ATLAS after interaction with the ocean bottom.An Australian Research Council funded research project “Enhancing marine bathymetry using new-generation satellite sensors” commenced in 2022. We present the first results from this project on the use of ICESAT-2 along selected 91-day repeat tracks across Moreton Bay to investigate changes in bathymetry over the past 4 years. Moreton Bay has had significant changes in bathymetry with time, but significant suspended sediment creates problems for ICESat-2 photons to propagate through the water column.