The Tasmanian Shoreline Geomorphic Types Line Map is a digital line map encoding a range of geomorphic and related attributes describing the landform types comprising the coast of Tasmania and its major islands including the Bass Strait islands and most minor islands larger than about 1 hectare. The original (version 1) of the map was compiled between July 1999 and July 2000 by Chris Sharples and Richard Mount (then of DPIWE), for the Oil Spill Response Atlas and the Australian Coastal Atlas. Subsequent ground-truthing and other data sources have been used by Chris Sharples to refine and update parts of the map during several subsequent projects funded from a range of sources, and it is now (2006) in its 4th version. A data dictionary accompanying the data set and available from the custodian gives a detailed explanation of attributes and other information about the map. The map comprises a line representing the High Water Mark, mapped at 1:25,000 scale and geo-referenced to the GDA94 datum, which has been manually split into over 12,000 segments, each representing a geomorphically distinct coastline section. Each segment is tagged with a range of attributes describing the geomorphology and geology of that coastal section. Including islands, 6472 kilometres of Tasmanian coastline has been classified in this way within version 4.0. The geomorphic data is presented in a simple (yet detailed) descriptive format which is applicable to a wide range of coastal management and research purposes.

The base map is derived from the Land Information Tasmania (LIST) 1:25,000 High Water Mark line map (supplied 1999). This has been tagged with data drawn from a variety of sources. Much of the mapping originally compiled into version 1 of this dataset was drawn from a series of 1:50,000 coastal landform maps drawn manually from air photo interpretation by R.A.A. Munro for the Tasmanian Coastal Study 1978 (Tasmanian Conservation Trust). However the Munro maps from Friendly Beaches to Dover (SE Tasmania) were missing and Chris Sharples undertook a new airphoto interpretation of that section. In addition, current (at 1999-2000) DPIW 1:25,000 and 1:100,000 topographical map sheets and Geological Survey of Tasmania geological maps were consulted for all coastal sections during digitising of version 1 of this dataset. Subsequently, the map data has been revised and updated for numerous coastal segments based on ground-truthing by Chris Sharples (indicated by a tagged "Confidence" attribute), and on the use of miscellaneous published and unpublished geomorphic and geological descriptions for certain sections of coast (indicated by a tagged "Reference" attribute).

Position Accuracy: For the base data (High Water mark line map) any well defined point is horizontally within 17.5 metres of its true geographical position. Line segment start and finish locations were determined from air photo interpretation and ground-truthing, and are estimated to be within approximately 25 metres of their true horizontal geographical position. Attribute Accuracy: Attribute accuracy is estimated to be 95%. Attributes originally classified from air photo interpretation have in many cases been revised following ground-truthing, however in most cases this has involved classification into more detailed sub-types rather than correction of erroneous classifications. Logical Consistency: All data is checked for duplicate and co-incident features by both visual and automated means. The data has been checked by automated means to eliminate line segments having no attributes or having inapplicable attribute codes not specified by the Data Dictionary. Completeness: The data set is complete for the coasts of the Tasmanian mainland, Bass Strait islands and most islands above 1 hectare, but not Macquarie Island. The tagged data attributes are complete but subject to revision on the basis of ground-truthing of specific coastal areas from time to time. Additional: Decision support tools including a complete data dictionary can be obtained from http://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/ThemeNodes/CDAT-593VMB or email coastal.enquiries@environment.tas.gov.au to request a copy.