The river bed sediments in the Lower Athabasca are known to shift and migrate downstream. Numerical modelling of water quantity and quality (including sediments) requires accurate river channel cross-sectional geometry within the area of study. Such cross-sectional geometry prior to 2012 was limited for the Lower Athabasca River restricting modelling accuracy and efficiency. As such, in order to better understand the bed sediment dynamics of the lower Athabasca River and to support model development (e.g., calibration/validation of sediment/bitumen erosion/transport/deposition), high resolution swath bathymetry data were collected from bank to bank during open water seasons (2012-2014) covering approximately 115 km from Fort McMurray to the mouth of the Firebag River. Data are presented in 2km stretches of the river and are represented by 1) a kmz file which gives a visual representation of the coverage of the file, and 2) a detailed grid file which contains the full x,y,z coordinates at 0.5m resolution. While very useful for modelling, it should be realized that given the continually changing form of the lower Athabasca bed geometry, the data provided is a “snap shot in time” and is not reflective of the current condition. Further, and as related, this information is not for navigation purposes.
