NOAA's NOS/NCCOS/CCMA Biogeography Branch, in collaboration with NOAA vessel Nancy Foster and territory, federal, and private sector partners, acquired multibeam bathymetry data in the US Virgin Islands from 2/18/04 to 3/5/04 and 2/1/05 to 2/12/05. Data was acquired with a pole-mounted Reson 8101 ER multibeam echosounder (240 kHz) and processed by a NOAA contractor using CARIS HIPS v5.4 software. Data is in UTM zone 20 north, datum WGS84. The backscatter component of the bathymetry data were geometrically and radiometrically corrected using Geocoder 3.2.1 software. Acoustic backscatter mosaics are an important piece of information when characterizing surficial seafloor features and delineating benthic habitats.
The project was conducted to meet IHO Order 1 and 2 accuracy standards, dependant on the project area and depth. All users should individually evaluate the suitability of this data according to their own needs and standards. For a complete description of the data acquisition and processing parameters, please see the data acquisition and processing reports (DAPRs) for projects: NF-04-06-VI and NF-05-05-VI (Monaco & Rooney, 2004; Battista & Lazar, 2005).
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Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA), Biogeography BranchNOAA - NMAO personnel and R/V NANCY FOSTER
This multibeam data were collected to support IOCM (Integrated Ocean and Coastal Mapping) initiatives as part of an ongoing NOAA scientific research mission to characterize coral reef habitats at depths down to 300 meters in the US Caribbean. The multibeam backscatter, multibeam bathymetry, and ground truth video footage collected during these missions was used to characterize sea floor features and to create benthic habitat maps, helping NOAA meet its mapping commitment to the US Coral Reef Task Force. The resulting publicly-distributed data is also a contribution to the greater scientific community interested in seafloor mapping in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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Process_Date 200403, 200502 Data sources used in this process:
Process_Date 200403 - 200408, 200502 - 200511 Data sources used in this process:
Process_Date 200411, 200512 Data sources used in this process:
Process_Date 200411, 200512 Data sources used in this process:
Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?
- Access_Constraints: Please cite any use of this data.
- Use_Constraints:
- Note: NOT TO BE USED FOR NAVIGATION.
These data were prepared by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, make any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed in this report, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference therein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. Any views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. Although all data have been used by NOAA, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by NOAA as to the accuracy of the data and/or related materials. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by NOAA in the use of these data or related materials.
These data were prepared by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, make any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed in this report, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference therein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. Any views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. Although all data have been used by NOAA, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by NOAA as to the accuracy of the data and/or related materials. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by NOAA in the use of these data or related materials.