Bryan Costa, NOAA/NOS/NCCOS/CCMA Biogeography Branch
2009
St. John Benthic Habitat Mapping - Moderate Depth Ground Validation Transects
vector digital data
Silver Spring, MD
NOAA's Ocean Service, National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS)
Please use citation for the written document "Moderate-Depth Benthic Habitats of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands" when using these data.
https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/projects/detail?key=205
http://www8.nos.noaa.gov/bhv/bhvMapBrowser.aspx
Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA), Biogeography Program
2009
Benthic Habitats of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands
document
Silver Spring, MD
NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science
Zitello, A.G., L.J. Bauer, T.A. Battista, P.W. Mueller and M.S. Kendall. 2009. Benthic Habitats of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS NCCOS 96. 50 pp.
Benthic habitats of the moderate-depth marine environment in and around the Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument were mapped using a combination of semi-automated classification and visual interpretation of acoustic imagery. The objective of this effort, conducted by NOAA's Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment - Biogeography Branch in partnership with the U.S. National Park Service (NPS), was to provide spatially-explicit information on the moderate-depth habitat types, biological cover and live coral cover south of St. John. The data contained in this shapefile denote the position of the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) as it followed 13 predetermined transects. These ground validation (GV) transects were explored by NOAA field scientists to further refine habitat map classification.
Extensive field work is needed to create high-quality benthic habitat maps because it enhances the accuracy of habitat attribution and (to a lesser degree) habitat delineation. Given the importance of field work, the primary purpose of this survey data was to explore and verify existing habitat information on the seafloor. In particular, these ground validation locations were targeted by the cartographer to satisfy the following objectives:
1. Explore features in the imagery with unknown or confusing acoustic signatures
2. Confirm that the habitat type correlated with a particular acoustic signature remained consistent throughout the entire study area.
This information was incorporated into a fine-scale assessment of the status, abundance, and distribution of moderate-depth marine habitats of St. John. The NOAA effort provides the U.S. National Park Service with increased technical capacity for ocean exploration, management, and stewardship. Direct implications to management measures include evaluation of management efficacy, a spatial framework for improved monitoring sampling design, improved assessment of human-use impacts, and marine spatial planning to support alternative marine protected area boundary alternatives.
The creation of high-quality benthic habitat maps required extensive field work to enhance accuracies of habitat attribution and, to a lesser degree, habitat delineation. Data were collected along 13 ground validation transects during a two-week field mission from 2/1/2005 - 2/12/2005 aboard the NOAA Ship Nancy Foster. Post-processing of the GPS data allowed for a series of points to represent the actual survey location.
20050201
unknown
20050212
unknown
ground condition
None planned
-64.806240
-64.670462
18.308621
18.236738
NCEI Geoportal FilterCoRIS_Metadata
CoRIS Theme Thesaurus
EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Aquatic Habitat > Benthic Habitat
CoRIS Discovery Thesaurus
Geographic Information > Habitats
None
coral reef
benthic habitats
reef
submerged aquatic vegetation
unconsolidated sediments
zone
geomorphological structure
biological cover
ground validation
transect
ROV
Remotely Operated Vehicle
ISO 19115 Topic Category
imageryBaseMapsEarthCover
010
environment
007
None
United States
U. S. Virgin Islands
St. John
CoRIS Place Thesaurus
COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > U. S. Virgin Islands > St. John > St. John (18N064W0011)
OCEAN BASIN > Atlantic Ocean > Caribbean Sea > Virgin Islands > Virgin Islands > St. John (18N064W0011)
CoRIS Region
USVI
None
Not for navigation.
Bryan Costa
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA), Biogeography Branch
mailing and physical address
1305 East West Highway, N-SCI-1, SSMC 4, 9th Floor
Silver Spring
MD
20910
301-713-3028 x146
301-713-4384
bryan.costa@noaa.gov
0800 - 1700, Monday to Friday, EST
Microsoft Windows XP Version 5.1 (Build 2600) Service Pack 3; ESRI ArcCatalog 9.3.1.1850
Please see the following document:
Battista, T. A., and Lazar, J.V. (2005). MBES data acquisition & processing report: Project NF-05-05-USVI, NOAA
Data Acquisition & Processing Report, NOS NCCOS CCMA (On-line).
On-line: http://ccma.nos.noaa.gov/products/biogeography/usvi_nps/pdf/NF-05-05_DAPR.pdf
A transducer attached to the ROV and an acoustic receiver (suspended off the side of the ship) were used to determine the ROV's relative position to the ship. The ROV's absolute geographic position was estimated using this relative position and the shipboard differentrial GPS. The positional accuracy was estimated to be within +/-5 m.
This file is believed to be logically consistent.
13 transects were explored for ground validation during this work.
The positional accuracy was estimated to be within +/-5 m. Please see the following document for more information:
Battista, T. A., and Lazar, J.V. (2005). MBES data acquisition & processing report: Project NF-05-05-USVI, NOAA
Data Acquisition & Processing Report, NOS NCCOS CCMA (On-line).
On-line: http://ccma.nos.noaa.gov/products/biogeography/usvi_nps/pdf/NF-05-05_DAPR.pdf
NOAA
2009
GPS Data
GPS data
2005
ground condition
Trimble SSF Files
Please see the following document for more information:
Battista, T. A., and Lazar, J.V. (2005). MBES data acquisition & processing report: Project NF-05-05-USVI, NOAA
Data Acquisition & Processing Report, NOS NCCOS CCMA (On-line).
On-line: http://ccma.nos.noaa.gov/products/biogeography/usvi_nps/pdf/NF-05-05_DAPR.pdf
For the 2005 mission, the GV transects were systematically placed over the study area to include as many benthic habitat features and transition zones as possible. Distinct features and transitional areas were identified by visual examination of fine-scale multibeam bathymetry data collected in 2004 and moderate-scale GEODAS bathymetry data (GEODAS, 2005). The bathymetry data were divided into distinct benthic habitats using variations in depth, roughness and spatial patterning (ridges, bumps, troughs, regular undulations, etc.).
2005
Georeferenced underwater video and photographs were acquired using a video camera and high-resolution digital still camera mounted on a Spectrum Phantom S2 ROV. High powered strobe lights mounted on theROV were used to supplement ambient light levels during the day and served as the only source of light during night operations. Data from the cameras were transmitted and immediately recorded to a computer's hard drive. Video data were collected during an entire transect, and still photos were collected every 30 seconds. The forward-facing video camera was pointed at a 45 degree downward angle to give ROV pilots a view of upcoming obstacles and researchers a view of the benthic habitat. The ROV's height above the substrate and speed were approximately 2 m and 1 m/s, respectively. The ROV pilot attempted to keep the ROV height and speed as constant to standardize the field of view and spatial resolution of interpretations. Two downward pointing parallel lasers separated by 5 cm and the scale of habitat features and organisms were used to estimate height off the bottom. Still photo images were acquired using a downward pointed camera.
2005
The resulting GPS and video information was processed, analyzed and used to train the classification algorithm that was used to generate the second draft map.
2009
Vector
Entity Point
2005
Universal Transverse Mercator
20
0.999600
-63.000000
0.000000
500000.000000
0.000000
Coordinate Pair
0.000001
0.000001
meters
North American Datum of 1983
Geodetic Reference System 80
6378137.000000
298.257222
GVData_ModerateDepth_Transects
Shapefile attribute table
None
FID
Internal feature number.
ESRI
Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.
Shape
Feature geometry.
ESRI
Coordinates defining the features.
Source
The mission during which the site was visited
NOAA
Unknown
Date_
Date of the transect
NOAA
Unknown
Site_Type
Type of site (i.e., GV or AA)
NOAA
Unknown
TransectID
Unique transect ID
NOAA
Unknown
VideoName
Name of video associated with a site
NOAA
Unknown
Time
Time of the transect
NOAA
Variable
Unique_ID
Concatenation of the transect ID, dive number and time
NOAA
Variable
Zone_
Geographic Zone
NOAA
Unknown
Maj_Struct
Major Geomorphological Structure
NOAA
Unknown
Det_Struct
Detailed Geomorphological Structure
NOAA
Unknown
Maj_Cover
Major Biological Cover
NOAA
Unknown
P_Maj_Cov
Percent density/patchiness of major biological cover
NOAA
Unknown
P_Coral_Cv
Percent live coral cover
NOAA
Variable
Cover
Concatenation of major and percent biological cover
NOAA
Unknown
Habitat
Concatenation of detailed geomorphological structure, major and percent biological cover and percent live coral cover
NOAA
Unknown
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA), Biogeography Program
mailing and physical address
1305 East West Highway
Silver Spring
MD
20910
301-713-3028 x171
301-713-4384
tim.battista@noaa.gov
0800 - 1700, Monday to Friday, EST
Downloadable Data
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) is publishing this data on their website. NCCOS Biogeography Branch does not guarantee the accuracy of the geographic features or attributes. Please see the written report and metadata records for each data set for complete information on the source, limitations, and proper use.
Contact NOAA for distribution options (see Distributor).
20200329
20100225
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA), Biogeography Branch
mailing and physical address
1305 East West Highway
Silver Spring
MD
20910
301-713-3028
301-713-4384
0800 - 1700, Monday to Friday, EST
FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata
FGDC-STD-001-1998
Local Time
20100225074329
None
20050201
20050212
https://www.coris.noaa.gov/metadata/records/html/metadata_gvdata_moderate_depth_transects.html
4489