Bryan Costa, NOAA/NOS/NCCOS/CCMA Biogeography Branch
2009
St. John Benthic Habitat Mapping - Moderate Depth Ground Validation Sites (Mean Locations)
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
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 represent the mean locations of the 117 ground validation (GV) sites explored by NOAA field scientists to further refine habitat map classification. Considering vessel drift during habitat characterization, the entire evaluation period was most accurately represented by a series of GPS points logged at five-second intervals.
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 on 117 ground validation sites during several different field missions between 1/5/2009 - 6/7/2009 aboard U.S. National Park Service small research vessels. As anchoring at each site was not feasible for rapid assessment, wind and wave effects caused the survey vessel to drift along a transect. Post-processing of the GPS data allowed for a series of points to represent the actual survey location.
20090105
unknown
20090607
unknown
ground condition
None planned
-64.788768
-64.664479
18.312230
18.238926
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
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
The points in this data layer were acquired by GPS data using a Trimble GeoXT receiver. All data point characteristics were recorded in the GPS data logger automatically and seamlessly transferred to ArcGIS shapefiles using Trimble Pathfinder Office software. Attributes are all expected to be correct.
Data points were collected with mapping-grade GPS receivers. The data were post processed for differential correction to the Continually Operating Reference System (CORS) station at St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands (VITH).
All attribute information was recorded by the GPS receiver and stored directly in the raw GPS files. This automated process was assumed to be error free. This file is believed to be logically consistent.
117 field positions were occupied and habitat characterizations were conducted for ground validation during this work.
The true positional accuracy of individual epics was determined to be within 1 m for 96% of the logged points. However, it is estimated that horizontal accuracies may be 0 - 20m from the true position of the underwater camera assessment due to line "lay-back" during drift.
NOAA
2009
GPS data
GPS data
2009
ground condition
Trimble SSF files
GPS data, which were originally recorded as code-phase signals in Trimble SSF format, were differentially post-processed to the Continually Operating Reference System (CORS) station at St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands (VITH).
A first draft benthic habitat map was generated using edge detection algorithms
to delineate features on the seafloor with discrete acoustic signatures. During the creation of this first draft map, the cartographer placed discrete points on features in the map that had unknown acoustic signatures. Points were also placed on features with known acoustic signatures (evenly distributed throughout the geographic extent of the map) to confirm that the habitats associated with these signatures remained consistent through the area of interest. These two types of points were labeled as "ground validation" sites and were visited in the field.
2009
NOAA scientists explored these ground validation locations using a manually
operated drop camera. 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.
At the start of every morning, the boat captain selected a general region to begin the day's work. Navigating to field locations was accomplished using a Garmin GPS 76 device with the uploaded GV site coordinates. The boat captain maneuvered the vessel to within 5 m of the target location and made every effort to maintain that location without jeopardizing crew and equipment safety. Once on site, NOAA scientists would simultaneously deploy a SeaViewer Sea-Drop 950 camera and begin logging a waypoint on a Trimble GeoXT GPS receiver.While the video camera was capturing bottom imagery, an observer viewed the video real-time on a Panasonic Toughbook aboard the survey vessel. They categorized each site according to the levels of the habitat classification scheme: major and detailed geomorphological structure, major biological cover, percent major biological cover and percent coral cover. Data was entered into a custom data dictionary generated in Trimble Pathfinder Office software and loaded onto the Trimble data logger.
2009
Trimble Pathfinder Office software was used to post process and differentially correct the raw GPS data to the Continually Operating Reference System (CORS) station at St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands (VITH).
2009
Precisely positioned GPS positions and its associated transects were viewed in a GIS to enhance the accuracy of the draft benthic habitat map. Polygon boundaries and habitat classifications were revised where field data necessitated changes.
2009
Vector
Entity Point
117
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_SitesMean
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
Site_Type
Type of site (i.e., GV or AA)
NOAA
Unknown
Site_ID
Unique site ID
NOAA
Unknown
VideoName
Name of video associated with a site
NOAA
Unknown
Xcoord
X coordinate of the site in decimal degrees
NOAA
Variable
Ycoord
Y coordinate of the site in decimal degrees
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
Unknown
Unknown
P_Coral_Cv
Percent live coral cover
NOAA
Unknown
Cover
Concatentation of major and percent biological cover
NOAA
Unknown
Habitat
Concatenation of detailed geomorphological structure, 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
20100226
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
20100226073504
None
20090105
20090607
https://www.coris.noaa.gov/metadata/records/html/metadata_gvdata_moderatedepth_sitesmean.html
4498