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Description:
Project Manager:
Bryan Costa
Project Years:
2024
2025
2026
Project Summary:
The goal of this project is to characterize high-priority areas of interest between 0 - 40m identified during the Mapping Gap Analysis Project (FY 21-23) in coordination with CNMI jurisdictional leadership. NCCOS will develop high-quality benthic habitat predictions and maps (similar to Kendall et al., 2017) that will serve as the best available data on the status of benthic habitats in these select areas. These maps will depict the distribution of key benthic habitats (e.g., live coral reefs, seagrass, and mangrove habitats) in the project region. They will be developed using existing, readily available lidar data collected by USGS/NOAA in 2019-2020, including high-resolution bathymetry and backscatter collected during the RICHARD expedition in 2022. New underwater georeferenced videos or photos will be collected to inform habitat model and map development, and evaluate the performance and accuracy of these products. The final deliverables will include GIS-ready habitat maps and underwater images. These products and datasets will all be made available for access through NCEI, CORIS and NCCOS project sites, and visualized through NCCOS web-mapping services. Integrated data layers will allow a collaborative NOAA team to generate a product that will serve as the best available data on the status of benthic habitats in select areas around the islands of Saipan, Tinian, and Rota. These products will provide the foundation for ecological survey design, assess habitat structure, and support ecosystem-based fisheries and coral management priorities.
Expected Outcome:
This project will produce GIS-ready habitat maps and products, describing distribution of key marine benthic habitats.
Project Locations:
- Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
Jursdiction Priority Sites:
- LaoLao Bay (Saipan)
- Talakahaya (Rota)
Project Category:
Mapping
Project Type:
Ongoing
Project Status:
Ongoing
Associated Products:
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