This image represents a 2 meter resolution backscatter mosaic of the southern coast of Isla de Mona, collected using a Kongsberg EM 1002 (95 kHz) multibeam echosounder. NOAA's NOS/NCCOS/CCMA Biogeography Team, in collaboration with NOAA vessel Nancy Foster and territory, federal, and private sector partners, acquired multibeam bathymetry data in the U.S. Caribbean from 4/14/07 to 4/24/07. Data was acquired with a hull-mounted Kongsberg Simrad EM 1002 multibeam echosounder (95 kHz) and with a moon pool-mounted Reson 8124 multibeam echosounder (200 kHz). It was processed by a NOAA contractor using CARIS HIPS software. Data has all correctors applied (attitude, sound velocity) and has been reduced to mean lower low water (MLLW) using final approved tides from NOAA COOPS. Data is in UTM zone 19 north, datum NAD83. The backscatter component of the bathymetry data were geometrically and radiometrically corrected using Geocoder 3.0 software. Acoustic backscatter mosaics are ostensibly 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.
This multibeam data was collected as IOCM (Integrated Ocean and Coastal Mapping) project NF-07-06 during the fourth year of an ongoing NOAA scientific research mission in the US Caribbean to characterize midshelf and deep water coral reef habitats at depths down to 1,000 meters. The mission purpose is to better understand the resources within the surveyed reef habitats, and ultimately develop species utilization models linking physical habitats with biological information. The multibeam backscatter, multibeam bathymetry, and ground truth video footage collected during the 2007 mission will be used internally to characterize sea floor topography 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 the U.S. Caribbean seafloor.
Depth datum is mean lower low water, units are meters and encoding method is explicit depth coordinate included with horizontal coordinates. Vertical Coordinate System information may be found in the Data Acquisition and Processing Report (DAPR) for cruise number NF-07-06 at http://ccma.nos.noaa.gov/products/biogeography/usvi_nps/pdf/NF-07-06_DAPR.pdf
ground condition
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.
1305 East West Highway, SSMC4
Contact info is for CCMA general reception. Please ask for current Biogeography project manager for U.S. Caribbean Seafloor Characterization Project.
Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA), Biogeography Program NOAA - NMAO personnel and R/V NANCY FOSTER
While the project was conducted to meet IHO Order 1 and 2 accuracy standards, dependant on project area and depth, all users should independently analyze the dataset according to their own needs and standards to determine data usability.
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See Data Acquisition and Processing Report (DAPR) for NF-07-06.
Original raw full resolution dataset.
Processed, cleaned, and corrected full resolution dataset. Sourced from raw .all or .xtf data.
unknown source backscatter product
For this project, the Chief Scientist was NOAA/NOS/NCCOS/CCMA's Tim Battista and the Lead Hydrographer was independent contractor Mike Stecher. Data was collected aboard the NOAA ship Nancy Foster from 4/14/2007 to 4/24/2007, as project number NF-07-03. Multibeam data was acquired in: 1) Simrad .all format with a hull-mounted Kongsberg Simrad EM 1002 multibeam echosounder (95 kHz); and 2) .xtf format with a moon pool-mounted Reson 8124 multibeam echosounder (200 kHz). Both MBES systems had backscatter snippet collection enabled. Line spacing for acquisition was three times the water depth (for the EM 1002) and 3.5 times the water depth (for the Reson 8124). Data was retained out to 60 degrees from nadir, depending on project area. Heave, roll, pitch and heading correctors were collected using an Applanix POS/MV Model 320 inertial measurement unit (IMU) and associated Trimble GPS antennas. Sound velocity profiles were acquired with a Seabird Electronics SeaCat SBE-911 and SBE19P CTD profilers and processed using Seabird Seaterm software. Positioning was obtained using Northstar 941X GPS receivers with differential correctors from U.S. Coast Guard CORS beacon Isabel, Puerto Rico. Data was reduced to Mean Lower-Low Water (MLLW) using final approved tides from NOAA COOPS, based on National Water Level Observation Network (NWLON) primary tide stations at Charlotte Amalie, VI (9751639) and Lime Tree Bay, VI (9751401).
Raw SWMB data were converted and processed using CARIS HIPS v6.1 software, resulting in a CARIS HDCS format dataset with all correctors applied. Attitude and SWMB data was cleaned of fliers, and SWMB data was reviewed in subset mode by a NOAA contractor.
Acoustic backscatter mosaics are ostensibly an important piece of information when characterizing surficial seafloor features and delineating benthic habitats. The multibeam backscatter data were corrected for geometric and radiometric distortions using Geocoder 3.0. In particular, the following corrections were applied where appropriate and when artifacts were evident: AVG Trend, TX Power and RX Gain, Area Correction, Spreading, Slant-Range and Extracted Beam Pattern. As no theoretical beam pattern for the Kongsberg Simrad 1002 system exists, it was extracted from a mapped area that was flat and had a relatively uniform (sandy) substrate. Individual lines were also truncated based on ping number and/or angle of incidence where appropriate. The final mosaics were exported as geotiffs, ASCII and XYB files (i.e., X,Y locations in NAD 1983 UTM Zone 19N and Backscatter values as measured in decibels dBs). Holidays (missing data values) were filled using a nearest neighbor resampling technique.
Internal feature number.
ESRI
Decibels (dB)
NOAA
Intensity of returned sound
Number of pixels with enumerated value
Number of pixels with a particular dB value
Contact info is for CCMA general reception. Please ask for current Biogeography project manager for the U.S. Caribbean Seafloor Characterization Project.
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.
