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General Information

File Identifier:	gov.noaa.nodc:0285904
Metadata Date Stamp:	2024-12
Organization:	NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
Organization Role:	custodian

Identification Information

Title:

Benthic Habitats of Buck Island Reef National Monument, St. Croix U.S. Virgin Islands, 2004-02-18 to 2011-08-30 (NCEI Accession 0285904)

Abstract:

This data package contains information about the geology and biology of the seafloor from approximately 0 to 1,830 meters in Buck Island Reef National Monument (BIRNM) St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). It was created by delineating habitats visible in aerial photographs, lidar and multibeam echosounder imagery using ENVI's Feature Extraction (Fx) Module. The minimum polygon size for these habitat maps ranged from 100 square meters (in shallow <30 m depths) to 1000 square meters (in moderate 30 to 150 m depths) to 5,000 square meters (in deep >150 m depths). Additional habitat polygons were manually digitized if they were excluded during the feature extraction workflow. Polygon boundaries were smoothed in ArcGIS to reduce their pixelated appearance. A Classification and Regression Tree (CART) algorithm was used to classify each habitat polygon using georeferenced underwater video & photos collected using SCUBA divers, drop-cameras and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). Major and detailed geomorphological structure, percent hardbottom, major and detailed biological cover and live coral cover were identified for each polygon. The moderate and deep maps mark the first time that habitats deeper than approximately 30 meters have been mapped in the Monument. These habitat maps will provide a baseline for future biological monitoring studies in BIRNM.

Browse Graphic

Browse Graphic URL:	https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/gfx?id=gov.noaa.nodc:0285904
Browse Graphic Caption:	Preview graphic
Browse Graphic Type:	PNG

Data Theme

Theme Topics:

Environment and Conservation, Oceans and Estuaries, Imagery and Base Maps, Biology and Ecology

Spatial Domain

West Bounding Longitude:	-64.6880095
South Bounding Latitude:	17.7698818
East Bounding Longitude:	-64.5562588
North Bounding Latitude:	17.8470072

Data Quality Information

Scope (quality information applies to):

Dataset

Contact Information

Email:	ncei.info@noaa.gov
Contact Website:	https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/contact

Metadata Reference Information

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