Adam Zitello, NOAA/NOS/NCCOS/CCMA Biogeography Branch, 2009, St. John Shallow-water Benthic Habitat Map derived from Remotely Sensed Imagery: NOAA's Ocean Service, National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), Silver Spring, MD.Online Links:
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: NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, Silver Spring, MD.
This is a Vector data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):
Planar coordinates are encoded using Coordinate Pair
Abscissae (x-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 0.000001
Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 0.000001
Planar coordinates are specified in meters
The horizontal datum used is North American Datum of 1983.
The ellipsoid used is Geodetic Reference System 80.
The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.000000.
The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257222.
Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.
Coordinates defining the features.
| Formal codeset | |
|---|---|
| Codeset Name: | Specific code used for NOAA coral reef habitat maps |
| Codeset Source: | Described in "Benthic Habitats of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands" (Zitello et al. 2009) |
Area of feature in square meters.
Length of feature perimeter in meters
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
(301) 713-3028 x171 (voice)
(301) 713-4388 (FAX)
Tim.Battista@noaa.gov
This product provides a fine-scale assessment of the status, abundance, and distribution of 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.
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's Ocean Service, National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), Silver Spring, MD.
Buja, Ken, 2009, NOAA Habitat Digitizer Extension: NOAA's Ocean Service (NOS), National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), Silver Spring, MD.Online Links:
Inc., Space Imaging , 2005, IKONOS Satellite Imagery: Space Imaging Inc., Thornton, CO.Online Links:
- www.spaceimaging.com
3001, Inc., 2007, Orthophotography: 3001, Inc., 401 Dividend Drive, Suite K, Peachtree City, GA 30269.
Process_Contact Tim A. Battista (NOAA/NOS/NCCOS/CCMA Biogeography Branch)
Process_Date 2008-2009
Process_Contact Laurie J. Bauer (NOAA/NOS/NCCOS/CCMA Biogeography Branch)
A comprehensive assessment was conducted to evaluate the thematic accuracy of the St. John benthic habitat map. Thematic accuracy was characterized for major and detailed geomorphological structure, major and detailed biological cover, and percent coral cover. The independent accuracy assessment revealed successful overall map accuracies of over 90% for major structure and cover classes, and over 80% for detailed structure and cover classes.
The 85.7% accuracy achieved for detailed structure in NOAA's new St. John benthic habitat maps were similar to that of other recent NOAA benthic habitat maps in the Florida Keys (86.2%), Palau (90.0%), and the Main Hawaiian Islands (90.0%).
3001, Inc., the imagery acquiring firm, reported 1:4,800 scale RMSE accuracy of 1.25 m for the orthophotography, but NOAA calculations with known ground control locations resulted in RMSE accuracy of 2.15 m. It is believed that polygon horizontal accuracies are inherited from the source imagery.
Delineation of all habitat boundaries was conducted with the image scale at 1:2,000. This ensured that the level of detail produced by the photo interpreter was uniform throughout the project. The minimum mapping unit (MMU) for identifying habitats or features was 1,000 square meters. The software utilized in this project was designed to alert the photo interpreter each time a polygon was drawn smaller than the a MMU; at which point the polygon was then aggregated with the most logical adjacent polygon.
True-color digital orthophotography obtained with an ADS40 digital sensor was the primary imagery source used for delineating benthic habitats of St. John. Orthophotography provided by 3001, Inc., on contract to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was obtained in September and October of 2007 with a one foot ground sample distance (GSD), flight height of 8,650 feet, and 30% sidelap. At limited locations throughout the mapping area, the digital orthophotography was not suitable for habitat delineation; in which case, IKONOS multispectral satellite imagery was used as a replacement. IKONOS satellite imagery was geo-positioned , pan sharpened and deglinted by NOAA. During the digitizing process, image stretches and manipulating image contrast, brightness and color balance were performed in ArcGIS to enhance features in the processed imagery.
GIS topologic quality was established by executing ArcGIS extension routines that check for: overlapping polygons, multipart polygons, sliver polygons and void polygons. Additionally checks for adjacent polygons with the same habitat attributes were completed. All errors were identified and corrected. This file is believed to be logically consistent.
Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?
- Access_Constraints: None
- Use_Constraints: Not for navigation.
301-713-3028 x171 (voice)
301-713-4384 (FAX)
tim.battista@noaa.gov
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).
301-713-3028 (voice)
301-713-4384 (FAX)