Discover NOAA's Coral Data!

CoRIS is a web-based information portal that provides access to products from NOAA coral reef research, monitoring, and management activities, with emphasis on the U.S. states, territories, and remote island areas.  NOAA activities include coral reef mapping, monitoring and assessment; natural and socioeconomic research and modeling; outreach and education; and management and stewardship.

CoRIS provides a variety of ways to access NOAA coral data and information. The Regional Data Portal allows users to locate region-specific data and information in a clear, concise, and integrated way. The CoRIS Map Search is a Google Maps-based application that can display an array of products within a specific geographic area. The CoRIS Data & Publication search feature provides access to data and metadata created by NOAA research, citations of peer-reviewed articles, references to NOAA publications and conference proceedings, and links to NOAA and other coral reef websites.  On-line access to literature is provided when available.

CoRIS offers original essays on a variety of topics including coral and coral reef biology, deep water corals, coral diseases, and more.  CoRIS recently started offering a series of essays on coral reef ecosystems in United States jurisdictions in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and the Gulf of Mexico. The essays give up-to-date information on the status and health of the coral reef ecosystems, and provide links to CoRIS-held metadata and data.

CoRIS also offers a variety of other informative tools including an acronym and abbreviation list, a taxonomic list of species in the metadata database, and a glossary which defines thousands of technical and scientific terms used in coral reef science and management. Many definitions are accompanied by colorful illustrations.