mp_noaa_agu_benthic_habitats
NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS)
20171122
NOAA Shallow-Water Benthic Habitats: CNMI: Aguijan
Benthic habitat maps for the nearshore, shallow (< 30 m) coastal waters of the island of Aguijan in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) produced these data to support coral reef research and management. Habitat regions were digitally identified using visual interpretation of orthorectified satellite imagery with a minimum mapping unit (MMU) of approximately 1 acre. Includes biological cover types, geomorphological structure types, and geographic zones.
Eighteen distinct and non-overlapping biological cover types were identified. Habitats or features that cover areas smaller than the minimal mapping unit of 1 acre were not considered. For example, uncolonized sand halos surrounding coral patch reefs are too small to be mapped independently. Cover type refers only to the predominant biological component colonizing the surface of the feature and does not address location (e.g., on the shelf or in the lagoon). The cover types are defined in a collapsible hierarchy ranging from eight major classes (live coral, seagrass, macroalgae, encrusting/coralline algae, turf algae, emergent vegetation, uncolonized, and unknown), combined with a density modifier representing the percentage of the predominant cover type (10%-<50% sparse, 50%-<90% patchy, 90%-100% continuous).
Similarly, 14 distinct and non-overlapping geomorphological structure types were identified. The structure types are defined in a collapsible hierarchy ranging from four major classes (coral reef and hardbottom, unconsolidated sediment, other delineations, and unknown), to thirteen detailed classes: sand, mud, spur and groove, individual and aggregated patch reef, aggregate reef, scattered coral/rock in unconsolidated sediment, pavement, rock/boulder (volcanic and carbonate), reef rubble, pavement with sand channels, artificial, and unknown.
Lastly, 13 mutually exclusive geographic zones were identified from land to open water corresponding to typical insular shelf and coral reef geomorphology. These zones include: shoreline intertidal, vertical wall (none identified), lagoon, back reef, reef flat, reef crest, fore reef, bank/shelf, bank/shelf escarpment, channel, dredged (since this condition eliminates natural geomorphology), unknown, and land. Zone refers only to each benthic community's location and does not address substrate or cover types within. For example, the lagoon zone may include patch reefs, sand, and seagrass beds; however, these are considered structural elements that may or may not occur within the lagoon zone and therefore, are not used to define it.
PacIOOS provides timely, reliable, and accurate ocean information to support a safe, clean, productive ocean and resilient coastal zone in the U.S. Pacific Islands region.
145.513169742085
145.594154841508
14.8944739847582
14.8049585923588
http://pacioos.org/metadata/browse/mp_noaa_agu_benthic_habitats.png
Sample image.
PNG
GCMD Science Keywords
Earth Science > Biological Classification > Plants > Angiosperms (Flowering Plants) > Monocots > Seagrass
Earth Science > Biosphere > Aquatic Ecosystems > Benthic Habitat
Earth Science > Biosphere > Vegetation
Earth Science > Land Surface > Geomorphology > Coastal Landforms/Processes
Earth Science > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs
Earth Science > Solid Earth > Geomorphic Landforms/Processes > Coastal Landforms > Coral Reefs
Earth Science > Solid Earth > Geomorphic Landforms/Processes > Coastal Landforms > Coral Reefs > Patch Reef
GCMD Location Keywords
Ocean > Pacific Ocean > Western Pacific Ocean > Micronesia > Northern Mariana Islands > Aguijan
Ocean > Pacific Ocean > Western Pacific Ocean > Micronesia > Northern Mariana Islands > Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)
None
Use Limitation: The data may be used and redistributed for free but is not intended for legal use, since it may contain inaccuracies. Neither the data Contributor, University of Hawaii, PacIOOS, NOAA, State of Hawaii nor the United States Government, nor any of their employees or contractors, makes any warranty, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, or assumes any legal liability for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness, of this information.
NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS)
physical and mailing
Unknown
nccos.webcontent@noaa.gov
The Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System (PacIOOS) is funded through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as a Regional Association within the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS). PacIOOS is coordinated by the University of Hawaii School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST).
Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System (PacIOOS)
physical and mailing
Unknown
info@pacioos.org
Unknown
Open Geospatial Consortium Web Feature Service (WFS)
http://geo.pacioos.hawaii.edu/geoserver/PACIOOS/mp_noaa_agu_benthic_habitats/ows?service=WFS&version=1.0.0&request=GetCapabilities
Open Geospatial Consortium Web Map Service (WMS)
http://geo.pacioos.hawaii.edu/geoserver/PACIOOS/mp_noaa_agu_benthic_habitats/ows?service=WMS&version=1.3.0&request=GetCapabilities
Open Geospatial Consortium Web Map Service - Cached (WMS-C)
http://geo.pacioos.hawaii.edu/geoserver/PACIOOS/gwc/service/wms?service=WMS&version=1.1.1&request=GetCapabilities&tiled=true
GeoServer
This URL provides access to this dataset via GeoServer, which offers multiple output formats and an OpenLayers viewer.
http://geo.pacioos.hawaii.edu/geoserver/
GeoExplorer
This URL provides a viewer for this dataset.
http://geo.pacioos.hawaii.edu/geoexplorer/
PacIOOS Voyager (Google Maps API)
This URL provides a viewer and/or data access for this dataset.
http://pacioos.org/voyager/index.html?b=14.822671,145.513673,14.87386,145.586114&t=h&o=benth:1::d17l0o90
Shapefiles: American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
This NOAA/NCCOS/CCMA Biogeography Branch website provides documentation and data access to the original benthic habitat Shapefiles for American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).
http://products.coastalscience.noaa.gov/collections/benthic/e99us_pac/
None specified
20210330
NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS)
mailing and physical
Unknown
nccos.webcontent@noaa.gov
Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata: Extensions for Remote Sensing Metadata
FGDC-STD-012-2002