This data package includes benthic cover data of Aua Reef, American Samoa, produced from the analysis of benthic imagery performed by the Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) of the Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), and funded by the Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP). Benthic imagery was collected at 18 randomly-selected sites during coral demographic surveys by the NOAA ESD during the 2022 fly-in mission to American Samoa (MP2206). After processing and sorting site photos, imagery was qualitatively analyzed using the web-based CoralNet image annotation tool. CoralNet projects random points on each image, and the benthic elements falling directly underneath each point are identified by trained scientists. The source imagery analyzed to produce benthic cover estimates are archived separately with the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) in NCEI Accession 0270551.

The benthic cover data described here were generated from the quantitative analysis of photoquadrat benthic images using CoralNet image analysis software, whereby random points are projected on each image and the benthic elements falling directly underneath each point are identified. The images were collected at 18 stratified randomly selected sites in Vatia Bay in 2015 during belt transect surveys of coral demography by the Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) of the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC). The benthic cover data can be accessed online via the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Ocean Archive. The benthic images and coral demography data are described and archived separately.

This dataset describes the imagery collected in 2022 of Aua Reef, American Samoa by the Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) of NOAA, funded by the Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP), to study effects of land-based source pollution by establishing biological, physical, and chemical baselines. In September 2022, NOAA scientists conducted benthic survey protocols at 18 study sites in Aua, American Samoa. The surveys implemented a one-stage stratified random sampling (StRS) design and the survey domain encompassed the majority of the mapped area of reef and hard bottom habitats in the 0 to 6 m depth range. Photoquadrat benthic images were collected along belt transect surveys of coral demography according to protocols established by NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) in 2015. Thirty images were collected along one, haphazardly laid, 30-m transects. Still photographs were collected to record the benthic community composition at predetermined points along belt transect with a high-resolution digital camera mounted on a pole. Photographs were taken every 1 m from the 1 m to the 30 m mark. This work generates 30 photographs per site, which are later analyzed by ESD staff and partners using the computer program CoralNet. This analysis is the basis for estimating benthic cover and composition at each site, which is documented and archived separately. The StRS design effectively reduces estimate variance through stratification using environmental covariates and by sampling more sites rather than more transects per site. Therefore, site-to-site comparisons should proceed with caution.