NOAA's NOS/NCCOS/CCMA Biogeography Team, in collaboration with NOAA Ship Nancy Foster, federal, academic, and private sector partners conducted the 2016 Seafloor Mapping of the US Caribbean project. Several areas of interest were explored and surveyed during the field mission in the eastern Puerto Rico region. H12935 was conducted on along the southeastern Puerto Rican shelf edge using a deep water Em 710 multibeam echo sounder (mbes) at 100khz. H12936 was conducted north of the Isla de Culebra over the broad moderately shallow insular shelf using a 400 khz Reson 7125 mbes. A third opportunistic survey was conducted along the edge of the USVI insular shelf south of St. Thomas to conjoin previous NOAA Ship Nancy Foster mission surveys. During the field mission, a Remotely Operated Vehicle owned by the University of North Carolina collected HD photo and video ground validation video. Data was processed by a NOAA contractor using CARIS HIPS software. Data has all correctors applied (attitude, sound velocity) and has been reduced to mean lower low water (MLLW) using final approved tides from NOAA COOPS. Data is spatially referenced in UTM Zone 20 North, Datum WGS84. The project was conducted to meet IHO order 1 and 2 accuracy standards, dependent on the project area and depth. All users should individually evaluate the suitability of this data according to their own needs and standards.

The Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA) conducted the ninth year of an ongoing scientific research mission on board NOAA Ship Nancy Foster from April 3 to April 20, 2012. The objective of this project was to collect a multibeam bathymetric dataset with 100 percent seafloor ensonification, along with multibeam backscatter suitable for seafloor characterization in a high-priority conservation area. This report applies to surveys W00221 and W00222 that took place northwest of the Isla De Culebra.

The Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA) conducted the third year of an ongoing scientific research mission on board NOAA Ship NANCY FOSTER. The purpose of this cruise is to support the benthic characterization of coral reef habitat in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The mission explored, surveyed, and mapped moderate depth bathymetry (30 – 1000 meters) with NOAA Ship NANCY FOSTER’s Simrad EM1002 multibeam system for natural resource management and seafloor characterization. Multibeam bathymetry and backscatter was collected along with Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) underwater video. Priority areas for 2006 included the deep water portion of the Buck Island Reef National Monument north of St. Croix and the La Parguera region along the southwestern coast of Puerto Rico. Additional multibeam data was collected to merge with pre-existing shallow water bathymetry from previous CCMA cruises in the Buck Island vicinity.

The Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA) completed its sixth year of an ongoing scientific research mission on board NOAA Ship NANCY FOSTER. The objective of this project was to collect a multibeam bathymetry dataset with 100% seafloor ensonification, along with multibeam backscatter suitable for seafloor characterization in high priority conservation areas within Puerto Rico. Scientists collected high-resolution multibeam in mid-water depths from approximately 10 to 1020 meters.

The Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA) completed the fifth year of an ongoing scientific research mission on board NOAA Ship NANCY FOSTER. The objective of this project was to collect a multibeam bathymetry dataset with 100% seafloor ensonification, along with multibeam backscatter suitable for seafloor characterization in high priority conservation areas within Puerto Rico. Scientists collected high-resolution multibeam in mid-water depths from approximately 10 to 500 meters.

NOAA's NOS/NCCOS/CCMA Biogeography Team, in collaboration with NOAA vessel NOAA Ship Nancy Foster and territory, federal, and private sector partners, conducted the twelfth year of an ongoing scientific research mission onboard NOAA Ship Nancy Foster, funded by NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program. Data was acquired with a hull-mounted Reson 7125 multibeam echosounder (400 kHz) and a Kongsberg Em710 (100khz) along the shelf edge and slopes south of St. Croix and the banks and shelf edge north of St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. Data was processed by a NOAA contractor using CARIS HIPS and Fledermaus FMGT mapping software. Data has all correctors applied (attitude, sound velocity) and has been reduced to mean lower low water (MLLW) using final approved tides from NOAA COOPS. Data is in UTM zone 20 north, datum NAD83, and was conducted to meet IHO order 1 and 2 accuracy standards, dependent on the project area and depth. All users should individually evaluate the suitability of this data according to their own needs and standards.