Bathymetric data derived from multispectral, high-resolution (2 m) satellite imagery from DigitalGlobe’s WorldView-2 satellite to provide near complete coverage of nearshore terrain along the northern coastline of Timor-Leste, including the district of Oecusse to the west of mainland Timor-Leste and Atauro Island. Satellite images acquired by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) for the region are from Feb 9, 2010 to October 2, 2013. Methods used by CREP to estimate depths from the WorldView imagery were adapted from instructions developed by Kyle Hogrefe for using IKONOS imagery to derive seafloor elevations in optically clear water (Ehses and Rooney 2015). Bathymetry values shallower than ~20 m were derived by gauging the relative attenuation of coastal, blue, green and yellow spectral radiance as a function of depth. A multiple linear regression analysis of coastal, blue, green and yellow band spectral values against in-situ depth determined the variables of y-intercept, coastal, blue, green and yellow slope values. The variables for each band were then used in a multivariate slope intercept equation to derive depth over the imagery. Variables and combinations of the bands were adjusted to improve the statistical accuracy and spatial coverage of the final derived bathymetry product. Digital image processing to derive depths was conducted with ENVI, and editing and integration was performed using Esri's ArcGIS. The method assumes uniform water clarity but deviations from that condition made extraction difficult in water depths greater than 20 m. Results show that biotic material, or sediment in the water column skewed results shallower if the material has a high albedo and deeper if the material has a low albedo.

Methods used were adapted from a "cookbook" of instructions developed by Kyle Hogref for using IKONOS imagery data to derive seafloor elevations in optically clear water. This dataset was derived from high-resolution (2 m) imagery from DigitalGlobe's WorldView-2 sensor of the Kaanapali area of Maui, Hawaii. Sensor bands 1,2 and 5 (coastal, blue and near IR respectively) were used to derive depth information. The method assumes uniform water clarity but deviations from that condition made extraction difficult in water greater than 30 m depth in the Kaanapali scene used. Results show that biotic material or sediment in the water column skewed results shallower if the material has a high albedo and deeper if the material has a low albedo. Nearshore areas were significantly less impacted in the Kaanapali area, due to the geomorphology of the area and the hi resolution and quality of the imagery, allowing visual descrimination of apparent sediment in the water column. For presentation purposes the map product shows an Inverse Distance Weighted interpolated bathymetry surface, restricted to data within 600 m of the shoreline.

Benthic habitat classes were derived for nearshore waters (< 20 m depths) around Timor-Leste from DigitalGlobe WorldView-2 satellite imagery, acquired from Jan 26 2010 to Aug 10, 2014, by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP). Habitat classes include soft (sand or mud) and hard (rubble, boulders, etc.) substrates by depth (shallow, mid and deep); seagrass, mangrove, and macroalgae dominated areas; intertidal zones; lagoons; and emergent rocks. Supervised classifications were performed using several different methods (maximum likelihood, and minimum distance) with imagery at several different stages of processing (deglinted, radiance, reflectance and deglinted, depth invariant, sieve, and clump), with final classification based on the classification method and imagery variant that provided the best overall results for each WorldView-2 image.

This image represents a 2x2 meter resolution bathymetry surface of the moderate-depth portion of the NPS's Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument, south of St. John, US Virgin Islands. The depth values contained in this surface are in meters. Acoustic imagery was acquired for the VICRNM on two separate missions onboard the NOAA ship, Nancy Foster. The first mission took place from 2/18/04 to 3/5/04. The second mission took place from 2/1/05 to 2/12/05. On both missions, seafloor depths between 14 to 55 m were mapped using a RESON SeaBat 8101 ER (240 kHz) MBES sensor. This pole-mounted system measured water depths across a 150 degree swath consisting of 101 individual 1.5 degree x 1.5 degree beams. The beams to the port and starboard of nadir (i.e., directly underneath the ship) overlapped adjacent survey lines by approximately 10 m. The vessel survey speed was between 5 and 8 kn. In 2004, the ship's location was determined by a Trimble DSM 132 DGPS system, which provided a RTCM differential data stream from the U.S. Coast Guard Continually Operating Reference Station (CORS) at Port Isabel, Puerto Rico. Gyro, heave, pitch and roll correctors were acquired using an Ixsea Octans gyrocompass. In 2005, the ship's positioning and orientation were determined by the Applanix POS/MV 320 V4, which is a GPS aided Inertial Motion Unit (IMU) providing measurements of roll, pitch and heading. The POS/MV obtained its positions from two dual frequency Trimble Zephyr GPS antennae. An auxiliary Trimble DSM 132 DGPS system provided a RTCM differential data stream from the U.S. Coast Guard CORS at Port Isabel, Puerto Rico. For both years, CTD (conductivity, temperature and depth) measurements were taken approximately every 4 hours using a Seabird Electronics SBE-19 to correct for the changing sound velocities in the water column. In 2004, raw data were logged in .xtf (extended triton format) using Triton ISIS software 6.2. In 2005, raw data were logged in .gsf (generic sensor format) using SAIC ISS 2000 software. Data from 2004 were referenced to the WGS84 UTM 20 N horizontal coordinate system, and data from 2005 were referenced to the NAD83 UTM 20 N horizontal coordinate system. Data from both projects were referenced to the Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW) vertical tidal coordinate system. The 2004 and 2005 MBES bathymetric data were both corrected for sensor offsets, latency, roll, pitch, yaw, static draft, the changing speed of sound in the water column and the influence of tides in CARIS Hips & Sips 5.3 and 5.4, respectively. The 2004 data was then binned to create a 1 x 1 m raster surface, and the 2005 data was binned to a create 2 x 2 m raster surface. After these final surfaces were created, the datum for the 2004 bathymetric surfaces was transformed from WGS84 to NAD83 using the "Project Raster" function in ArcGIS 9.1. The 2004 surface was transformed so that it would have the same datum as the 2005 surface. The 2004 bathymetric surface was then down sampled from 1 x 1 to 2 x 2 m using the "Resample" function in ArcGIS 9.1. The 2004 surface was resampled so it would have the same spatial resolution as the 2005 surface. Having the same coordinate systems and spatial resolutions, the final 2004 and 2005 bathymetry rasters were then merged using the Raster Calculator function "Merge" in ArcGIS's Spatial Analyst Extension to create a seamless bathymetry surface for the entire VICRNM area south of St. John. For a complete description of the data acquisition and processing parameters, please see the data acquisition and processing reports (DAPRs) for projects: NF-04-06-VI and NF-05-05-VI (Monaco & Rooney, 2004; Battista & Lazar, 2005).

Photographs of the seafloor were collected during benthic photo-quadrat surveys conducted by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) in hard bottom shallow water (< 15 m) habitats in Timor-Leste. Photographs were collected along transects at fixed climate survey sites in October 2012 and September-October 2014 (10 sites and 8 sites, respectively), and during reef fish surveys surveys at 150 sites that were selected using a stratified random sampling design in June 2013. Climate sites were established by CREP to establish ecological baselines for climate change by measuring multiple features of the coral reef environment (in addition to the data described herein) over time. The reef fish surveys were conducted to generate baseline data on the nearshore coral reef fish assemblages and associated benthic communities around Timor-Leste's north coast and Atauro Island. The photographs can be accessed online via the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Ocean Archive. The imagery from 2013 and 2014 has been quantitatively analyzed using image analysis software to derive an estimate of percent benthic cover. The benthic cover data, and the associated reef fish survey data and parameters measured to establish ecological baselines for climate change are archived separately.

This data set summarized biological and environmental sampling data from Reef Visual Census (RVC) surveys in southern Florida in conjunction with remote-sensed, high-resolution mapping data to take significant strides in moving from qualitative to quantitative habitat characterization of the RVC coral reef sampling frame. The data set contains two GIS shape files, one for the Dry Tortugas region and one for the Florida Keys, of survey sampling grids with habitat-depths quantitatively characterized to a 50 x 50 m resolution. Each sampling grid has region code, grid number, average depth (m), habitat code, zone code indicating onshore-offshore, MPA-code indicating whether inside or outside a protected area, depth strata code, rugosity strata code, fish strata code, and coral strata code. There is a dictionary file which describes the details of each habitat code categories. The refined sampling grid will have significant improvements to the accuracy, precision, and cost-effectiveness of RVC surveys in the Florida Keys and Tortugas regions. The study findings suggest some clear mapping priorities for fully characterizing the RVC sampling grid for the Florida Keys and Tortugas regions.

Photographs of the seafloor were collected during benthic photo-quadrat surveys conducted by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) in hard bottom shallow water (< 15 m) habitats in Timor-Leste. Photographs were collected along transects at fixed climate survey sites in October 2012 and September-October 2014 (10 sites and 8 sites, respectively), and during reef fish surveys surveys at 150 sites that were selected using a stratified random sampling design in June 2013. Climate sites were established by CREP to establish ecological baselines for climate change by measuring multiple features of the coral reef environment (in addition to the data described herein) over time. The reef fish surveys were conducted to generate baseline data on the nearshore coral reef fish assemblages and associated benthic communities around Timor-Leste's north coast and Atauro Island. The photographs can be accessed online via the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Ocean Archive. The imagery from 2013 and 2014 has been quantitatively analyzed using image analysis software to derive an estimate of percent benthic cover. The benthic cover data, and the associated reef fish survey data and parameters measured to establish ecological baselines for climate change are documented separately.

Bathymetric Position Index (BPI) Zones derived from derivatives of Simrad EM-3000 multibeam bathymetry (3 m resolution). BPI zones are surficial characteristics of the seafloor based on a bathymetric position index value range at a broad scale and slope values. High-resolution multibeam bathymetry, derivatives of bathymetry (bathymetric position index, slope and rugosity), backscatter imagery and in situ visual survey data have been combined in a geographic information system (GIS). These data are supplemented by three-dimensional (3D) visualization. Within this study, methods were developed for benthic mapping and applied to three sites around American Samoa, a new classification scheme was developed for bathymetric position index (BPI) zones (depressions, slopes, flats, crests) and structures (finer features within zones) around the study sites, and visual survey information was associated with the results.

This dataset contains an ESRI Grid with 1 meter cell size representing the bathymetry of the Mid Shelf Reef south of St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. NOAA's NOS/NCCOS/CCMA Biogeography Team, in collaboration with NOAA vessel Nancy Foster and territory, federal, and private sector partners, acquired multibeam bathymetry data in the US Virgin Islands from 2/1/05 to 2/12/05. Data was acquired with a pole-mounted Reson 8101 ER multibeam echosounder (240 kHz) and processed by a NOAA contractor using CARIS HIPS v5.4 software. Data has all correctors applied (attitude, sound velocity) and has been reduced to mean lower low water (MLLW) using final approved tides and zoning from NOAA COOPS. Data is in UTM zone 20 north, datum NAD83. The processed CARIS data was used to generate a CARIS BASE surface based on swath angle. An ASCII XYZ file was exported from the BASE surface and opened in ESRI ArcMap 9 as an XY event. Then the ArcToolbox conversion tool 'Feature to Raster' was used to generate the final ESRI Grid. The project was conducted to meet IHO Order 1 and 2 accuracy standards, dependant on the project area and depth. All users should individually evaluate the suitability of this data according to their own needs and standards.