Shallow-water (<30m) benthic habitat maps of the nearshore marine environment of two areas in Southwest Puerto Rico (PR), including the Guanica Bay/La Parguera region on the south coast and the Belvedere reserve on the west coast, were mapped and characterized using visual interpretation of optical remotely sensed imagery. The objective was to provide spatially-explicit information on the habitat types, biological cover and live coral cover of the region’s coral reef ecosystem. These maps will be used to support marine resource management and conservation in the Commonwealth. GeoEye-1 satellite imagery was purchased for the mapping area. Photo-interpreters accurately and reliably delineated boundaries of features from this GeoEye-1 imagery as they appeared on the computer monitor using a software interface.

Shallow-water (<30m) benthic habitat maps of the nearshore marine environment of two areas in Southwest Puerto Rico (PR), including the Guanica Bay/La Parguera region on the south coast and the Belvedere reserve on the west coast, were mapped and characterized using visual interpretation of optical remotely sensed imagery. The objective was to provide spatially-explicit information on the habitat types, biological cover and live coral cover of the region’s coral reef ecosystem. These maps will be used to support marine resource management and conservation in the Commonwealth. GeoEye-1 satellite imagery was purchased for the mapping area. Photo-interpreters accurately and reliably delineated boundaries of features from this GeoEye-1 imagery as they appeared on the computer monitor using a software interface.

Shallow-water (<30m) benthic habitat maps of the nearshore marine environment of two areas in Southwest Puerto Rico (PR), including the Guanica Bay/La Parguera region on the south coast and the Belvedere reserve on the west coast, were mapped and characterized using visual interpretation of optical remotely sensed imagery. The objective was to provide spatially-explicit information on the habitat types, biological cover and live coral cover of the region’s coral reef ecosystem. These maps will be used to support marine resource management and conservation in the Commonwealth. GeoEye-1 satellite imagery was purchased for the mapping area. Photo-interpreters accurately and reliably delineated boundaries of features from this GeoEye-1 imagery as they appeared on the computer monitor using a software interface.

Shallow-water (<30m) benthic habitat maps of the nearshore marine environment of two areas in Southwest Puerto Rico (PR), including the Guanica Bay/La Parguera region on the south coast and the Belvedere reserve on the west coast, were mapped and characterized using visual interpretation of optical remotely sensed imagery. The objective was to provide spatially-explicit information on the habitat types, biological cover and live coral cover of the region’s coral reef ecosystem. These maps will be used to support marine resource management and conservation in the Commonwealth. GeoEye-1 satellite imagery was purchased for the mapping area. Photo-interpreters accurately and reliably delineated boundaries of features from this GeoEye-1 imagery as they appeared on the computer monitor using a software interface.

Shallow-water (<30m) benthic habitat maps of the nearshore marine environment of two areas in Southwest Puerto Rico (PR), including the Guanica Bay/La Parguera region on the south coast and the Belvedere reserve on the west coast, were mapped and characterized using visual interpretation of optical remotely sensed imagery. The objective was to provide spatially-explicit information on the habitat types, biological cover and live coral cover of the region’s coral reef ecosystem. These maps will be used to support marine resource management and conservation in the Commonwealth. GeoEye-1 satellite imagery was purchased for the mapping area. Photo-interpreters accurately and reliably delineated boundaries of features from this GeoEye-1 imagery as they appeared on the computer monitor using a software interface.

Shallow-water (<30m) benthic habitat maps of the nearshore marine environment of two areas in Southwest Puerto Rico (PR), including the Guanica Bay/La Parguera region on the south coast and the Belvedere reserve on the west coast, were mapped and characterized using visual interpretation of optical remotely sensed imagery. The objective was to provide spatially-explicit information on the habitat types, biological cover and live coral cover of the region’s coral reef ecosystem. These maps will be used to support marine resource management and conservation in the Commonwealth. GeoEye-1 satellite imagery was purchased for the mapping area. Photo-interpreters accurately and reliably delineated boundaries of features from this GeoEye-1 imagery as they appeared on the computer monitor using a software interface.

Shallow-water (<30m) benthic habitat maps of the nearshore marine environment of two areas in Southwest Puerto Rico (PR), including the Guanica Bay/La Parguera region on the south coast and the Belvedere reserve on the west coast, were mapped and characterized using visual interpretation of optical and acoustic remotely sensed imagery. The objective was to provide spatially-explicit information on the habitat types, biological cover and live coral cover of the region’s coral reef ecosystem. These maps will be used to support marine resource management and conservation in the Commonwealth. In addition, the maps will enable change detection in an assessment of the effectiveness of restoration activities on the condition of adjacent coral reef ecosystems. The data contained in this shapefile denote the location of accuracy assessment (AA) sites, which were explored by NOAA field scientists to evaluate the thematic accuracy of the map. In particular, this shapefile includes the location of XXX accuracy assessment sites that were explored either by video drop camera or by snorkel.

Shallow-water (<30m) benthic habitat maps of the nearshore marine environment of two areas in Southwest Puerto Rico (PR), including the Guanica Bay/La Parguera region on the south coast and the Belvedere reserve on the west coast, were mapped and characterized using visual interpretation of optical and acoustic remotely sensed imagery. The objective was to provide spatially-explicit information on the habitat types, biological cover and live coral cover of the region’s coral reef ecosystem. These maps will be used to support marine resource management and conservation in the Commonwealth. In addition, the maps will enable change detection in an assessment of the effectiveness of restoration activities on the condition of adjacent coral reef ecosystems. The data contained in this shapefile denote the location of ground validation (GV) sites, which were explored by NOAA field scientists to further refine habitat map classification. In particular, this shapefile includes the location of 511 ground-validation sites that were explored either by video drop camera or by snorkel.

Habitat maps of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of aerial photographs using the Habitat Digitizer Extension. Aerial photographs are valuable tools for natural resource managers and researchers since they provide an excellent record of the location and extent of habitats. However, spatial distortions in aerial photographs due to such factors as camera angle, lens characteristics, and relief displacement must be accounted for during analysis to prevent incorrect measurements of area, distance, and other spatial parameters. These distortions of scale within an image can be removed through orthorectification. During orthorectification, digital scans of aerial photos are subjected to algorithms that eliminate each source of spatial distortion. The result is a georeferenced digital mosaic of several photographs with uniform scale throughout the mosaic. Features near land are generally georeferenced with greater accuracy while the accuracy of features away from land is generally not as good. Where no land is in the original photographic frame only kinematic GPS locations and image tie points were used to georeference the images. After the orthorectified mosaics were created, photointerpreters were able to accurately and reliably delineate boundaries of features in the imagery as they appear on the computer monitor.

Habitat maps of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of aerial photographs using the Habitat Digitizer Extension. Aerial photographs are valuable tools for natural resource managers and researchers since they provide an excellent record of the location and extent of habitats. However, spatial distortions in aerial photographs due to such factors as camera angle, lens characteristics, and relief displacement must be accounted for during analysis to prevent incorrect measurements of area, distance, and other spatial parameters. These distortions of scale within an image can be removed through orthorectification. During orthorectification, digital scans of aerial photos are subjected to algorithms that eliminate each source of spatial distortion. The result is a georeferenced digital mosaic of several photographs with uniform scale throughout the mosaic. Features near land are generally georeferenced with greater accuracy while the accuracy of features away from land is generally not as good. Where no land is in the original photographic frame only kinematic GPS locations and image tie points were used to georeference the images. After the orthorectified mosaics were created, photointerpreters were able to accurately and reliably delineate boundaries of features in the imagery as they appear on the computer monitor.