Benthic Habitat Mapping
DATA BY LOCATION
Click here for a Discussion of Seafloor Characterization Layers
Zipped data files contain 1) Arc ASCII file, 2) layer (.lyr) file for symbology, 3) high-res JPG/PDF of image, and 4) explanatory metadata text file (identical to linked file listed below).
Substrate: The Seafloor substrate (i.e., hard vs. soft bottom) around islands/atolls in Pacific Remote Island Areas produced by the NOAA Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD). The islands/atolls include Howland, Baker, Jarvis, Kingman Reef, Palmyra Atoll, Johnston Atoll, Wake Atoll. This is a preliminary product derived from an unsupervised classification of ship-based multibeam echo-sounder (MBES) bathymetry and backscatter data, or Worldview Imagery. These multibeam data or Worldview images were preprocessed accordingly and unsupervised classification segmented them into multiple classes, and the binary substrate map was produced by mapping interpreter’s informed judgments in attributing the predicted classes. Where required, area-specific class attribution and minor manual editing were undertaken to remove inaccurate predictions. Cell values reflect whether the seafloor is hard or soft. Please see the associated metadata for additional information.
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Download this image as a high-res JPG or PDF