National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Structure from motion (SfM) benthic images collected at Stratified Random Sites (StRS) across the US Pacific from 2019

Description

The data described here are Structure from Motion (SfM) benthic habitat imagery from benthic transect surveys conducted at stratified random sites by the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD)--formerly the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division--as part of the NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP). The SfM surveys replicates the visual Rapid Ecological Assessment (REA) survey methodology for corals conducted during ESD-led NCRMP missions across the Pacific Ocean beginning in 2019.

A stratified random sampling (StRS) design was employed to survey the coral reef ecosystems across the U.S. Pacific Regions (Hawaiian Archipelago, Mariana Archipelago, American Samoa, and the Pacific Remote Island Areas). The survey domain encompassed the majority of the mapped area of reef and hard bottom habitats in the 0-30 m depth range. The stratification scheme included island, sub-island sector, reef zone, and depth in all regions, as well as habitat structure type in the Main Hawaiian Islands. Allocation of sampling effort was proportional to strata area and variance in coral density. The StRS design effectively reduces estimate variance by sampling more sites with larger hardbottom area and variance. Therefore, site-level analyses should be employed with caution.

Sites were imaged using underwater cameras along 3x20m (3x13m for sites deeper than 18m) transects to extract data for two coral life stages (juveniles, adults) across the U.S. Pacific Island areas beginning in 2019. Adult colony surveys record taxon (genus or species), morphology, colony size, partial mortality in two categories - old dead and recent dead, cause of recent dead partial mortality, and non-lesion forming condition including bleaching and disease. These data are used to calculate density, size distributions, average partial mortality and prevalence and mean severity of coral health conditions. Juvenile colony surveys include taxon (genus or species), morphology and size, and are used to calculate juvenile density and size distributions by taxon.

Resources

Name Format Description Link
GCMD Keyword Forum Page Unknown Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2025. GCMD Keywords, Version 22. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords Open resource
National Coral Reef Monitoring Program Unknown NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) website. Open resource
Full Metadata Record Unknown View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset. Open resource
NOAA Data Management Plan (DMP) PDF NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort. Open resource
Coral Reefs in the Pacific Unknown NOAA Fisheries website Open resource
NOAA Fisheries Pacific Islands Region - Science Overview Unknown Online Resource Open resource
SfM_BenthicImage_Metadata_MHI_2019.csv Unknown Metadata (date, site #, location, marker numbers, length, and corresponding depths for appropriate scaling and orienting, camera model, lens focal length, exposure and color correction information) for SfM benthic imagery collected at stratified random sites during REA surveys. Surveys were conducted by the NOAA Fisheries Ecosystem Sciences Division throughout the main Hawaiian Islands beginning in 2019. Access via NOAA OER Video Portal -- select 'NCRMP' to see 2019 imagery dataset. Open resource
SfM_BenthicImagery_MHI_2019 Unknown SfM Benthic imagery collected during REA surveys. Surveys were conducted by the NOAA Fisheries Ecosystem Sciences Division at coral reef sites throughout the main Hawaiian Islands beginning in 2019. Photos are organized by year, region, island, and site. See metadata file for site information. Access via NOAA OER Video Portal -- select 'NCRMP' to see 2019 imagery dataset. Open resource
Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center Website Unknown Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center homepage Open resource

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