Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program: Geospatial, Temperature, and Depth Data Collected during Towed-diver Surveys of the U.S. Pacific Reefs from 2000 to 2017

Description

The geospatial, temperature and depth data included in this dataset are from towed-diver surveys (also referred to as towboard surveys) of coral reef ecosystems conducted during Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program (RAMP) cruises to the Hawaiian and Mariana Archipelagos, American Samoa, and the Pacific Remote Island Areas from 2000 to 2017 by the Ecosystem Sciences Division (formerly known as the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division) at the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC).

Generally, the towed-diver survey method involved towing a pair of SCUBA divers—one benthic and one fish—behind a small boat for 50 minutes, approximately following the ~15-m depth contour and covering a linear distance of about 2-3 kilometers per survey. A complete 50-minute towed-diver survey is divided into ten 5-minute segments, and up to 6 towed-diver surveys are conducted per day.

Each diver was equipped with a towboard outfitted with instrumentation and used to record observations, and the divers attempted to maintain position ~1 meter above the surface of the reef for the duration of the survey. Both towboards were equipped with a SeaBird™ SBE39 temperature/depth sensor that recorded water temperature and depth every 5 seconds. The survey tracks were also recorded every 5 seconds using a GPS receiver located on the small boat. The survey tracks were georeferenced and a script was applied to adjust the GPS waypoints from the boat's position to the estimated positions of the divers while conducting the surveys, correlate the associated temperature and depth data, and lace the waypoints together into 5-min segments and tow tracks. The dataset includes the adjusted dive points, and the segments and tow tracks are provided as shapefiles.

Resources

Name Format Description Link
Tows.shp Unknown Estimated survey track of the divers for each 50-minute survey track of towed-diver surveys of the U.S. Pacific Reefs from 2000 to 2017 conducted by the PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division. Open resource
Segments.shp Unknown Estimated survey track of the divers for each 5-minute survey segment of towed-diver surveys of the U.S. Pacific Reefs from 2000 to 2017 conducted by the PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division. Open resource
DivePoints.csv Unknown Estimated position of the divers at each 5 second survey point during towed-diver surveys of U.S. Pacific Reefs from 2000 to 2017 conducted by the PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division. Open resource
Island_Lookup_Table.csv Unknown Full name of each island code listed in ISLAND field in each of the entities. Open resource
NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) Unknown Information about the NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) on the NOAA Coral Reef Information System website. Open resource
Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Keywords Unknown The information provided on this page seeks to define how the GCMD Keywords are structured, used and accessed. It also provides information on how users can participate in the further development of the keywords. 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
Ecosystem Sciences Unknown Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center Open resource
Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center Website Unknown Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center homepage Open resource

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