South Manitou Island Benthic Habitat 2016

These data provide benthic habitat maps for a 42-square-kilometer area at South Manitou Island in Lake Michigan. This joint pilot project between NOAA's Office for Coastal Management and the National Park Service applies the Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS) in the Great Lakes region and, specifically, the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The project primarily focuses on mapping lakeshore substrates to assess their value as fisheries habitat. Additionally, the mapping effort aims to determine the distribution and extent of the widespread nuisance filamentous algae, Cladophora sp., found in the area.

The workflow combined photo interpretation, object-based image analysis, field verification, and expert manual interpretation. These data include CMECS substrate and biotic components, classified to at least the subclass level. Co-occurring elements and modifiers (e.g., percent cover, induration, surface pattern) were also included for both components. Example images and corresponding CMECS classifications are available in the project report. These data also include GPS navigation tracks for each field site, video clips for many sites, and field validation points conducted over two days in August 2017 to ensure the accuracy of the map products.

Source data for the mapping included underwater photography, aerial imagery, acoustic backscatter (side-scan and multibeam sonar), and high-resolution lidar data collected around the island in 2016.

The layers available within the data download include: biotic, field_point, substrate, and transect.

Partners: National Park Service