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

Mariana Archipelago including Guam, Rota, Tinian, Aguijan, Saipan, Sarigan, Guguan, Alamagan, Pagan, Agrihan, Asuncion, Maug, Supply Reef, Farallon de Pajaros, Anatahan, Arakane, Pathfinder, Santa Rosa, Stingray, and Tatsumi.

MARAMP 2007 mission to Tinian, Sarigan, Alamagan, Agrihan, Maug, Farallon de Pajaros, Asuncion, Pagan, and Guguan.

MARAMP 2003 mission to Saipan, Tinian, Sarigan, Pagan, Agrihan, Stingray, Farallon de Pajaros, Supply, Maug, Asuncion, Anatahan, Guguan, Alamagan, Pathfinder, Arakane, Aguijan, Tatsumi, Rota, Guam, Santa Rosa.

MARAMP 2007 mission to Guam, Rota, Aguijan, Tinian, and Saipan.

MARAMP 2009 mission to Guam, Rota, Aguijan, Tinian, and Saipan.

MARAMP 2009 mission to Saipan, Sarigan, Pagan, Asuncion, Farallon de Pajaros, Maug, Agrihan, Alamagan, and Guguan.

MARAMP 2011 to Saipan, Tinian, Sarigan, Pagan, Asuncion, Farallon de Pajaros, Maug, Agrihan, Alamagan, Guguan, Rota, Aguijan, and Guam.

MARAMP 2005 mission to Saipan, Guguan, Pagan, Asuncion, Farallon de Pajaros, Maug, Agrihan, Alamagan, Sarigan, Pathfinder, Arakane, Tinian, Aguijan, and Rota.

MARAMP 2005 mission to Guam and Santa Rosa Reef.

MARAMP 2014 mision to Guam, Rota, Aguijan, Tinian, Saipan, Sarigan, Pagan, Asuncion, Farallon de Pajaros, Maug, Alamagan, and Guguan.

MARAMP 2017 mission to Guam, Rota, Tinian, Saipan, Aguijan, Guguan, Agrihan, Pagan, Alamagan, Asuncion, Farallon de Pajaros, Maug, and Sarigan.

Main Hawaiian Islands (MHI), including Hawaii, Kauai, Kaula, Lanai, Lehua, Maui, Molokai, Molokini, Niihau, and Oahu.

Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI), including French Frigate, Gardner, Kure, Laysan, Lisianski, Maro, Midway, Necker, Nihoa, Pearl & Hermes, and Raita

Mission OES0502 to Oahu, Maui, and Hawaii of the main Hawaiian Islands.

Mission HA1602 to Lanai, Maui, Hawaii, and Oahu of the main Hawaiian Islands.

HARAMP 2016 to French Frigate, Pearl & Hermes, Kure, and Lisianski of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Mission HI0505 to Oahu, Kauai, Niihau, Lehua, Molokai, Lanai, and Maui of the main Hawaiian Islands.

Mission to Oahu, Kauai, Molokai, Maui, Hawaii, Lanai, Niihau, Kaula, and Lehua of the main Hawaiian Islands.

Mission OES0810 to Maui, Lanai, Molokai, Hawaii, Kauai, Lehua, Niihau, and Oahu of the main Hawaiian Islands.

Mission TC0011 to Nihoa, Necker, French Frigate, Gardner, Maro, Lisianski, Pearl & Hermes, Kure, and Laysan of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Shore-based mission to Oahu in the main Hawaiian Islands.

Mission HA1008 to Hawaii, Maui, Lanai, Oahu, Kauai, Lehua, Niihau, and Molokai of the main Hawaiian Islands.

Mission TC0110 to French Frigate, Raita, and Maro of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Mission HA1606 to Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Kauai, Niihau, and Hawaii of the main Hawaiian Islands.

Mission TC0207 to French Frigate, Laysan, Lisianski, Pearl & Hermes, Midway, Kure, and Maro of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Mission OES0306 to Necker, French Frigate, Gardner, Maro, Laysan, Lisianski, Midway, Pearl & Hermes, and Kure of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Mission HI0401 to French Frigate, Gardner, Maro, Laysan, Pearl & Hermes, Pearl & Hermes, Midway, Kure, and Lisianski of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Mission HI0611 to Necker, French Frigate, Maro, Laysan, Pearl & Hermes, Midway, Kure, and Lisianski of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Mission HI0809 to French Frigate, Maro, Laysan, Pearl & Hermes, Midway, Kure, and Lisianski of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Mission HA1007 to French Frigate, Pearl & Hermes, Kure, and Lisianski of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

American Samoa including Tutuila, Manu'a (Ofo, Olosega, and Ta'u), Rose Atoll, South Bank, and Swains.

ASRAMP mission to Tutuila, Rose, South Bank, Ofu & Olosega, Tau, and Swains.

ASRAMP mission to Swains, Tutuila, Rose, Tau, and Ofu & Olosega.

ASRAMP mission to Tutuila, Tau, Ofu & Olosega, Swains, and Rose.

ASRAMP mission to Tau, Ofu & Olosega, Rose, Swains, and Tutuila.

ASRAMP mission to Swains, Tutuila, Ofu & Olosega, Tau, and Rose.

ASRAMP mission to Tutuila, Ofu & Olosega, Tau, Rose, and Swains.

ASRAMP mission to Swains, Tutuila, Ofu & Olosega, Tau, and Rose.

Pacific Remote Island Areas, including the Phoenix (Baker and Howland), Line (Jarvis, Kingman, and Palmyra), and Wake Islands , and Johnston Atoll.

2005 mission to Wake in the Pacific Remote Island Areas.

2007 mission to Wake in the Pacific Remote Island Areas.

2009 mission to Wake in the Pacific Remote Island Areas.

2011 mission to Wake in the Pacific Remote Island Areas.

2001 mission to Howland, Baker, Jarvis, Palmyra, and Kingman of the Pacific Remote Island Areas.

2002 mission to Baker, Howland, Jarvis, Palmyra, and Kingman of the Pacific Remote Island Areas.

2004 mission to Johnston, Howland, and Baker of the Pacific Remote Island Areas.

2004 mission to Jarvis, Palmyra, and Kingman of the Pacific Remote Island Areas.

2006 mission to Johnston, Howland, and Baker of the Pacific Remote Island Areas.

2006 mission to Jarvis, Palmyra, and Kingman of the Pacific Remote Island Areas.

2008 mission to Johnston, Howland, and Baker of the Pacific Remote Island Areas.

2008 mission to Jarvis, Palmyra, and Kingman of the Pacific Remote Island Areas.

2010 mission to Johnston, Howland, and Baker of the Pacific Remote Island Areas.

2010 mission to Jarvis, Palmyra, and Kingman of the Pacific Remote Island Areas.

2012 mission to Johnston, Howland, Baker, Jarvis, Kingman, and Palmyra of the Pacific Remote Island Areas.

2014 mission to Wake in the Pacific Remote Island Areas.

2015 mission to Johnston, Howland, Baker, Jarvis, Palmyra, and Kingman of the Pacific Remote Island Areas.

2017 mission to Jarvis, Baker, Howland, and Wake of the Pacific Remote Island Areas.

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.

Full name of each island code listed in ISLAND field in each of the entities.

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.

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.

Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center

Information about the NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) on the NOAA Coral Reef Information System website.

Survey protocol

During towed-diver surveys, a pair of divers was towed approximately 60 m behind a small boat, with 1 diver tasked with benthic data collection and 1 diver tasked with data collection on large fishes (>50 cm in total length). Each diver made observations over a visually estimated 10-m swath (5 m out on each side of their respective tow lines, which act as transect lines). Towed at typical speeds of 0.5-1.3 m s-1 (1-2.5 knots), divers attempted to maintain their position ~1 m above the seafloor. Divers recorded observations every 5 minutes over a survey segment length of ~200 m, summarizing the benthic composition, ecologically and economically important fishes, and macroinvertebrates encountered throughout each survey segment. Each survey takes 50 minutes and includes a total of 10 segments, although the actual time and length of surveys occasionally varied depending on environmental conditions and diving or logistical constraints. Four to six surveys were generally completed during each field day.

To georeference all data collected during towed-diver surveys, a GPS receiver located on the small boat was programmed to record every 5 seconds. The towed-diver platforms, or towboards, used by the divers were constructed of StarBoard (King Plastic Corp., North Port, Fla.) marine polymer sheets ~100 cm x 50 cm x 2 cm. Each tow board was outfitted with an SBE 39 temperature and pressure (depth) recorder set to record at 5 second intervals. All timing devices were set to Greenwich Mean Time and synchronized each morning using the calibrated clock on the research vessel.

Following each day of field operations for towed-diver surveys, the GPS waypoints collected from the GPS receiver, and the temperature and depth data from the SBE39s were downloaded in text and ascii formats, respectively. A metadata file was generated in notepad listing the local time zone difference from UTC, and the start and end time (in local time) of each tow.

A custom built Python script (Python Software Foundation, Wolfeboro Falls, NH) run in an ArcGIS environment was used for processing these waypoints and the corresponding depth and temperature data. This data processing generated 4 standard shapefiles: GPS points, DIVE points, SEGMENTS and TOWS. GPS points represent the raw, uncorrelated, GPS waypoints and were used to generate the other three shapefiles.

The Python script: 1) clipped the GPS track points to the survey extent (based on start and stop waypoints for the towed-diver survey), 2) re-positioned the GPS track points to the divers’ location (based on the track, speed, and course of the boat and the divers’ depths), 3) imported the corresponding SBE39 temperature and depth data using the metadata time stamps, and 4) added two unique serial numbers. The serial numbers include DIVE ID that represents the date of the 50-minute tow survey (YYYYMMDD) plus the single-digit tow number for the day (1-6), and SEGMENT ID that represents DIVE ID plus the 2-digit segment (01-10) within the tow (e.g., the DIVE ID for the first towed-diver survey on May 16, 2007 is 200705161, and the SEGMENT ID for segment #5 of during the first survey of the day is 20070516105). A 50-minute towed-diver survey typically includes ten 5-minute segments/observations.

The DIVE points file results from these initial post-processing steps, and includes 1) the adjusted LATITUDE and LONGITUDE, 2) the temperature and depth data recorded from the benthic and fish SBE39s, 3) the mean temperature and mean depth of the combined benthic and fish SBE39 data, and 4) the two serial numbers (DIVE ID and SEGMENT ID). The DIVE points are then laced together and 1) grouped by SEGMENT ID to generate the SEGMENTS polyline shapefile, and 2) grouped by DIVE ID to generate the TOWS polyline shapefile. These serial numbers are the link between the geospatial data described here (SEGMENTS and TOWS) and the fish or benthic observation data (i.e., the observation data is mapped to specific geographic locations, or georeferenced). The mean benthic and fish temperature and depths provided in the SEGMENTS and the TOWS shapefiles are both calculated from the benthic and fish temperature and depths in the DIVE points file, and the standard deviations for the means are also provided.

Upon return from each cruse, a GIS analyst reviewed the output files, flagged any anomalies, and made corrections, when possible, based on the available information from the physical data sheet. The data was then migrated to the Oracle database.

SCUBA divers conduct towed-diver surveys to assess relatively large areas of reef habitat and to survey large-bodied reef fishes. This method involves towing two divers (one fish, one benthic) behind a small surface craft that is moving at a velocity of 1-2 mph. The benthic towboard is equipped with a digital camera that is pointing in the downward-looking direction, to record the benthos over which the diver and camera are moving. The benthic diver maneuvers the towboard on which the camera is mounted and records selected data pertaining to the habitat using datasheets mounted on the towboard. The towboard is also equipped with a SEABIRD sensor that records depth and water temperature every 5 seconds. A GPS unit on the surface tow vessel records the trackline over which the divers are being towed.

SCUBA divers conduct towed-diver surveys to assess relatively large areas of reef habitat and to survey large-bodied reef fishes. This method involves towing two divers (one fish, one benthic) behind a small surface craft that is moving at a velocity of 1-2 mph. The fish towboard is equipped with a digital videocamera that is pointing in the forward-looking direction to document the fish associated with the reef. The fish diver maneuvers the towboard on which the camera is mounted and records selected data pertaining to fish using datasheets mounted on the towboard. The towboard is also equipped with a SEABIRD sensor that records depth and water temperature every 5 seconds. A GPS unit on the surface tow vessel records the trackline over which the divers are being towed.

Various ocean-based and lake-based ships, boats, remotely operated vehicles, submersibles, and other unspecified types of platforms