38891 NF11_USVI_ROV_TransectsLines_Metadata Data Set Published / External 37205 SeafloorMapping_USCaribbean_2004toOngoing Project Completed 2011 This shapefile denotes the location of underwater photos and/or video that were collected by NOAA scientists using a Spectrum Phantom S2 ROV (remotely operated vehicle). Photos and/or video were collected between 03/28/2011 and 04/16/2011 along 50 transects (please note that dive 26 was aborted) south of St. John and St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands and east of Vieques, Puerto Rico. These photos and videos will be manually classified into different habitat classes, and integrated with the abiotic data collected by the acoustic sonar (sound navigation and ranging) systems to develop a benthic habitat map for the U.S. Caribbean. Habitat maps describe the location of habitat features (in relation to the shoreline), their physical composition and the types of organisms that colonize them. Fundamentally, habitat maps provide critical information about the extent, health and composition of marine resources, which is vital for communicating information about the distribution and abundance of species to resource managers, scientists and the public. Habitat maps also support an increasing number of landscape ecology studies, as well as the process of marine spatial planning, including the design and evaluation of marine protected areas (MPAs). The objective of this ground validation (GV) effort, conducted by NOAA's Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment Biogeography Branch, in collaboration with multiple federal, state, territory, academic and private sector partners, was to acquire spatially-explicit information about the geomorphological structure, biological cover and live coral cover of the seafloor in the U.S. Caribbean. Extensive field work is needed to create high-quality benthic habitat maps because it enhances the accuracy of habitat attribution and (to a lesser degree) habitat delineation. Consequently, ground validation locations were targeted by the cartographer to satisfy the following objectives: (1) Explore features in the imagery with unknown or confusing acoustic signatures; (2) Confirm that the habitat type correlated with a particular acoustic signature remained consistent throughout the entire study area. This information will be incorporated into a fine-scale assessment of the status, abundance, and distribution of marine habitats in the U.S. Caribbean. 757 Please cite NOAA/NOS/NCCOS/CCMA/Biogeography Branch when using this dataset. Theme ISO 19115 Topic Category imageryBaseMapsEarthCover Theme CoRIS Discovery Thesaurus Geographic Information > Habitats Theme CoRIS Theme Thesaurus EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Mapping > Habitat Mapping Theme benthic habitats Theme biological cover Theme coral reef Theme geomorphological structure Theme ground truthing Theme ground validation Theme reef Theme transect Theme underwater photography Theme underwater video Theme zone Spatial CoRIS Place Thesaurus COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Puerto Rico > Culebra Island (18N066W0002) Spatial CoRIS Place Thesaurus COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Puerto Rico > Vieques > Vieques Island (18N065W0002) Spatial CoRIS Place Thesaurus COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > U. S. Virgin Islands > St. John > St. John (18N064W0011) Spatial CoRIS Place Thesaurus COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > U. S. Virgin Islands > St. Thomas > St. Thomas (18N064W0033) Spatial CoRIS Place Thesaurus COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > U. S. Virgin Islands > U. S. Virgin Islands > U. S. Virgin Islands (17N064W0000) Spatial CoRIS Place Thesaurus OCEAN BASIN > Atlantic Ocean > Caribbean Sea /North Atlantic Ocean > Puerto Rico > Culebra Island (18N066W0002) Spatial CoRIS Place Thesaurus OCEAN BASIN > Atlantic Ocean > Caribbean Sea /North Atlantic Ocean > Puerto Rico > Vieques Island > Vieques Island (18N065W0002) Spatial CoRIS Place Thesaurus OCEAN BASIN > Atlantic Ocean > Caribbean Sea > Virgin Islands > Leeward Islands > St. Thomas (18N064W0033) Spatial CoRIS Place Thesaurus OCEAN BASIN > Atlantic Ocean > Caribbean Sea > Virgin Islands > Lesser Antilles > U. S. Virgin Islands (17N064W0000) Spatial CoRIS Place Thesaurus OCEAN BASIN > Atlantic Ocean > Caribbean Sea > Virgin Islands > Virgin Islands > St. John (18N064W0011) Spatial St. John Spatial St. Thomas Spatial U.S. Caribbean Spatial U.S. Virgin Islands Spatial United States National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science Silver Spring MD Data Set None Planned vector digital data The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) Biogeography Branch does not guarantee the accuracy of the geographic features or attributes. 40986 ROV_2011_Transects_Lines Published / External Completed Shapefile attribute table | Description Source: Biogeography Branch Converted from FGDC using 'fgdc_to_inport_xml_entity.pl' script. 1 FID Unknown No No Active Internal feature number. | Description Source: Biogeography Branch Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated. 2 Shape Unknown No No Active Feature geometry. | Description Source: Biogeography Branch Coordinates defining the features. 3 Dive Unknown No No Active Sequential order of the GV dives. | Description Source: Biogeography Branch Alphanumeric value assigned to each dive. 4 Year NUMBER No No Active Year in which the underwater photos and video were collected | Description Source: Biogeography Branch 2011 - 2011 Data Steward 2011 Position NCCOS Scientific Data Coordinator NCCOS.data@noaa.gov Distributor 2011 Position NCCOS Scientific Data Coordinator NCCOS.data@noaa.gov Metadata Contact 2011 Position NCCOS Scientific Data Coordinator NCCOS.data@noaa.gov Point of Contact 2011 Position NCCOS Scientific Data Coordinator NCCOS.data@noaa.gov Principal Investigator 2011 Person Battista, Tim tim.battista@noaa.gov Ground Condition -65.191795 -64.656788 18.301325 18.163179 Range 2011-03-28 2011-04-16 Yes Yes 50 Unclassified Contact NOAA for distribution options (see Distributor).; Please cite any use of this data. Note: NOT TO BE USED FOR NAVIGATION. These data were prepared by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, make any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed in this report, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference therein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. Any views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. Although all data have been used by NOAA, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by NOAA as to the accuracy of the data and /or related materials. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by NOAA in the use of these data or related materials. https://ccma.nos.noaa.gov/products/biogeography/usvi_nps/data/2011/gv/rov_2011_lines.zip Downloadable Data ESRI Shapefile Shapefile 11.419 https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/projects/detail?key=263 Online Resource 2015-09-22 Date that the source FGDC record was last modified. 2017-04-05 Converted from FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (version FGDC-STD-001-1998) using 'fgdc_to_inport_xml.pl' script. Contact Tyler Christensen (NOS) for details. 2017-09-13 Partial upload of Spatial Info section only. 2017-11-01 Replaced entire Lineage section to populate new Source Contribution field. 2018-02-08 Partial upload of Positional Accuracy fields only. Microsoft Windows XP Version 5.1 (Build 2600) Service Pack 3; ESRI ArcCatalog 9.3.1.1850 The records in this data layer were automatically acquired by the GPS units and are expected to be correct. None. This shapefile includes all the locations visited during this mission. None. NF11 USVI Ground Validation Videos Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA), Biogeography Branch Discrete 2011 NF11 ROV Transect Lines | Type of Source Media: videodisc ROV_2011_Transects_Lines.shp Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA), Biogeography Branch Discrete 2011 NF11 ROV Dives | Type of Source Media: online 1 A first draft benthic habitat map was generated by delineating features on the seafloor with discrete acoustic signatures. During the creation of this first draft map, the cartographer placed discrete lines intersecting features in the map that had unknown acoustic signatures. Lines were also placed on features with known acoustic signatures (evenly distributed throughout the geographic extent of the map) to confirm that the habitats associated with these signatures remained consistent through the area of interest. These two types of points were labeled as "ground validation" sites and were visited in the field. | Source Produced: ROV_2011_Transects_Lines.shp 2011-01-01T00:00:00 ROV_2011_Transects_Lines.shp 2 NOAA scientists explored these ground validation locations in situ using an ROV. The resulting positional, video and photographic information was processed and will be used to classify each distinct habitat polygon to create a map of the seafloor in the U.S. Caribbean. | Source Produced: NF11 USVI Ground Validation Videos 2011-01-01T00:00:00 ROV_2011_Transects_Lines.shp 40986 Entity gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:38891 Tyler Christensen 2017-04-05T12:49:35 SysAdmin InPortAdmin 2025-05-15T19:16:06 2018-02-08 National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science NCCOS 1002 Public No No 2018-02-08 1 Year 2019-02-08