NOAA TIFF Image - 1m Backscatter Mosaic, Puerto Rico 2013, Northeast Reserve, Seafloor Characterization of the US Caribbean - Nancy Foster - NF-13-2 USVI, UTM 20N NAD83

This image represents a 1 meter resolution backscatter mosaic of the bathymetry of a reef shelf/bank and the steep slopes and canyons of the NE Reserve, offshore of Fajardo, Puerto Rico. NOAA's NOS/NCCOS/CCMA Biogeography Team, in collaboration with NOAA vessel Nancy Foster and territory, federal, and private sector partners, acquired multibeam bathymetry data in the Northeast Reserve from 3/05/2013 to 3/29/2013. Data was acquired with a moon pool mounted Reson 7125 multibeam echosounder (400 kHz). Data is in UTM zone 20 north, datum NAD83. The backscatter component of the bathymetry data were geometrically and radiometrically corrected using .HSX and .7k file pairs that were converted to GSF in Hypack 2012, then processed in Fledermaus Geocoder Toolbox 7.3.3c. Acoustic backscatter mosaics are an important piece of information when characterizing surficial seafloor features and delineating benthic habitats. The project was conducted to meet IHO Order 1 and 2 accuracy standards, dependant on the project area and depth. All users should individually evaluate the suitability of this data according to their own needs and standards.

This multibeam data was collected as IOCM (Integrated Ocean and Coastal Mapping) project NF-13-2 USVI during the tenth year of an ongoing NOAA scientific research mission in the US Caribbean to characterize midshelf and deep water coral reef habitats at depths down to 1,000 meters. The mission purpose is to better understand the resources within the surveyed reef habitats, and ultimately develop species utilization models linking physical habitats with biological information. The multibeam backscatter, multibeam bathymetry, and ground truth video footage collected during the 2013 mission will be used internally to characterize sea floor topography and to create benthic habitat maps, helping NOAA meet its mapping commitment to the US Coral Reef Task Force. The resulting publicly-distributed data is also a contribution to the greater scientific community interested in the US Caribbean seafloor.

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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.

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.

Microsoft Windows 7 ; ESRI ArcCatalog 10.1

See Data Acquisition and Processing Report (DAPR) for NF-13-2 USVI (to be posted at http://ccma.nos.noaa.gov/products/biogeography/usvi_nps/documentation.aspx).

See Data Acquisition and Processing Report (DAPR) for NF-13-2 USVI.

This Backscatter GeoTIFF is sourced from a Fledermaus gridded dataset. The original full-resolution multibeam data was used to create a down sampled uniform-resolution backscatter grid. The down sampled grid nodes from that backscatter surface were then exported and used to generate the ESRI GeoTIFF. Some minor positional shifts may have occurred between the original data points and the transformed GeoTIFF.

While the project was conducted to meet IHO Order 1 and 2 accuracy standards, dependent on project area and depth, all users should independently analyze the dataset according to their own needs and standards to determine data usability.