Sediment profile image data from October 1999 in Apalachicola Bay, Florida

The Apalachicola Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve and the NOAA Office for Coastal Management worked together to map benthic habitats within Apalachicola Bay, Florida. The bay and the lower portions of four distributaries were surveyed on 11-22 October 1999 using three benthic sampling techniques. This data set represents the information gathered from sediment profile imagery sampling. Images were collected at 436 stations throughout the bay.

Original contact information:

Contact Org: NOAA Office for Coastal Management

Phone: 843-740-1202

Email: coastal.info@noaa.gov

Sediment profile images (SPI) of the sediment-water interface were collected using a sediment profile camera at pre-determined locations in the bay. Physical, chemical, geological, and biological conditions observed in the photos were used to create a database for all stations, and habitat classes were defined by sediment type and/or faunal community for each location. The database was then used in a Geographic Information System (GIS) to characterize fine scale benthic habitat distributions in the bay.

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While every effort has been made to ensure that these data are accurate and reliable within limits of the state of the art, NOAA will not assume any liability for damages caused by any inaccuracies in these data, or failure in their use.

None

It is the responsibility of the user to determine the appropriate use of the data product.

Microsoft Windows 2000 Version 5.0 (Build 2195) Service Pack 4; ESRI ArcCatalog 8.3.0.800

The attribute accuracy was verified by checking the compiled SPI database against the actual photos for each station. Since two photos were taken at each station, attributes from both images were noted in the database, and one image was digitized and analyzed using image analysis software. The results of this automated analysis were also used to check the accuracy of the dataset. When large disagreement occurred between images from a single station, all attributes were recorded and the image with the largest visible area was digitized. Results of grab sampling were also used, when available, to check the accuracy of the SPI data set. Additionally, a subset of the images were evaluated by two other professional benthic ecologists with experience working with SPI. Differences between the original analysis and the QA/QC analysis were addressed in the final data set.

Stations were located in the field using a differential Global Positioning System (GPS), and station coordinates, date, and time of day were recorded upon arrival at each station.

Not relevant to the data set.

All SPI data were not included in this data layer. All stations are represented, however, some parameters, which were harder or more subjective to interpret, were not included in the data set. These data can be found in the Apalachicola Bay benthic database, available from the NOAA Office for Coastal Management.

All data are believed to be logically consistent.