Data Management Plan

In June 1995, the Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce (CREST) acquired 295 true color aerial photographs (1:12,000) of Willapa Bay, Washington, from the State of Washington Department of Transportation (WDOT), suitable for the interpretation of submerged rooted aquatic vascular plant populations. In August 1995, field surveys were conducted by a team composed of staff from Oregon State University, CREST, and the Washington Department of Natural Resources, for spectral signature development and verification as well as habitat observation. The submerged plant populations were interpreted and mapped from the photographs and transferred onto State of Washington 1:12,000 Orthophoto maps (USGS 7.5' quadrangle). The interpretations were digitized into a geographic information system (GIS) for the creation of a habitat polygon map. All interpretation, digitization and photography acquisition were according to stringent parameters detailed in the Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP) Protocol (NMFS Technical Document 123). Two datasets were used as ancillary information to complement the interpreted habitat polygons. In 1996, color aerial videography was obtained from WDOT for post mapping verification and accuracy assessments. Marine Resources Consultants, Inc. and the University of Washington collected videography from 29 underwater transects to verify the deep-water edge of selected seagrass beds in the southern portion of the bay. The date, time, geographic coordinates and depth were updated every 2 to 4 seconds and recorded directly on the videotape images. Latitude and longitude were provided by a differentially corrected global positioning system (GPS). The initial presence/absence map of SAV produced by CREST was later segmented by depth to discriminate between two very different seagrass communities and support field accuracy assessment. Final field verification of the data by personnel from CREST and the NOAA Office for Coastal Management was conducted in the Summer of 1997. The benthic data is classified according to the System for Classification of Habitats in Estuarine and Marine Environments (SCHEME). This system is fully described in "Development of a System for Classification of Habitats in Estuarine and Marine Environments (SCHEME) for Florida, Report to U.S. EPA - Gulf of Mexico Program, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida Marine Research Institute. Review Draft 12/04/02."

Original contact information:

Contact Org: NOAA Office for Coastal Management

Phone: 843-740-1202

Email: coastal.info@noaa.gov

Process Steps:

• 1997-01-01 00:00:00 - Aerial Photography and Underwater Videography: On June 28, 1995, 295 conventional color metric aerial photographs at a scale of 1:12,000 were acquired through the State of Washington Department of Transportation (WDOT) using a Jena LMK-2015 camera with a 153 mm Jena Lamegon Lens (AV minus blue Jena 405) and Aerocolor 2445 film. The photographs had 60% overlap and 20% sidelap. The equipment and methodology used to collect the 295 images met stringent parameters detailed in the C-CAP Protocol (NMFS Technical Report 123). Deviations to the C-CAP protocols were the use of color aerial videography, obtained in 1996, as an ancillary data source. Data from 29 transects of underwater videography were used to verify the deep-water edge of selected seagrass beds in the southern portion of the bay. Benthic Signature development and Photointerpretation: Field surveys were conducted in August of 1995, after initial review of the images to develop spectral signatures. Observations of SRV on photographs was accomplished using stereopairs and a Leitz stereoscope with a 2X magnifying attachment. Areas containing eelgrass were delineated with reference to spatial distribution, and data from pre-truthing activities were used as constant reference to verify spectral signatures. Mylar overlays, placed on every other photograph, were used for tracing polygons defining SRV habitat from the aerial photography. The minimum mapping unit was 30 m2 (in order to avoid mapping Spartina rather than eelgrass). Digital Compilation: The delineated polygons were transferred from the overlays to State of Washington Orthophotos (1:24,000). The interpretations were directly transferred and when necessary due to scale differences, a zoom transfer cope was utilized. The final, corrected interpretations were digitized using a digitizing tablet. The bathymetric points were made into a grid using ArcView Spatial Analyst Extension. The bathymetric grid was used to generate a contour line of -2 meters. The contour was unioned with the CREST SAV coverage and recoded for shallow and deep grass classes, shallow and deep open water, unknown bottom, land and Spartina. The coverage was rasterized and 50 random points per class (excluding land) were randomly chosen from the stratified data set using ERDAS Imagine software for a total of 300 points. Field verification of the data by personnel from CREST and C-CAP was conducted in July 1997. The team utilized both underwater videography for deeper water points, and hand-held Hi-8 above water video for shallow, exposed tidal flats. The fieldwork revealed that the deep-water points consisted of dense Zostera marina, while the shallow exposed points were scattered patches of grass, primarily Zostera japonica. Based on the field data, the deep and shallow grasses were recoded dense and patchy, respectively. The final coverage was created in ArcView.
• 2015-01-01 00:00:00 - The data were converted from a single ESRI polygon shapefile classified according to the System for Classifying Habitats in Estuarine and Marine Environments (SCHEME) to the Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS) 2012 format (which can be found at https://coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/tools/cmecs-crosswalk) which produces separate geoform, geoform, and geoform feature layers from the original input benthic habitat dataset. This geoform feature layer contains CMECS geoform component attributes where an "Equal" or "Nearly Equal" SCHEME value was present in the original data. Polygons for which no geoform information was present have been removed. No other changes to the original polygon boundaries or any other alterations of the original SCHEME data were made during this process.

Contact NOAA Office for Coastal Management's Clearinghouse Manager and request a copy of "Benthic Habitats of Willapa Bay, Washington, 1995, CD-ROM." Alternatively, fill out a OCM Product Request Form at https://coast.noaa.gov/clearinghouse/;