NOAA Coral Reef Benthic Surveys in Pacific Remote Islands

Ongoing towed-diver surveys record benthic habitat and species cover in the Pacific Remote Island Areas. Data includes percentage cover of live hard corals, stressed corals, soft corals, sand, algae, and counts of macroinvertebrates like crown-of-thorns starfish. This collection is part of the NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program.

Use Cases

• Analyzing trends in live coral cover and coral stress levels over time.
• Mapping benthic habitat types such as continuous reef, spur and groove, or pavement.
• Monitoring populations of key macroinvertebrates like crown-of-thorns starfish and sea urchins.
• Assessing substrate composition through metrics for sand, coralline algae, and macroalgae cover.
• Studying habitat complexity and its relationship with benthic community structure.

Strengths

• Data is collected as part of an ongoing, standardized national monitoring program (NOAA NCRMP).
• Surveys capture multiple key benthic metrics simultaneously, including habitat type, complexity, species cover, and invertebrate counts.
• Cross-platform presence on Data.gov and NASA EarthData indicates recognized importance and curation.

Limitations

• Specific row count, file size, and column names are not provided by any source.
• License and author information are unavailable across all platforms.
• The exact temporal range of the data collection is not specified, only described as 'ongoing'.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Visual estimates gathered during standardized towed-diver surveys.

Time Range

Ongoing (specific start year not provided)

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:31:40.098214

Geography

Pacific Remote Island Areas