U.S. Caribbean Seafloor Mapping Priorities from 15 Stakeholders, 2019

Fifteen participants from federal, state, and academic institutions prioritized areas for seafloor mapping in the U.S. Caribbean using a spatial framework. The resulting ESRI shapefile identifies 15 high-priority locations and analyzes top justifications and data needs. The dataset was created by NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) based on a prioritization effort conducted from June to July 2019.

Use Cases

• Prioritizing resource allocation for seafloor surveys based on stakeholder-identified high-priority locations.
• Analyzing spatial relationships between priority areas and justifications like Biota/Important Natural Area or Commercial Fishing.
• Planning benthic habitat mapping or sub-bottom profile data collection campaigns in the Caribbean region.

Strengths

• Data is derived from a structured process involving 15 distinct institutional participants.
• Identifies 15 specific high-priority locations with geographic names for targeted action.
• Analysis includes top-ranked justifications (e.g., Biota/Important Natural Area) and data needs (e.g., Benthic Habitat Map).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Stakeholder prioritization exercise using an online application with virtual coins in a grid framework, followed by statistical analysis.

Time Range

2019-06-28 to 2019-07-28

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 20:38:15.540428; freshness should be verified.

Geography

U.S. Caribbean territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.