Willapa Bay Benthic Habitat Map from 1995 Aerial Photography

Willapa Bay, Washington, is the focus of this 1995 benthic habitat dataset, which maps submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) using 295 true-color aerial photographs. The Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce (CREST) led the project, with field verification from Oregon State University and the Washington Department of Natural Resources. Data were digitized into GIS shapefiles following the Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP) protocol.

Use Cases

• Analyzing seagrass bed extent and density using habitat polygon attributes.
• Verifying remote sensing interpretations with field data from 29 underwater video transects.
• Assessing habitat change over time by comparing this 1995 baseline with later surveys.
• Modeling coastal ecosystem health based on submerged aquatic vegetation presence.

Strengths

• Data collection followed the stringent Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP) protocol.
• Field verification included 29 underwater video transects with GPS coordinates.
• Interpretation was based on 295 high-resolution (1:12,000) aerial photographs.

Limitations

• Key metadata like row count, column names, and file size are unavailable from all sources.
• There is a conflict in the last updated date: one source lists 2026-04-01, while another lists 1995-06 28.

Provenance

Source

Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce (CREST), with contributions from Oregon State University and the Washington Department of Natural Resources.

Collection Method

Habitat interpretation from aerial photographs, digitized into GIS, with field verification using aerial videography and underwater video transects.

Time Range

1995-06 to 1996

Freshness

2026-04-01 15:22:15.095389

Geography

Willapa Bay, Washington, USA.