Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Return to search results

Benthic Habitats of Buck Island Reef National Monument, St. Croix U.S. Virgin Islands, 2004-02-18 to 2011-08-30 (NCEI Accession 0285904)

Published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Catalog Last Checked: August 03, 2026 at 04:32 AM | Dataset Last Updated: December 21, 2023 at 12:00 AM
This data package contains information about the geology and biology of the seafloor from approximately 0 to 1,830 meters in Buck Island Reef National Monument (BIRNM) St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). It was created by delineating habitats visible in aerial photographs, lidar and multibeam echosounder imagery using ENVI's Feature Extraction (Fx) Module. The minimum polygon size for these habitat maps ranged from 100 square meters (in shallow <30 m depths) to 1000 square meters (in moderate 30 to 150 m depths) to 5,000 square meters (in deep >150 m depths). Additional habitat polygons were manually digitized if they were excluded during the feature extraction workflow. Polygon boundaries were smoothed in ArcGIS to reduce their pixelated appearance. A Classification and Regression Tree (CART) algorithm was used to classify each habitat polygon using georeferenced underwater video & photos collected using SCUBA divers, drop-cameras and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). Major and detailed geomorphological structure, percent hardbottom, major and detailed biological cover and live coral cover were identified for each polygon. The moderate and deep maps mark the first time that habitats deeper than approximately 30 meters have been mapped in the Monument. These habitat maps will provide a baseline for future biological monitoring studies in BIRNM.

Resources

20 resources available

  • NCEI Dataset Landing Page

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • Descriptive Information

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • HTTPS

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • FTP

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/project/benthic-habitat-mapping-buck-island-reef-national-monument-st-croix/

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • https://maps.coastalscience.noaa.gov/biomapper/biomapper.html?id=BUIS

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/858

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/717

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_icrs/1/

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0013969

    VALU
    Download

  • https://doi.org/10.1890/06-0536

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/421

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • https://doi.org/10.1080/01490410802053617

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-009-0531-7

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/493

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/566

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/669

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/543

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • GCMD Keyword Forum Page

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • NCEI Contact Information

    HTML
    Visit Page

Find Related Datasets

Search by Tags

Click any tag below to search for similar datasets

0285904 BENTHIC COMMUNITIES biological data CORAL HABITAT - BENTHIC REEF AND/OR BOTTOM REGIME - PERCENT COVER camera LIDAR

Complete Metadata
@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel non-public
contactPoint 
{
  "fn": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "vcard:Contact",
  "hasEmail": "mailto:ncei.info@noaa.gov"
}
describedByType application/octet-steam
description This data package contains information about the geology and biology of the seafloor from approximately 0 to 1,830 meters in Buck Island Reef National Monument (BIRNM) St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). It was created by delineating habitats visible in aerial photographs, lidar and multibeam echosounder imagery using ENVI's Feature Extraction (Fx) Module. The minimum polygon size for these habitat maps ranged from 100 square meters (in shallow <30 m depths) to 1000 square meters (in moderate 30 to 150 m depths) to 5,000 square meters (in deep >150 m depths). Additional habitat polygons were manually digitized if they were excluded during the feature extraction workflow. Polygon boundaries were smoothed in ArcGIS to reduce their pixelated appearance. A Classification and Regression Tree (CART) algorithm was used to classify each habitat polygon using georeferenced underwater video & photos collected using SCUBA divers, drop-cameras and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). Major and detailed geomorphological structure, percent hardbottom, major and detailed biological cover and live coral cover were identified for each polygon. The moderate and deep maps mark the first time that habitats deeper than approximately 30 meters have been mapped in the Monument. These habitat maps will provide a baseline for future biological monitoring studies in BIRNM.
distribution 
[
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NCEI Dataset Landing Page",
    "accessURL": "https://doi.org/10.25921/vz7r-kc55",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Navigate directly to the URL for a descriptive web page with download links.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Descriptive Information",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/oas/285904",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Navigate directly to the URL for a descriptive web page with download links.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "HTTPS",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/download/285904",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Navigate directly to the URL for data access and direct download.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "FTP",
    "accessURL": "ftp://ftp-oceans.ncei.noaa.gov/nodc/archive/arc0221/0285904/",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "These data are available through the File Transfer Protocol (FTP). FTP is no longer supported by most internet browsers. You may copy and paste the FTP link to the data into an FTP client (e.g., FileZilla or WinSCP).",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/project/benthic-habitat-mapping-buck-island-reef-national-monument-st-croix/",
    "accessURL": "https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/project/benthic-habitat-mapping-buck-island-reef-national-monument-st-croix/",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) project page",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://maps.coastalscience.noaa.gov/biomapper/biomapper.html?id=BUIS",
    "accessURL": "https://maps.coastalscience.noaa.gov/biomapper/biomapper.html?id=BUIS",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Online tool to explore Buck Island benthic habitat mapping data",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/858",
    "accessURL": "https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/858",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "NOAA NOS NCCOS Technical Memorandum",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/717",
    "accessURL": "https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/717",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "NOAA NOS NCCOS Technical Memoradum",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_icrs/1/",
    "accessURL": "https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_icrs/1/",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Data Report",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0013969",
    "mediaType": "placeholder/value",
    "description": "Journal article",
    "downloadURL": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0013969",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://doi.org/10.1890/06-0536",
    "accessURL": "https://doi.org/10.1890/06-0536",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Journal article",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/421",
    "accessURL": "https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/421",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "NOAA NOS NCCOS CCMA Technical Memorandum",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://doi.org/10.1080/01490410802053617",
    "accessURL": "https://doi.org/10.1080/01490410802053617",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Journal article",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-009-0531-7",
    "accessURL": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-009-0531-7",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "PIFSC Administrative Report",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/493",
    "accessURL": "https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/493",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "NOAA NOS NCCOS Technical Memorandum",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/566",
    "accessURL": "https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/566",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "NOAA NOS NCCOS Technical Memorandum",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/669",
    "accessURL": "https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/669",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "NOAA NOS NCCOS Technical Memorandum",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/543",
    "accessURL": "https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/543",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "NOAA NOS NCCOS Technical Memorandum",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "GCMD Keyword Forum Page",
    "accessURL": "https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2025. GCMD Keywords, Version 21. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NCEI Contact Information",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/contact",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Information for contacts at NCEI.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  }
]
identifier https://data.noaa.gov/waf/NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/accessions/iso/xml/0285904.xml
issued 2023-12-05T00:00:00.000+00:00
keyword 
[
  "0285904",
  "BENTHIC COMMUNITIES",
  "biological data",
  "CORAL",
  "HABITAT - BENTHIC",
  "REEF AND/OR BOTTOM REGIME - PERCENT COVER",
  "camera",
  "LIDAR",
  "multibeam sonar",
  "photograph",
  "biological",
  "GIS product",
  "in situ",
  "model output",
  "NOAA Ship Nancy Foster",
  "NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown",
  "NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science",
  "NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science",
  "Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP)",
  "CORAL REEF STUDIES",
  "Caribbean Sea",
  "oceanography",
  "7-Seas-Ltd",
  "Coast Works",
  "US DOC; NOAA; NOS; Office for Coastal Management",
  "US DOI; US Geological Survey",
  "DOC/NOAA/NOS/NCCOS > National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, National Ocean Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "Benthic Habitat Mapping for Buck Island Reef National Monument, St. Croix",
  "Geographic Information > Backscatter",
  "Geographic Information > Bathymetry",
  "Geographic Information > Deep Coral Locations",
  "Geographic Information > Habitats",
  "Geographic Information > LiDAR",
  "Geographic Information > Marine Management Areas",
  "Geographic Information > Reef Locations",
  "Map Images > Aerial Photographs",
  "Map Images > Habitats",
  "Numeric Data Sets > Habitats",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Aquatic Habitat > Benthic Habitat",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Deep-water corals",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Mapping > Habitat Mapping",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Photographic Analysis",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Photographic Analysis > Videography",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Mapping > Base map > Aerial Photography",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Bathymetry/Seafloor Topography > Bathymetry",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs > Coral Reef Ecology > Benthic biology",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs > Coral Reef Ecology > Coral Cover",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > MARINE ECOSYSTEMS > BENTHIC",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > SOLID EARTH > GEOMORPHIC LANDFORMS/PROCESSES > COASTAL LANDFORMS > CORAL REEFS",
  "Marine Spatial Ecology > Habitat Mapping",
  "Derived Data Product",
  "Field Observation",
  "Geospatial",
  "Benthic Habitat Maps",
  "Imagery",
  "Training and Validation Data",
  "remotely sensed",
  "CAMERA > CAMERA",
  "LIDAR > Light Detection and Ranging",
  "MBES > Multibeam Mapping System",
  "aerial multispectral camera",
  "light detection and ranging",
  "multibeam echosounder",
  "underwater multispectral cameras",
  "Ships",
  "NANCY FOSTER (call sign: WTER, ICES code: 33NF, 2004-)",
  "Ronald H. Brown (call sign: WTEC, ICES code: 33RO, 1997-)",
  "NOAA ship Nancy Foster",
  "NOAA ship Ronald Brown",
  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > U. S. Virgin Islands > St. Croix > Buck Island (17N064W0006)",
  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > U. S. Virgin Islands > St. Croix > Buck Island Reef (17N064W0001)",
  "OCEAN BASIN > Atlantic Ocean > Caribbean Sea > Virgin Islands > Buck Island > Buck Island (17N064W0006)",
  "OCEAN BASIN > Atlantic Ocean > Caribbean Sea > Virgin Islands > St. Croix > Buck Island Reef (17N064W0001)",
  "OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN > CARIBBEAN SEA",
  "U.S. States and Territories > U.S. Virgin Islands",
  "Waterbodies > Caribbean Sea",
  "Buck Island Reef National Monument",
  "Saint Croix",
  "64KUE6"
]
landingPage https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/contact
language 
[]
license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified 2023-12-21T00:00:00.000+00:00
publisher 
{
  "name": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
references 
[
  "https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/project/benthic-habitat-mapping-buck-island-reef-national-monument-st-croix/",
  "https://maps.coastalscience.noaa.gov/biomapper/biomapper.html?id=BUIS",
  "https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/858",
  "https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/717",
  "https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_icrs/1/",
  "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0013969",
  "https://doi.org/10.1890/06-0536",
  "https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/421",
  "https://doi.org/10.1080/01490410802053617",
  "https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-009-0531-7",
  "https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/493",
  "https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/566",
  "https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/669",
  "https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/543"
]
rights otherRestrictions
spatial -64.5562588,17.7698818,-64.6880095,17.8470072
temporal 2004-02-18T00:00:00+00:00/2011-08-30T00:00:00+00:00
theme 
[
  "geospatial"
]
title Benthic Habitats of Buck Island Reef National Monument, St. Croix U.S. Virgin Islands, 2004-02-18 to 2011-08-30 (NCEI Accession 0285904)

data.gov

An official website of the GSA's Technology Transformation Services

Looking for U.S. government information and services?
Visit USA.gov