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Benthic Habitats of the Florida Keys derived from color aerial photography collected between 1991-12 and 1992-03 (NCEI Accession 0143928)

Published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Catalog Last Checked: August 03, 2026 at 02:40 AM | Dataset Last Updated: March 03, 2016 at 12:00 AM
This project was a cooperative effort between the National Ocean Service and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Florida Marine Research Institute (now called the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute). The goal of the effort was to produce shallow-water (from 0 to approximately 30 m water depth) benthic habitat maps of the Florida Keys and adjacent waters. The maps were generated by expert visual interpretation of 1:48,000 scale color aerial photography and subsequent photogrammetric, stereo, digital compilation of interpreted habitat polygon boundaries from aerial photography. The Minimum mapping unit = 0.4 hectare (4,047 sq m; 1 acre) for all habitat. Patch reefs may be <0.5 ha. The aerial photography was acquired using a NOAA jet from December 1991 through March 1992. The photography was acquired with 60% side and 80% forward overlap to facilitate stereo compilation. Approximately 450 aerial photographs were acquired and used for the mapping project. Ground validation of interpreted habitat polygons was performed by visual verification at actual field sites prior to compilation. Aircraft Inertial Measurement Unit data were used to correct photography positioning in photogrammetric analytical plotters. The analytical solution used in the photogrammetric plotter for positioning was applied to bundles of 30-40 adjacent, overlapping aerial photographs. The stereo positioning of the photography was < 1 m. Digital data for bundles of compiled aerial photographs from the photogrammetric stereo plotter was imported into the ESRI ArcInfo GIS. The GIS was used to merge and edit the vector and attribute features of the 15 bundles to generate a mosaic benthic habitat map of the Florida Keys and adjacent areas covered by the aerial photography. Field validation of digitized habitat features visible in the aerial photography mosaics was performed to ensure correct interpretation. An assessment of the correctness of the interpreted digital map was performed by experts familiar with the seafloor habitat found in the Florida Keys.

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0143928 BENTHIC COMMUNITIES CORAL SEA GRASSES - DENSITY camera benthic Fish and Wildlife Research Institute NOAA National Ocean Service

Complete Metadata
@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel non-public
contactPoint 
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describedByType application/octet-steam
description This project was a cooperative effort between the National Ocean Service and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Florida Marine Research Institute (now called the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute). The goal of the effort was to produce shallow-water (from 0 to approximately 30 m water depth) benthic habitat maps of the Florida Keys and adjacent waters. The maps were generated by expert visual interpretation of 1:48,000 scale color aerial photography and subsequent photogrammetric, stereo, digital compilation of interpreted habitat polygon boundaries from aerial photography. The Minimum mapping unit = 0.4 hectare (4,047 sq m; 1 acre) for all habitat. Patch reefs may be <0.5 ha. The aerial photography was acquired using a NOAA jet from December 1991 through March 1992. The photography was acquired with 60% side and 80% forward overlap to facilitate stereo compilation. Approximately 450 aerial photographs were acquired and used for the mapping project. Ground validation of interpreted habitat polygons was performed by visual verification at actual field sites prior to compilation. Aircraft Inertial Measurement Unit data were used to correct photography positioning in photogrammetric analytical plotters. The analytical solution used in the photogrammetric plotter for positioning was applied to bundles of 30-40 adjacent, overlapping aerial photographs. The stereo positioning of the photography was < 1 m. Digital data for bundles of compiled aerial photographs from the photogrammetric stereo plotter was imported into the ESRI ArcInfo GIS. The GIS was used to merge and edit the vector and attribute features of the 15 bundles to generate a mosaic benthic habitat map of the Florida Keys and adjacent areas covered by the aerial photography. Field validation of digitized habitat features visible in the aerial photography mosaics was performed to ensure correct interpretation. An assessment of the correctness of the interpreted digital map was performed by experts familiar with the seafloor habitat found in the Florida Keys.
distribution 
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    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
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    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Benthic habitats of the Florida Keys (FMRI Technical Report TR-4)",
    "format": "PDF",
    "mediaType": "application/pdf",
    "description": ""This atlas contains 32 color maps depicting the benthic habitats at a scale of 1:51,000. In addition to showing the locations and extents of different habitat types in the Florida Keys, the atlas provides a brief description of the Florida Keys region, summary information on the extents of the ecological habitats by subregion, and a detailed description of each habitat type. ... The data can serve as a baseline for research and for monitoring projects undertaken by scientists, managers, and the academic community and to support resource-assessment activities and management decisions"",
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    "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",
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identifier https://data.noaa.gov/waf/NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/accessions/iso/xml/0143928.xml
issued 2016-02-22T00:00:00.000+00:00
keyword 
[
  "0143928",
  "BENTHIC COMMUNITIES",
  "CORAL",
  "SEA GRASSES - DENSITY",
  "camera",
  "benthic",
  "Fish and Wildlife Research Institute",
  "NOAA National Ocean Service",
  "NOAA National Ocean Service",
  "CORAL REEF STUDIES",
  "Coastal Waters of Florida",
  "Gulf of Mexico",
  "North Atlantic Ocean",
  "oceanography",
  "DOC/NOAA/NOS > National Ocean Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "Geographic Information > Ecological Characterization",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Aquatic Habitat > Reef Habitat",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Aquatic Habitat > Reef Habitat > Description",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef monitoring and assessment",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef monitoring and assessment > In situ biological",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs > Coral reef ecology > Habitats",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > PLANTS > ANGIOSPERMS (FLOWERING PLANTS) > MONOCOTS > SEAGRASS",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > MARINE ECOSYSTEMS > BENTHIC",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > SOLID EARTH > GEOMORPHIC LANDFORMS/PROCESSES > COASTAL LANDFORMS > CORAL REEFS",
  "aquatic vegetation",
  "coral reef",
  "coralline algae",
  "cover",
  "habitat",
  "macroalgae",
  "point",
  "reef",
  "seagrass",
  "structure",
  "submerged",
  "unconsolidated sediments",
  "zone",
  "CAMERA > CAMERA",
  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Florida",
  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Florida > Monroe County > Alligator Reef (24N080W0001)",
  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Florida > Monroe County > Big Pine Key (24N081W0004)",
  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Florida > Monroe County > Key Largo (25N080W0010)",
  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Florida > Monroe County > Key West (25N080W0016)",
  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Florida > Monroe County > Looe Key Reef (24N081W0002)",
  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Florida > Monroe County > Marathon (24N081W0001)",
  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Florida > Monroe County > Molasses Reef (25N080W0003)",
  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Florida > Monroe County > Rodrigues Key (25N080W0025)",
  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Florida > Monroe County > Summerland Key (24N081W0005)",
  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Florida > Monroe County > Western Sambos (24N081W0014)",
  "OCEAN BASIN > Atlantic Ocean > North Atlantic Ocean > Florida",
  "OCEAN BASIN > Atlantic Ocean > North Atlantic Ocean > Florida Reef Tract > Lower Florida Keys > Key West (25N080W0016)",
  "OCEAN BASIN > Atlantic Ocean > North Atlantic Ocean > Florida Reef Tract > Lower Florida Keys > Marquesas Key (24N082W0002)",
  "OCEAN BASIN > Atlantic Ocean > North Atlantic Ocean > Florida Reef Tract > Lower Florida Keys > Summerland Key (24N081W0005)",
  "OCEAN BASIN > Atlantic Ocean > North Atlantic Ocean > Florida Reef Tract > Lower Florida Keys > Western Sambos (24N081W0014)",
  "OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN",
  "OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN > GULF OF AMERICA",
  "OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN > GULF OF MEXICO",
  "United States"
]
landingPage https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/contact
language 
[]
license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified 2016-03-03T00:00:00.000+00:00
publisher 
{
  "name": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
references 
[
  "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0143928/data/0-data/TR4_c.pdf"
]
rights otherRestrictions
spatial -80.2,24.25,-83.0,25.25
temporal 1991-12-01T00:00:00+00:00/1998-01-01T00:00:00+00:00
theme 
[
  "geospatial"
]
title Benthic Habitats of the Florida Keys derived from color aerial photography collected between 1991-12 and 1992-03 (NCEI Accession 0143928)

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