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Benthic Surveys in Vatia, American Samoa: benthic images collected during belt transect surveys from 2020-01-23 to 2020-01-29 (NCEI Accession 0259494)

Published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Catalog Last Checked: August 03, 2026 at 04:12 AM | Dataset Last Updated: September 23, 2022 at 12:00 AM
This data package includes the source imagery of a benthic cover analysis for surveys performed in 2020 by the NOAA Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) in Vatia, American Samoa. The imagery described here was collected during belt transect surveys of coral demography by the ESD according to protocols established by the NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP). In 2020 the survey implemented a one-stage stratified random sampling (StRS) design. Thirty images were collected at 24 stratified randomly selected sites in Vatia Bay. The survey domain encompassed the majority of the mapped area of reef and hard bottom habitats in the 0–30 m depth range. The stratification scheme included cardinal position (i.e., north and south) and depth (i.e., shallow: >0–6 m and mid-depth: >6–18 m). Sampling effort allocation was determined based on strata area and sites randomly located within strata. The StRS design effectively reduces estimate variance through stratification using environmental covariates and by sampling more sites rather than more transects per site. Therefore, site-to-site comparisons should proceed with caution.

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