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Looe Key, Florida, 1938-2004 Seafloor Elevation Stability Models, Maps, and Tables

Metadata Updated: January 8, 2026

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (SPCMSC) conducted research to identify areas of seafloor elevation stability and instability based on elevation changes between the years of 1938 and 2004 at Looe Key coral reef near Big Pine Key, Florida (FL), within a 19.06 square-kilometer area. USGS SPCMSC staff used seafloor elevation-change data from Yates and others (2017a) derived from an elevation-change analysis between two elevation datasets acquired in 1938 and 2004 using the methods of Yates and others (2017b). A seafloor stability threshold was determined for the 1938-2004 Looe Key elevation-change dataset based on the vertical uncertainty of the 1938 historical hydrographic survey and 2004 digital elevation model (DEM). Five stability categories (which include, Stable: 0.0 meters (m) to ±0.24 m or 0.0 m to ±0.49 m; Moderately stable: ±0.25 m to ±0.49 m; Moderately unstable: ±0.50 m to ±0.74 m; Mostly unstable: ±0.75 m to ±0.99 m; and Unstable: ±1.00 m to Max/Min elevation change) were created and used to define levels of stability and instability for each elevation-change value (1,687 data points) based on the amount of erosion and accretion during the 1938 to 2004 time period. Seafloor-stability point and triangulated irregular network (TIN) surface models were created at five different elevation-change data resolutions (1st order through 5th order) with each resolution becoming increasingly more detailed. The stability models were used to determine the level of seafloor stability at potential areas of interest for coral restoration and ten habitat types found at Looe Key. Stability surface (TIN) models were used for areas defined by specific XY geographic points, while stability point models were used for areas defined by bounding box coordinate locations. This data release includes ArcGIS map packages containing the binned and color-coded stability point and surface (TIN) models, potential coral restoration locations, and habitat files; maps of each stability model; and data tables containing stability and elevation-change data for the potential coral restoration locations and habitat types. Data were collected under Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary permit FKNMS-2016-068. Coral restoration locations were provided by Mote Marine Laboratory under Special Activity License SAL-18-1724-SCRP.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date January 8, 2026
Metadata Updated Date January 8, 2026

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date January 8, 2026
Metadata Updated Date January 8, 2026
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/USGS_bb8fa046-733c-468d-a468-ec2b2f61600c
Data Last Modified 2021-05-21T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id 3cf2a3f5-98f6-4be9-a43d-a720e9963c85
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -81.439654, 24.536139, -81.367945, 24.590723
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 3e61dcc8198791f064706151d1e2164d29e682ee27abe616b7e3df885a7a6d1a
Source Schema Version 1.1
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