Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Skip to content

National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Benthic Images Collected from Stratified Random Sites (StRS) across the Pacific Remote Island Areas since 2014

Metadata Updated: October 19, 2024

The data described here are benthic habitat imagery that result from benthic photo-quadrat surveys conducted along transects at stratified random sites across the Pacific Remote Island Areas (PRIA) since 2014 as a part of Rapid Ecological Assessment (REA) surveys for corals and fish.

A stratified random sampling (StRS) design was employed to survey the coral reef ecosystems across the region. 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 island, reef zone, and depth. Sampling effort was allocated based on strata area and sites were randomly located within strata. Sites were surveyed using photo-quadrats along transects to collect benthic imagery to ultimately produce estimates of relative abundance (benthic cover), frequency of occurrence, benthic community taxonomic composition and relative generic richness.

The StRS design effectively reduces estimate variance through stratification using environmental covariates and by sampling more sites rather than sampling more transects at a site. Therefore, site-level estimates and site to site comparisons should be used with caution.

Access & Use Information

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.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Date October 3, 2024
Metadata Created Date October 19, 2024
Metadata Updated Date October 19, 2024
Reference Date(s) 2016-12 (creation), 2023-11 (revision), 2024-03 (publication)
Frequency Of Update asNeeded

Metadata Source

Harvested from NMFS PIFSC

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Date October 3, 2024
Metadata Created Date October 19, 2024
Metadata Updated Date October 19, 2024
Reference Date(s) 2016-12 (creation), 2023-11 (revision), 2024-03 (publication)
Responsible Party (Point of Contact, Custodian)
Contact Email
Guid gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:36154
Access Constraints Cite As: Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, [Date of Access]: National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Benthic Images Collected from Stratified Random Sites (StRS) across the Pacific Remote Island Areas since 2014 [Data Date Range], https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/36154., Access Constraints: None, Use Constraints: Please cite PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) when using the data. Example: Ecosystem Sciences Division; Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (2023). National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Benthic Images from Stratified Random Sites (StRS) across the Pacific Remote Island Areas since 2014. NOAA's National Center for Environmental Information, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/36154, Distribution Liability: While every effort has been made to ensure that these data are accurate and reliable within the limits of the current state of the art, NOAA cannot assume liability for any damages caused by errors or omissions in the data, nor as a result of the failure of the data to function on a particular system. NOAA makes no warranty, expressed or implied, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty.
Bbox East Long -159.971695
Bbox North Lat 16.780927
Bbox South Lat -0.382607
Bbox West Long -176.6267816
Coupled Resource
Frequency Of Update asNeeded
Harvest Object Id 87ad1e8b-e49e-420f-a81d-d415b04c3112
Harvest Source Id c0beac72-5f43-4455-8c33-1b345fbc2dfe
Harvest Source Title NMFS PIFSC
Licence NOAA provides no warranty, nor accepts any liability occurring from any incomplete, incorrect, or misleading data, or from any incorrect, incomplete, or misleading use of the data. It is the responsibility of the user to determine whether or not the data is suitable for the intended purpose.
Lineage The stratified random sampling (StRS) design and benthic photoquadrat survey methodology, employed by the PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) since 2013. Benthic imagery is collected at stratified random sites. These photos are color-corrected (if necessary) prior to analysis. The data management team also uses a optical validation script to re-name photos and enforce several validation checks.
Metadata Language eng
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-176.6267816, -0.382607], [-159.971695, -0.382607], [-159.971695, 16.780927], [-176.6267816, 16.780927], [-176.6267816, -0.382607]]]}
Progress onGoing
Spatial Data Service Type
Spatial Reference System
Spatial Harvester True
Temporal Extent Begin 2014-03-16
Temporal Extent End 2014-03-20

Didn't find what you're looking for? Suggest a dataset here.