Spatial information on the arrangement of geological features, habitats and living marine resources on the seabed are often the foundation for decision-making in ecosystem management and ocean planning. Collecting information on the seabed depths and geomorphology is an expensive operation requiring airborne platforms like satellites, planes or drones, or small vessels to large research ships. Coordinating these data needs and data collection efforts will better leverage collective resources and meet shared goals. To help enable this coordination, in 2020 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) developed a spatial framework, process, and online application to identify common data collection priorities for seafloor mapping, sampling, and visual surveys along shore and offshore of the Southeast United States (North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia).

Twenty-five representatives from federal and state agencies, academic institutions, and non-governmental conservation groups, designated seafloor mapping priorities using an online prioritization tool. Participants allocated virtual coins across 5 km x 5 km grid cells to denote their organization’s regions of seafloor mapping needs. Grid cells with more coins were higher priorities than cells with fewer coins. Participants also reported why these locations were important and what data types were needed. Results were analyzed and mapped using statistical techniques to identify significant relationships between priorities, reasons for those priorities and data needs. These data are the summarized results from this project and can also be viewed in an online web map (https://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=04cdd2a68c4f427f893f2042f326dc80).

Several common areas of interest were identified in the spatially explicit analysis of the responses. Nearshore surfzone along Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina were highlighted by several agencies and organizations interested in sediment and sand resources as well as potential for rocky reef habitats. Inshore estuarine areas were highlighted by state agencies and conservation groups interested in monitoring change in managed areas like National Estuarine Reserves. On the outer continental shelf, areas near Blake Plateau off South Carolina and the continental shelf break off North Carolina were identified by federal agencies and conservation organizations as areas of sensitive habitats or historically significantly shipwrecks and maritime resources.

The seafloor mapping prioritization approach described in the Buckel et al. (2021) report associated with these data provides recommendations to organizations charged with mapping the seabed for navigation and commerce as well as resource assessments and management. Already, the priority areas identified in this exercise are being used by NOAA to focus planned seafloor mapping missions. Furthermore, the outcomes from this regional exercise contribute into a National Mapping Prioritization under the lead of NOAA to coordinate mapping activities across the entire US EEZ. Together, these quantitative seafloor mapping prioritization approaches will enable improved coordination and more efficient allocation of resources needed to conduct seafloor mapping providing data to support environmental stewardship, safe navigation and commerce.