NOAA Shallow-Water Benthic Habitats: Northwestern Hawaiian Islands: Pearl and Hermes


Benthic habitat maps for the nearshore, shallow (< 30 m) coastal waters of Pearl and Hermes Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) and the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) produced these data to support coral reef research and management. Habitat regions were digitally identified using visual interpretation of orthorectified satellite imagery with a minimum mapping unit (MMU) of approximately 100 square meters (1/40 acre). A slightly different benthic habitat classification scheme was used for the NWHI compared to the Main Hawaiian Islands (MHI) and other regions across the Pacific (e.g., American Samoa, Guam, and CNMI). While many classes are similar, they are not categorized as biological cover types, geomorphological structure types, and geographic zones. Instead, a hierarchical scheme was used to flexibly denote substrate category (e.g., unconsolidated and hardbottom), structure (e.g., linear reef or pavement), and cover (e.g., coral, coralline algae, or macroalgae). A total of 45 detailed benthic habitat classes were identified within the NWHI. For simplification and to more easily distinguish cover types, these are presented in a set of 7 aggregated benthic habitat classes including 5 hardbottom substrate classes (live coral, coralline algae, macroalgae, uncolonized, and unknown biological cover) and 2 unconsolidated substrate classes (macroalgae and uncolonized). Query an aggregated polygon to get the detailed benthic habitat classification at the clicked location.

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Distributor NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS)
Point of Contact NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS)
nccos.webcontent@noaa.gov
Online Resource
Originator NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS)
nccos.webcontent@noaa.gov
Online Resource
Publisher Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System (PacIOOS)
info@pacioos.org
Online Resource
Dataset Point of Contact Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System (PacIOOS)
info@pacioos.org
General Documentation
Associated Documentation Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System (PacIOOS)
Date(s) creation: 2017-11-22
issued: 2017-11-22
revision: 2017-11-22
creation: 2017-11-22
issued: 2017-11-22
revision: 2017-11-22
creation: 2017-11-22
issued: 2017-11-22
revision: 2017-11-22
creation: 2017-11-22
issued: 2017-11-22
revision: 2017-11-22
Purpose PacIOOS provides timely, reliable, and accurate ocean information to support a safe, clean, productive ocean and resilient coastal zone in the U.S. Pacific Islands region.
Use Limitations The data may be used and redistributed for free but is not intended for legal use, since it may contain inaccuracies. Neither the data Contributor, University of Hawaii, PacIOOS, NOAA, State of Hawaii nor the United States Government, nor any of their employees or contractors, makes any warranty, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, or assumes any legal liability for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness, of this information.
Spatial Bounding Box Coordinates N: 27.9805609765626° S: 27.7258555940461° E: -175.699912935349° W: -176.01187702408°
Theme keywords GCMD Science Keywords
  • Earth Science > Biological Classification > Plants > Angiosperms (Flowering Plants) > Monocots > Seagrass
  • Earth Science > Biosphere > Aquatic Ecosystems > Benthic Habitat
  • Earth Science > Biosphere > Vegetation
  • Earth Science > Land Surface > Geomorphology > Coastal Landforms/Processes
  • Earth Science > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs
  • Earth Science > Solid Earth > Geomorphic Landforms/Processes > Coastal Landforms > Coral Reefs
  • Earth Science > Solid Earth > Geomorphic Landforms/Processes > Coastal Landforms > Coral Reefs > Patch Reef

Data Center keywords GCMD Data Center Keywords
  • PacIOOS > Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System

Place keywords GCMD Location Keywords
  • Continent > North America > United States Of America > Hawaii
  • Ocean > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Hawaiian Islands > Northwestern Hawaiian Islands > Pearl and Hermes

Project keywords GCMD Project Keywords
  • PacIOOS > Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System

Use Constraints The data may be used and redistributed for free but is not intended for legal use, since it may contain inaccuracies. Neither the data Contributor, University of Hawaii, PacIOOS, NOAA, State of Hawaii nor the United States Government, nor any of their employees or contractors, makes any warranty, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, or assumes any legal liability for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness, of this information.
Lineage Statement 2017-11-22T00:00:00Z OGC web services (WMS and WFS) enabled by PacIOOS via GeoServer. Original data from source provider may have been reformatted, reprojected, or adjusted in other ways to optimize these capabilities.
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