Structure from Motion (SfM) Coral Vital Rates Annotations derived from Fixed Site Imagery across the U.S. Pacific since 2014

The data described here are coral planar area measurements derived from the analysis of benthic photomosaic imagery collected at fixed sites across Pacific Island regions since 2014. The source imagery was collected using a Structure from Motion (SfM) approach during in-water surveys conducted by divers. Imagery archival is documented separately here: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/63091.  All sites were surveyed at least twice and image collection intervals ranged from a few minutes (for error estimation) to 5 years apart. In situ surveys, post-processing, and analysis were funded by NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) and Ocean Acidification Program (OAP). Data collection was conducted by the NOAA Fisheries, Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD). 

Survey sites consisted of sites previously established by collaborators from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, starting as far back as 2014, and new sites established in 2019 by NOAA ESD. During each survey, physical markings which identify each permanent survey site were either established or found using GPS coordinates previously collected. During image collection, the diver swam at a constant distance from the bottom of the reef while continuously capturing overlapping photographs, capturing approximately 100 m2 of reef habitat. 3D dense point clouds (DPCs) and 2D orthorectified images (orthoprojections) derived from these photographs were used to  to measure changes in coral vital rates (e.g. recruitment, mortality, growth) over time. 

Due to the labor-intensive and time-consuming nature of coral annotation, we used a randomized sub-sampling strategy that provided enough colony-level data across a wide range of size classes to fit robust demographic models. Each site was sub-sampled by randomly distributing a minimum of 10 0.5 m2 quadrats throughout each orthoprojection. All corals whose centroid fell within the quadrat were annotated until a sufficient number of corals were annotated (n >/= 30 for each target coral species). The target taxa species vary by region and include Acropora, Montipora, Pocillopora, Porites. 

In total, this dataset includes planar area and associated vital rates measurements for 5 coral species in 2 genera (Pocillopora and Porites) at 14 sites throughout the Hawaiian Archipelago, 3 genera (Pocillopora, Porites and Acropora) at 10 sites throughout the Mariana Archipelago and 4 genera (Pocillopora, Porites, Acropora and Montipora) at 11 sites across American Samoa and Pacific Remote Islands and Atolls (PRIAs).

Tags: (14s170w0042) country/territory, 31360, agisoft metashape, american samoa, american samoa (14s170w0000), aquatic habitat, arcgis, asuncion island, asuncion island (19n145e0001), baker island, baker island (00n176w0001, baker island (00n176w0001), benthic, benthic habitat, biosphere, central pacific ocean, cnmi, coastal processes, coastal waters of hawaii, commonwealth of the northern marianas islands, coral, coral - colony size, coral - species identification, coral communities, coral growth, coral reef, coral reef conservation program, coral reef ecosystem division, coral reef ecosystem program, coral reef studies, coral reefs, corals, country/territory, cred, crep, derived products, doc/noaa/nmfs/pifsc, doc/noaa/nmfs/pifsc/esd, earth science, ecosystem sciences division, ecosystems, equatorial pacific ocean, esd, fagasa bay (14s170w0014), fagatele bay (14s170w0002), guam, guam (13n144e0000), hawaii, hawaii (21n160w0000, hawaii island (19n155w0003), hawaiian islands, hawaiian islands (21n157w0027), hi'ialakai, honolulu, howland island, howland island (00s176w0001), kure atoll (28n178w0001), main hawaiian islands, manu'a islands (14s170w0038), mariana archipelago, marianas, marine biology, marine ecosystems, maug, maug island, maug island (20n145e0001), maui, maui island, maui island (20n156w0004), mhi, micronesia, national marine fisheries service, ncrmp, nmfs, noaa, noaa coral reef conservation program, north pacific ocean, northern mariana islands, northern mariana islands ( cnmi ) (18n146e0000), northwestern hawaiian islands, northwestern hawaiian islands (28n178w0000), numeric data sets, nw pacific, nwhi, oahu (21n157w0003), oahu island, ocean, ocean acidification program, ocean basin, oceans, ofu (14s169w0002), ofu island, ofu island (14s169w0013), olosega (14s169w0016), olosega island, olosega island (14s169w0014), oscar elton sette, pacific islands fisheries science center, pacific ocean, pacific remote island area, pacific remote islands marine national monument, pagan, pagan island, pagan island (18n145e0001), papahanaumokuakea marine national monument, papahãânaumokuãâkea marine national monument, pearl and hermes reef (27n176w0001), photograph, photographic analysis, pifsc, pmnm, pria, primnm, rainier, ramp, reef, reef assessment and monitoring program, reef monitoring and assessment, rose atoll (14s168w0001), rose atoll marine national monument, saipan, saipan island, saipan island (15n145e0002), scale, scleractinia (stony corals), scripps institution of oceanography, sfm, south pacific ocean, structure from motion, ta'u (14s169w0015), ta'u island, taglab, tutuila island, tutuila island (14s170w0016), u.s. department of commerce, united states minor outlying islands, united states of america, us doc, usa minor outlying islands, viscore, western pacific ocean, zoology
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce