Structure from Motion (SfM) benthic images collected from Fixed Sites across the U.S. Pacific since 2019

The photographs described in this dataset were collected using a Structure from Motion (SfM) approach during in-water surveys throughout the U.S. Pacific since 2019. Surveys were funded by NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) and conducted by the NOAA Fisheries, Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD). Survey sites consisted of sites previously established by collaborators from Scripps Institution of Oceanography and new sites established in 2019 by NOAA ESD. All sites ranged from 9-16 meters in depth and surveys covered approximately 100 m2 of reef habitat. Sites were photographed by divers swimming approximately 1 m off the seafloor with high overlap between images to produce SfM products. The data extracted from this imagery provides information on juvenile and adult taxonomic identification, abundance, planar area, and can be used to track the fate of individual coral colonies over time.

Imagery collected prior to 2019 can be accessed via the UC Library 100 Island Challenge Collection (https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/collection/bb1610330b). 

Methods used to collect & process raw imagery are detailed here: https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/22753

This metadata record also provides links to available SfM imagery collected at fixed sites established to assess bleaching impact and recovery in the Main Hawaiian Islands from 2019 - 2021, including the combined effort of DAR, Scripps, and the ESD. In 2019, Lana'i, O'ahu, and Hawai'i were visited by the ESD; In 2020 O'ahu was revisited by the ESD. In 2021, Hawai'i imagery was collected by DAR, and O'ahu imagery was collected by the ESD. In 2021 Lana'i imagery was collected by SIO and used a slightly different method of using 'tiles' rather than 'markers' in the imagery and will therefore be accessible separately via Google Cloud bucket.

Tags: aquatic habitat, benthic, benthic habitat, biosphere, camera, cameras, central pacific ocean, cnmi, coastal processes, commonwealth of the northern marianas islands, coral bleaching, coral communities, coral growth, coral reef, coral reef assessment, coral reef ecosystem division, coral reef ecosystem program, coral reef studies, coral reefs, corals, country/territory, cred, crep, doc/noaa/nmfs/pifsc, doc/noaa/nmfs/pifsc/esd, earth science, ecosystem sciences division, ecosystems, esd, guam, guam (13n144e0000), habitats, hawaii, hawaii (21n160w0000, hawaii island, hawaii island (19n155w0003), hawaiian islands, hawaiian islands (21n157w0027), hi'ialakai, honolulu, images, in situ, kure atoll (28n178w0001), lanai, main hawaiian islands, mariana archipelago, marianas trench marine national monument, marine biology, marine ecosystems, maug, maug island, maug island (20n145e0001), maui, maui island, maui island (20n156w0004), mhi, micronesia, national marine fisheries service, nmfs, noaa, north pacific ocean, northern mariana islands, northern mariana islands ( cnmi ) (18n146e0000), northwestern hawaiian islands, northwestern hawaiian islands (28n178w0000), nw pacific, nwhi, oahu, oahu (21n157w0003), oahu island, ocean, ocean acidification program, ocean basin, oceans, oscar elton sette, pacific islands fisheries science center, pacific ocean, pagan, pagan island, pagan island (18n145e0001), papahanaumokuakea marine national monument, pearl and hermes reef (27n176w0001), photograph, photographic analysis, pifsc, ramp, reef, reef assessment and monitoring program, reef monitoring and assessment, saipan, saipan island, saipan island (15n145e0002), scale, scleractinia (stony corals), scripps institution of oceanography, sfm, structure from motion, territory, u.s. department of commerce, united states of america, us doc, viscore, visual images, western pacific ocean, zoology
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce