Benthic Cover

Benthic cover (habitat) maps are derived from aerial imagery, underwater photos, acoustic surveys, and data gathered from sediment samples. Shallow to moderate-depth benthic habitat information assists ecosystem-based marine resource management. Many habitats, including hard and soft corals, are home to a diversity of marine organisms, which provide many important ecosystem services, including fishing, tourism, water quality enhancement, and shoreline protection. Coral reef ecosystems and associated bottom types are under increasing pressure from environmental and anthropogenic stressors. Mitigating these threats requires analyzing their spatial distribution, making benthic habitat mapping a key component to the conservation and management activities of state and federal agencies.

Data and Resources

Field Value
accessLevel public
accrualPeriodicity irregular
bureauCode {006:48}
catalog_@context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
catalog_conformsTo https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
catalog_describedBy https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
identifier Benthic Cover
language {en-US}
modified 2015-02-01
old-spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-178.384928, -14.56106], [146.071475, -14.56106], [146.071475, 28.460447], [-178.384928, 28.460447], [-178.384928, -14.56106]]]}
programCode {000:000}
publisher NOAA Office for Coastal Management (Point of Contact)
resource-type Dataset
source_datajson_identifier true
source_hash 79b3cf1cf5217db846aa6e4065a9c22d70d136c9
source_schema_version 1.1
spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-178.384928, -14.56106], [146.071475, -14.56106], [146.071475, 28.460447], [-178.384928, 28.460447], [-178.384928, -14.56106]]]}
Groups
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • National Provider
  • North America
Tags
  • amerigeo
  • amerigeoss
  • benthic-habitat
  • biotic
  • ckan
  • corals
  • florida
  • geo
  • geoss
  • hawaii
  • marine-cadastre
  • marine-spatial-planning
  • marine-wildlife
  • national
  • north-america
  • pacific-territories
  • puerto-rico
  • reef
  • renewable-energy
  • substrate
  • united-states
  • virgin-islands
  • zone
isopen False
license_id notspecified
license_title License not specified
maintainer MarineCadastre.gov Data Steward
maintainer_email coastal.info@noaa.gov
metadata_created 2025-11-21T10:18:25.541656
metadata_modified 2025-11-21T10:18:25.541661
notes Benthic cover (habitat) maps are derived from aerial imagery, underwater photos, acoustic surveys, and data gathered from sediment samples. Shallow to moderate-depth benthic habitat information assists ecosystem-based marine resource management. Many habitats, including hard and soft corals, are home to a diversity of marine organisms, which provide many important ecosystem services, including fishing, tourism, water quality enhancement, and shoreline protection. Coral reef ecosystems and associated bottom types are under increasing pressure from environmental and anthropogenic stressors. Mitigating these threats requires analyzing their spatial distribution, making benthic habitat mapping a key component to the conservation and management activities of state and federal agencies.
num_resources 14
num_tags 23
title Benthic Cover