Coastal Services Center

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Overview of SEAMAP survey zones in the South Atlantic

Multi-spectral image of exposed oyster beds at low tide

Resource Mapping

Habitat Classification Standards
Many management actions by NOAA and its local, state, federal, and international partners are hindered by the absence of a consistent framework for classifying benthic and water-column habitats. Since maps with different ecological resolutions are needed for a wide variety of management and scientific purposes, this framework is needed to systematically relate the existing classification systems. NOAA has taken a critical first step towards this vision by working with NatureServe and others to develop A Coastal/Marine Ecological Classification Standard (PDF, 4MB). This standard is currently being tested by NOAA partners, and information technology needed to support the standard, such as relational databases and geographic information systems, is being planned. Ideally, this framework (or standard) will function as a "Rosetta stone", enabling translation of existing classification systems into a common format. This standard could also be used as a classification system, but its real value and purpose will be to enable compilations and comparisons of data, while preserving specific maps of benthic habitats needed by local users. For more information, contact Becky.Allee@noaa.gov.

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Resource Mapping

Apalachicola Bay Oyster, Sediment, and Bathymetric Mapping
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal and Marine Geology Program, the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve, and the NOAA Coastal Services Center are working together over the next two years to map oysters, geology, and bathymetry within Apalachicola Bay . This mapping effort will integrate side-scan sonar, interferometric swath bathymetry, and seismic reflection acoustic techniques with video imagery and traditional sampling. Fieldwork will occur in spring 2005 and spring 2006. These data sets will fill the local resource management community's need for comprehensive and up-to-date oyster and sediment maps, as well as bathymetric data, for resource management decision making. For more information, please contact Bill.Stevenson@noaa.gov.

South Carolina Oyster Mapping
Approximately 1,500 square miles of digital multispectral aerial imagery is being collected for the purpose of mapping South Carolina's intertidal oyster beds. This acquisition is a follow-on to pilot work conducted by the Center to address a need by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources' (DNR) Marine Resources Research Institute for an updated oyster reef database. This imagery is currently being collected at 0.25-meter resolution by PhotoScience under extremely tight flight windows constrained by lunar low tides and sun angles greater than 45 degrees above the horizon. In addition to South Carolina's DNR, the state's Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management and several local government offices are excited to utilize the tide-coordinated imagery for permitting purposes. For more information, please contact Mark.Finkbeiner@noaa.gov.

Texas Coastal Bend Benthic Mapping Project
NOAA is working with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas A&M University Center for Coastal Studies to support the statewide seagrass monitoring program. Existing digital camera (ADS 40) imagery, originally collected for the National Agriculture Imagery Program, is being used to create benthic habitat maps. The mapping process will use semi-automated methods and will be completed by private industry. The seagrass monitoring program in Texas will use these benthic maps to help locate, monitor, and protect seagrass beds. The first phase of this project covers Corpus Christi Bay, Redfish Bay, Upper Laguna Madre, Baffin Bay, and Aransas and Copano Bays (which include the newest National Estuarine Research Reserve) and is expected to be complete in late 2006. For more information, contact Bill.Stevenson@noaa.gov

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