Republic of Palau
For more information about the project or additional project publications, visit the Research Project Page
This project began in January 2004 and was completed in December 2007. We developed benthic habitat maps for shallow (<30 meters) areas around the main islands of the Republic of Palau to help local managers and researchers develop reef fish management strategies, optimize biological monitoring sampling design, and develop place-based action strategies to address key issues and remedy specific threats to coral reefs. For more information about this projects data contact Tim Battista or John Christensen.
Reports
Data, Maps and Imagery
Benthic Habitat Maps for Republic of Palau.
Image Mosaics: Georeferencing/mosaicking of the imagery was performed using PCI OrthoEngine module. The NITF IKONOS imagery was orthorectified using the Rational Functions extracted from the NITF, then further supplemented with ground control collected via survey grade GPS and corrected for terrain displacement using the DEM's where available.
Shapefiles: A digital vector shoreline (land/water interface) was manually digitized from the one-meter pansharpened multispectral IKONOS imagery to provide accurate, up-to-date shoreline data. Those areas of the coastline that were obscured by cloud cover were derived from United States Geological Survey (USGS) Digital Raster Graphics (DRGs).
Ground Validation Points:
Accuracy Assessment Points: An accuracy assessment system was designed and executed to quantify the thematic accuracy of the maps generated at all levels of the classification scheme. In this work, a minimum of 25 field habitat observations were completed per detailed structure as well as detailed biological cover type.
DISCLAIMER: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Biogeography Branch does not guarantee the accuracy of the geographic features or attributes. Please see the metadata records for each data set for complete information on the source, limitations, and proper use.
Note: The shapefiles and image mosaics are projected into the Universal Transverse Mercator System (UTM Zone 53N, NAD83, meters).