Water depth and acoustic backscatter data collected from Nancy Foster in Caribbean Sea, Buck Island Reef and Virgin Islands National Coral Reef Monuments, U.S. Virgin Islands from 2004-02-18 to 2004-03-05 (NCEI Accession 0131850)

The Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA) conducted the first year of an ongoing scientific research mission on board the NOAA ship Nancy Foster. The purpose of this cruise was to support the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s research on the characterization of near shore and deepwater habitats (<1000m) of Buck Island Reef and Virgin Islands National Coral Reef Monuments. Data from the mission was used to produce maps of the seafloor topography, delineate the various seafloor habitats, and collect data to assist in the development of models to predict fish species utilization and populations. In addition the data collected will be used to update nautical charts covering the U.S. Virgin Islands.

海岸监测与评估中心（Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment，CCMA）在美国国家海洋和大气管理局（National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration，NOAA）“南希·福斯特”号科考船上完成了一项持续性科研任务的首年度工作。本次航次的核心目标是支撑美国国家海洋和大气管理局针对巴克岛礁（Buck Island Reef）与维尔京群岛国家珊瑚礁纪念地（Virgin Islands National Coral Reef Monuments）的近岸及水深小于1000米的深水生境开展特征描述相关研究。本次任务采集的数据将被用于绘制海底地形图、划定各类海底生境分布范围，并辅助开发用于预测鱼类物种利用模式与种群规模的模型。此外，所采集的数据还将用于更新覆盖美属维尔京群岛的航海图。