SCR_Aerial_PointConception_1999_2012_KelpPersistence

These raster and vector datasets were developed for the Sea Grant South Coast MPA Baseline Program as part of the project “Nearshore Substrate Mapping and Change Analysis using Historical and Concurrent Multispectral Imagery” (#R/MPA 30 10-049). The study region is the South Coast Region (SCR). Kelp thematic maps from 1999-2012 were used for this product. Ocean Imaging acquired the imagery and classification data used for this analysis from its own Digital Multispectral Camera (DMSC), the Microsoft UltraCam-X aerial camera system and from kelp habitat classifications archived by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). Details on this systems and the data processing are below in the Lineage section of this document. The persistence analyses show the persistence of kelp beds in the SCR and MPAs as a percentage of the number of years analyzed. The coverage area is from Conception, CA south to Imperial Beach, CA. The GIS analysis product files are deliverd are in GeoTIFF (.tif) and ESRI Shapefile formats as well as Adobe Acrobat PDF files. This raster dataset contains a persistence analysis of giant kelp beds along the California South Coast Region (SCR) from from Point Conception, CA down to Imperial beach, CA. This specific raster classification includes the Point Conception SMR and Kashtayit SMCA.