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 2006-03-21 to 2006-04-02 (NCEI Accession 0131851)

The Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA) conducted the third year of an ongoing scientific research mission on board the NOAA ship NANCY FOSTER. The purpose of this cruise is to support the benthic characterization of coral reef habitat in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The mission explored, surveyed, and mapped moderate depth bathymetry (30 – 1000 meters) with the NANCY FOSTER’s Simrad EM1002 multibeam system for natural resource management and seafloor characterization. Multibeam bathymetry and backscatter was collected along with Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) underwater video. Priority areas for 2006 included the deep water portion of the Buck Island Reef National Monument north of St. Croix and the La Parguera region along the southwestern coast of Puerto Rico. Additional multibeam data was collected to merge with pre-existing shallow water bathymetry from previous CCMA cruises in the Buck Island vicinity.

海岸监测与评估中心（CCMA）在美国国家海洋和大气管理局（NOAA）“南希·福斯特”号（NANCY FOSTER）科考船上完成了一项持续进行的科学研究任务的第三年度航次。本次航次的核心目标是支撑美属维尔京群岛与波多黎各海域珊瑚礁栖息地的底栖生境表征工作。本任务依托“南希·福斯特”号搭载的西姆拉德EM1002（Simrad EM1002）多波束测深系统，对30至1000米的中等深度水深地形开展勘探、测量与制图，以服务于自然资源管理与海底特征表征工作。本次航次同步采集了多波束水深地形、反向散射数据，以及遥控水下机器人（ROV）的水下视频资料。2006年的优先调查区域包括圣克罗伊岛以北的巴克岛礁国家纪念区深水区，以及波多黎各西南沿海的拉帕尔格拉海域。此外，团队还额外采集了多波束数据，用于与此前CCMA航次在巴克岛周边获取的已有浅海水深地形数据进行融合。