NOAA Office for Coastal Management Benthic Habitat Data, Willapa Bay, Washington, 1995 (NODC Accession 0089466)

These data are benthic study GIS shapefiles (.shp, .shx, .prj) with associated .dbf attribute tables and specific Federal Geographic Data Committee metadata. A generalized browse graphic was generated at the NODC and included with these data.

In June 1995, the Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce (CREST) acquired 295 true color aerial photographs (1:12,000) of Willapa Bay, Washington, from the State of Washington Department of Transportation (WDOT), suitable for the interpretation of submerged rooted aquatic vascular plant populations. In August 1995, field surveys were conducted by a team composed of staff from Oregon State University, CREST, and the Washington Department of Natural Resources, for spectral signature development and verification as well as habitat observation. The submerged plant populations were interpreted and mapped from the photographs and transferred onto State of Washington 1:12,000 Orthophoto maps (USGS 7.5 foot quadrangle).

The interpretations were digitized into a geographic information system (GIS) for the creation of a habitat polygon map. All interpretation, digitization and photography acquisition were according to stringent parameters detailed in the Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP) Protocol (NMFS Technical Document 123). Two datasets were used as ancillary information to complement the interpreted habitat polygons. In 1996, color aerial videography was obtained from WDOT for post mapping verification and accuracy assessments. Marine Resources Consultants, Inc. and the University of Washington collected videography from 29 underwater transects to verify the deep-water edge of selected seagrass beds in the southern portion of the bay. The date, time, geographic coordinates and depth were updated every 2 to 4 seconds and recorded directly on the videotape images. Latitude and longitude were provided by a differentially corrected global positioning system (GPS).

The initial presence/absence map of SAV produced by CREST was later segmented by depth to discriminate between two very different seagrass communities and support field accuracy assessment. Final field verification of the data by personnel from CREST and the NOAA Coastal Services Center (now the NOAA Office for Coastal Management) was conducted in the Summer of 1997. The benthic data is classified according to the System for Classification of Habitats in Estuarine and Marine Environments (SCHEME). This system is fully described in Development of a System for Classification of Habitats in Estuarine and Marine Environments (SCHEME) for Florida, Report to U.S. EPA - Gulf of Mexico Program, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida Marine Research Institute. Review Draft 12/04/02.

本数据集为底栖生物研究用地理信息系统（GIS）形状文件（.shp、.shx、.prj），附带关联的.dbf属性表以及特定的联邦地理数据委员会（Federal Geographic Data Committee, FGDC）元数据。国家海洋数据中心（National Oceanographic Data Center, NODC）生成了通用浏览图形并随本数据集一并提供。
1995年6月，哥伦比亚河河口研究工作组（Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce, CREST）从华盛顿州运输部（Washington Department of Transportation, WDOT）获取了华盛顿州威拉帕湾的295张1:12000真彩色航空影像，可用于沉水维管水生植物种群的解译工作。1995年8月，由俄勒冈州立大学、CREST以及华盛顿州自然资源部工作人员组成的团队开展了野外调查，用于光谱特征的提取与验证，同时开展生境观测。研究团队从航空影像中解译沉水植物种群并绘制分布图，随后将其转绘至华盛顿州1:12000正射影像地图（美国地质调查局7.5分幅地形图）。
上述解译结果被数字化导入地理信息系统（GIS），以生成生境多边形地图。所有解译、数字化工作以及影像获取流程均严格遵循《海岸变化分析项目（Coastal Change Analysis Program, C-CAP）规程》（美国国家海洋渔业局（National Marine Fisheries Service, NMFS）技术文档123）中详述的规范参数。本研究采用两套辅助数据集以补充解译得到的生境多边形数据。1996年，从WDOT获取了彩色航空视频影像，用于后续的成图验证与精度评估。此外，海洋资源咨询公司（Marine Resources Consultants, Inc.）与华盛顿大学针对威拉帕湾南部的部分海草床开展了29条水下样带的视频采集工作，以验证其深水边界。采集过程中，每2至4秒更新一次日期、时间、地理坐标与水深数据，并直接记录在视频影像上。经差分校正的全球定位系统（Global Positioning System, GPS）提供了经纬度坐标信息。
CREST最初生成的沉水水生植物（Submerged Aquatic Vegetation, SAV）有无分布图，后续通过水深数据进行分割，以区分两种差异显著的海草群落，并辅助开展野外精度评估。1997年夏季，CREST与美国国家海洋和大气管理局（National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA）海岸服务中心（现为NOAA海岸管理办公室）的工作人员对本数据集开展了最终野外验证。本底栖数据集按照《河口与海洋环境生境分类系统》（System for Classification of Habitats in Estuarine and Marine Environments, SCHEME）进行分类。该系统的详细说明见《佛罗里达河口与海洋环境生境分类系统开发报告》（提交给美国环境保护署（United States Environmental Protection Agency, EPA）墨西哥湾项目、佛罗里达鱼类与野生动物保护委员会、佛罗里达海洋研究所，2002年12月4日修订草案）。