Data and Reports

Explore our library of NCCOS Technical Memos and various data sets. Filter by the type of publication, research category, region or contact. To access data and reports predating 2017, please visit the Legacy Publications Explorer.

Assessment of dredged material created habitat in the South Atlantic Bight - Fernandina Beach Ocean Dredged Material Disposal Site (ODMDS)

The National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) collaborated with EPA Region 4 Water Protection Division of Coastal and Marine Resources and Wetland Enforcement Section to assess Ocean Dredge Material Dump Sites (ODMDS) as essential fish habitat off the coast of Fernandina Beach, FL. The objectives of this project were ...

Assessment of Ecological Condition and Potential Stressor Impacts in Offshore Areas of Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary

In June 2015, the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science conducted an assessment of the status of ecological condition of unconsolidated, soft-bottom habitat and overlying waters at 30 sites from 11 – 99 m depth in targeted shelf areas of Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS). All sampling was ...

Assessment of ecological condition and stressor impacts within Great Lakes rivers and harbors: Milwaukee estuary, Wisconsin

The Great Lakes, the largest surface freshwater resource in the world, has long been recognized for its valuable natural resources and services vital to the wellbeing of our nation. In 2012 a probabilistic sampling component was included under an expanded version of NOAA's National Status and Trends/Mussel Watch Program in ...

Assessment of Existing Information on Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitats: Development of a web-based spatial bibliography, query tools, and data summaries

The primary objective of this project, "the Assessment of Existing Information on Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat", is to inform conservation planning for the Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat Partnership (ACFHP). ACFHP is recognized as a Partnership by the National Fish Habitat Action Plan (NFHAP), whose overall mission is to protect, restore, ...

Assessment of Hydrocarbon Carryover Potential for Six Field Cleaning Protocols

Sample collection in the field faces many challenges including, but not limited to, the equipment and materials that can be brought safely into the field. Field teams will often reuse sample collection gear by cleaning it between sampling sites to prevent cross-contamination. Decontamination protocols for equipment used to collect samples ...

Assessment of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α mRNA expression in mantis shrimp as a biomarker of environmental hypoxia exposure

Efforts to assess the ecological impacts of the marked increase in coastal hypoxia worldwide have been hampered by a lack of biomarkers of hypoxia exposure in marine benthic organisms. Here, we show that hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) transcript levels in the heart and cerebral ganglion of mantis shrimp (Oratosquilla oratoria) collected ...

Assessment of the efficacy of six field cleaning protocols for hydrocarbon quantification

The defensibility of field sampling data collected in support of natural resource damage assessments and other environmental investigations depends on rigorous quality assurance and control both in the field and laboratory. One important step in field procedures is the cleaning of sampling equipment between samples to minimize the carryover of ...

Asynchronous vertical migration and bimodal distribution of motile phytoplankton

Some motile phytoplankton have the capability to exploit deep sources of nutrients in a vertical migration cycle: photosynthesis in the near-surface layer, transit to depth, uptake of the limiting nutrient and transit back to the surface layer. If all four steps can be completed within 24 h, then migrations can ...

Atmospheric Nutrient Input to Coastal Areas - Reducing the Uncertainties

To address the need for an objective methodology to assess the importance of the atmospheric input to coastal regions, the ARLIAtmospheric Nutrient Input To Coastal Areas (ANICA) program was developed through the NOAA Coastal Ocean Program. During the four-year lifetime of ANICA, methods for assessing the role of atmospheric nitrogen ...

Azooxanthellate? Most Hawaiian black corals contain Symbiodinium

The ecological success of shallow-water reef-building corals (Hexacorallia: Scleractinia) is framed by their intimate endosymbiosis with photosynthetic dinoflagellates in the genus Symbiodinium (zooxanthellae). In contrast, the closely related black corals (Hexacorallia: Anthipatharia) are described as azooxanthellate (lacking Symbiodinium), a trait thought to reflect their preference for low-light environments that do ...

Baseline assessment of Faga'alu Watershed: a ridge to reef assessment in support of sediment reduction activities and future evaluation of their success

The primary purpose of this document is to provide local and federal partners with baseline information and survey methods to allow for continued monitoring efforts to evaluate the effectiveness of management actions taken at the Samoa Maritime quarry in Faga'alu, American Samoa. This document summarizes work completed between 2012 and ...

Baseline characterization of benthic and coral communities of the Flower Garden Banks, Texas from 2010-05-01 to 2012-08-31 (NODC Accession 0124257)

This study utilized ROV photograph transects to quantify benthic habitat and coral communities among the five habitat types (algal nodule, coralline algal reefs, deep reefs and soft bottom) identified in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS). ROV surveys were conducted in the mid and lower mesophotic zone of ...

Bathymetry and acoustic backscatter collected in Long Island Sound for the Phase I Long Island Sound Seafloor Mapping Project 2014 (NCEI Accession 0167946)

This dataset contains an integrated GeoTiff with 1x1 meter cell size representing the 2014 Long Island Sound Benthic Habitat Priority Area of Interest between Brigeport, CT and Port Jefferson, NY. This integrated bathymetric raster is a mosaic of surveys from NOAA Ship S-222 NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson and its two ...

Bathymetry and acoustic backscatter data collected in Long Island Sound for the Phase III Long Island Sound Seafloor Mapping Project 2015 (NCEI Accession 0167532)

This dataset contains multibeam bathymetry, uncertainty, and backscatter GeoTiffs with 1x1 meter cell size represent water depth and acoustic intensity of the seafloor from the Phase III Long Island Sound Benthic Habitat Priority Areas of Interest in the Long Island Sound. These datasets were surveyed by NOAA Ship Nancy Foster ...

Bathymetry, acoustic backscatter, and LiDAR data collected in Long Island Sound for the Phase II Long Island Sound Seafloor Mapping Project 2015 (NCEI Accession 0167531)

This dataset contains multibeam bathymetry, uncertainty, and backscatter, and LiDAR bathymetry andreflectance. These GeoTiffs with 1x1 meter cell size represent water depth and acoustic intensity of the seafloor from the Phase II Long Island Sound Benthic Habitat Priority Areas of Interest in the Long Island Sound. These datasets were surveyed ...

Benthic and biological data in the New York Bight from 2010-06-01 to 2012-05-31 (NCEI Accession 0128996)

These data sets show the distribution of key species and habitats, such as seabirds, bathymetry, surficial sediments, deep sea corals, and oceanographic habitats. NOAA?s Biogeography Branch worked with the New York Department of State (DOS) to interpret existing ecological information and create these new data sets. New York plans to ...

Benthic Characterization of Deep-Water Habitat in the Newly Expanded Areas of Cordell Bank and Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuaries

A large area of the seafloor off northern California lies within the US National Marine Sanctuary System, but very little of the habitat has been explored and even less is characterized using visual survey techniques, especially deep-water habitats. Benthic surveys using a Phantom HD2 remotely operated vehicle (ROV) were conducted ...

Benthic habitat and fish community assessment, Flower Garden Banks, Texas, 2009-2011 (NODC Accession 0104344)

The Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) represents the northernmost tropical western Atlantic coral reef on the continental shelf and supports the most highly developed offshore hard bank community in the region. This work was conducted to develop baseline information on fish and benthic communities within the FGBNMS. Surveys ...

Benthic habitat and fish community assessment, La Parguera and Guanica, Puerto Rico, 2011-2012 (NODC Accession 0104343)

These data were collected in order to 1) To spatially characterize and monitor the distribution, abundance, and size of both reef fishes and macro-invertebrates (conch, lobster, Diadema); 2) To relate this information to in-situ data collected on associated benthic composition parameters; 3) To use this information to establish the knowledge ...

Benthic habitat and fish community assessment, U.S. Virgin Islands, 2011-2012 (NODC Accession 0088018)

These data were collected 2011-2012 from select locations on St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John (U.S. VI) in order to 1) to spatially characterize and monitor the distribution, abundance, and size of both reef fishes and macro-invertebrates (conch, lobster, Diadema); 2) to relate this information to in situ data ...

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