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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Habitat Characterization, Distribution, And Areal Extent Of Deep-Sea Coral Ecosystems Off Florida, Southeastern U.S.A., John K. Reed, Charles G. Messing, Brian K. Walker, Sandra Brooke, Thiago B.S. Correa, Myra Brouwer, Tina Udouj, Stephanie Farrington
Habitat Characterization, Distribution, And Areal Extent Of Deep-Sea Coral Ecosystems Off Florida, Southeastern U.S.A., John K. Reed, Charles G. Messing, Brian K. Walker, Sandra Brooke, Thiago B.S. Correa, Myra Brouwer, Tina Udouj, Stephanie Farrington
Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles
The deep-sea (200-1000 m) seafloor off the southeastern U.S. has a variety of extensive deep-sea coral ecosystem (DSCE) habitats including: deep-water coral mounds; various hard-bottom habitats off Florida including the Miami Terrace, Pourtales Terrace, and deep-water canyons (Agassiz and Tortugas Valleys); and deep island slopes off western Bahamas and northern Cuba. The dominant structure-forming scleractinian corals are Lophelia pertusa and Enallopsammia profunda; other structure-forming taxa include stylasterid corals, gorgonians, black corals, and sponges. This biota is associated with hard-bottom seafloor of variable high-relief topography which can be remotely identified from bathymetric data. NOAA bathymetric contour maps and digital elevation …
Interpretation Of Single-Beam Acoustic Backscatter Using Lidar-Derived Topographic Complexity And Benthic Habitat Classifications In A Coral Reef Environment, Greg Foster, Brian K. Walker, Bernhard Riegl
Interpretation Of Single-Beam Acoustic Backscatter Using Lidar-Derived Topographic Complexity And Benthic Habitat Classifications In A Coral Reef Environment, Greg Foster, Brian K. Walker, Bernhard Riegl
Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles
Producing thematic coral reef benthic habitat maps from single-beam acoustic backscatter has been hindered by uncertainties in interpreting the acoustic energy parameters E1 (tail of 1st echo) and E2 (complete 2nd echo), typically limiting such maps to sediment classification schemes. In this study, acoustic interpretation was guided by high-resolution lidar (LIght Detection And Ranging) bathymetry. Each acoustic record, acquired from a BioSonics DT-X echosounder and multiplexed 38 and 418 kHz transducers, was paired with a spatially-coincident value of a lidar-derived proxy for topographic complexity, reef-volume (RV), and its membership to one of eight benthic habitat classes, delineated from lidar imagery, …
Mapping Coral Reef Habitats In Southeast Florida Using A Combined Technique Approach, Brian K. Walker, Bernhard Riegl, Richard E. Dodge
Mapping Coral Reef Habitats In Southeast Florida Using A Combined Technique Approach, Brian K. Walker, Bernhard Riegl, Richard E. Dodge
Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles
To create maps of nearshore benthic habitats of Broward County, Florida, from 0 to 35 m depth, we combined laser bathymetry, acoustic ground discrimination, subbottom profiling, and aerial photography data in a geographic information system (GIS). A mosaic of interpolated, sun-shaded, laser bathymetry data served as the foundation upon which acoustic ground discrimination, limited subbottom profiling and aerial photography, and groundtruthing data aided in interpretation of habitats. Mapping criteria similar to NOAA biogeographic Caribbean mapping were used to allow for a comparable output. Expert-driven visual interpretation outlined geomorphological features at a scale of 1 : 6000 with a minimum mapping …