gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:65526 eng UTF8 dataset National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science resourceProvider NCCOS Scientific Data Coordinator NCCOS.data@noaa.gov pointOfContact 2026-03-04T19:17:17 ISO 19115-2 Geographic Information - Metadata Part 2 Extensions for imagery and gridded data ISO 19115-2:2009(E) NOAA NCCOS Assessment: Prioritizing Areas for Future Seafloor Mapping and Exploration in the U.S. Caribbean from 2019-06-28 to 2019-07-28 NCCOS Dataset: US Caribbean Prioritization 2019 creation 2021 publication NOAA/NMFS/EDM 65526 https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3909728 https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/65526 WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link Full Metadata Record View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset. information Kraus, Jennifer jennifer.kraus@noaa.gov Principal Investigator: • LTJG Jennifer Kraus, Jennifer.kraus@noaa.gov, US DOC; NOAA; NOS; National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) Additional Principal Investigator: • Tim Battista, Tim.battista@noaa.gov, US DOC; NOAA; NOS; National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) principalInvestigator https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/project/prioritizing-areas-for-future-seafloor-mapping-research-and-exploration-in-the-u-s-caribbean/ WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link NCCOS Project Webpage: Prioritizing Areas for Future Seafloor Mapping, Research, and Exploration in the U.S. Caribbean NCCOS Project Webpage: Prioritizing Areas for Future Seafloor Mapping, Research, and Exploration in the U.S. Caribbean download https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=537dfa0a18334b1c82e0f691b85c2848 WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link U.S. Caribbean Spatial Prioritization Data Viewer NOAA GeoPlatform Metadata: U.S. Caribbean Spatial Prioritization Data Viewer download https://data.noaa.gov/waf/NOAA/nos/nccos/services/iso/xml/BioAssess_USCaribbeanPrioritization.xml WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link US Caribbean Prioritization Framework MapServer NOAA Service Metadata: US Caribbean Prioritization Framework MapServer download https://data.noaa.gov/waf/NOAA/nos/nccos/services/iso/xml/BioAssess_USCaribbeanPrioritizationResults.xml WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link US Caribbean Prioritization Results MapServer NOAA Service Metadata: US Caribbean Prioritization Results MapServer download mapDigital Spatial information about the seafloor is critical for decision-making by marine resource science, management and tribal organizations. Coordinating data needs can help organizations leverage collective resources to meet shared goals. To help enable this coordination, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) developed a spatial framework, process and online application to identify common data collection priorities for seafloor mapping, sampling and visual surveys off the US Caribbean territories of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Fifteen participants from local federal, state, and academic institutions entered their priorities in an online application, using virtual coins to denote their priorities in 2.5x2.5 kilometer (nearshore) and 10x10 kilometer (offshore) grid size. Grid cells with more coins were higher priorities than cells with fewer coins. Participants also reported why these locations were important and what data types were needed. Results were analyzed and mapped using statistical techniques to identify significant relationships between priorities, reasons for those priorities and data needs. Fifteen high priority locations were broadly identified for future mapping, sampling and visual surveys. These locations include: (1) a coastal location in northwest Puerto Rico (Punta Jacinto to Punta Agujereada), (2) a location approximately 11 km off Punta Agujereada, (3) coastal Rincon, (4) San Juan, (5) Punta Arenas (west of Vieques Island), (6) southwest Vieques, (7) Grappler Seamount, (8) southern Virgin Passage, (9) north St. Thomas, (10) east St. Thomas, (11) south St. John, (12) west offshore St. Croix, (13) west nearshore St. Croix, (14) east nearshore St. Croix, and (15) east offshore St. Croix. Participants consistently selected (1) Biota/Important Natural Area, (2) Commercial Fishing and (3) Coastal/Marine Hazards as their top reasons (i.e., justifications) for prioritizing locations, and (1) Benthic Habitat Map and (2) Sub-bottom Profiles as their top data or product needs. This ESRI shapefile summarizes the results from this spatial prioritization effort. This information will enable US Caribbean organization to more efficiently leverage resources and coordinate their mapping of high priority locations in the region. This effort was funded by NOAA’s NCCOS and supported by CRCP. The overall goal of the project was to systematically gather and quantify suggestions for seafloor mapping, sampling and visual surveys in the US Caribbean territories of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. The results are will help organizations in the US Caribbean identify locations where their interests overlap with other organizations, to coordinate their data needs and to leverage collective resources to meet shared goals. completed Kraus, Jennifer jennifer.kraus@noaa.gov Point of Contact: • LTJG Jennifer Kraus, Jennifer.kraus@noaa.gov, US DOC; NOAA; NOS; National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) • NCCOS Data Manager, nccos.data@noaa.gov, NCCOS pointOfContact NCCOS Scientific Data Coordinator NCCOS.data@noaa.gov custodian https://cdn.coastalscience.noaa.gov/csmedia/2017/09/NCCOS-with-tag-to-side-wht-bld.png Browse Graphic: NCCOS EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > MARINE ECOSYSTEMS > BENTHIC EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > MARINE ECOSYSTEMS > COASTAL EARTH SCIENCE > HUMAN DIMENSIONS > ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE/MANAGEMENT > ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTS theme Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords 17.0 OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN > CARIBBEAN SEA OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN > CARIBBEAN SEA > PUERTO RICO OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN > CARIBBEAN SEA > VIRGIN ISLANDS place Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Location Keywords 20.8 NCCOS Research Data Type > Derived Data Product NCCOS Research Data Type > Geospatial NCCOS Research Priority > Marine Spatial Ecology NCCOS Research Topic > Ecological and Biogeographic Assessments NCCOS Research Topic > Habitat Mapping NCCOS Research Location > Region > Atlantic Ocean NCCOS Research Location > U.S. States and Territories > Puerto Rico NCCOS Research Location > U.S. States and Territories > US Virgin Islands theme NCCOS Keywords DOC/NOAA/NOS/NCCOS > National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, National Ocean Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce dataCentre Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Data Center Keywords 2017-04-24 publication 8.5 Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords GCMD Keyword Forum Page Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2025. GCMD Keywords, Version 22. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords information custodian NCCOS Habitat Mapping Team project InPort otherRestrictions Cite As: National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, [Date of Access]: NOAA NCCOS Assessment: Prioritizing Areas for Future Seafloor Mapping and Exploration in the U.S. Caribbean from 2019-06-28 to 2019-07-28 [Data Date Range], https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/65526. NOAA provides no warranty, nor accepts any liability occurring from any incomplete, incorrect, or misleading data, or from any incorrect, incomplete, or misleading use of the data. It is the responsibility of the user to determine whether or not the data is suitable for the intended purpose. otherRestrictions Access Constraints: None otherRestrictions Use Constraints: None unclassified NOAA Data Management Plan (DMP) NOAA/NMFS/EDM 65526 https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nos/nccos/dmp/pdf/65526.pdf WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link NOAA Data Management Plan (DMP) NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort. information crossReference eng; US oceans -68.3 -64.1 17.4 18.9 2019-06-28 2019-07-28 Collaborators - These organizations participated in this project. • US DOI; United States Geological Survey (USGS); Coastal and Marine Hazards & Resources Program: Alexandra Fredericks • US DOI; US Fish and Wildlife: Felix Lopez • US DOC; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): o National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS):  Caribbean Fishery Management Council (CFMC): Graciella Garcia-Moliner  Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC): Kevin McCarthy  Southeast Regional Office: Bill Arnold  Office of Protected Resources: Lisa Carrubba o National Ocean Service (NOS):  Office of Science and Technology (OST): Tony Marshak  National Geodetic Survey; Remote Sensing Division: LCDR David Gothan o Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR):  Office of Exploration and Research (OER): Caitlin Adams • Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER): Tania Metz, Ernesto Diaz • US Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources: Pedro Nieves • The Nature Conservancy – Caribbean Division: Steve Schill • University of Puerto Rico: William Hernandez • University of Virgin Islands: Tyler Smith • Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS); Caribbean Regional Association for Coastal Ocean Observing (CARICOOS): Miguel Canals Partners: • US DOC; NOAA; NOS; OCM; Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) Funding: • US DOC; NOAA; NOS; National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) Zenodo Data Archive Accession Web Service (Other) NOAA GeoPlatform Web Application Web Service (Other) NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information ncei.info@noaa.gov https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/contact WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link NCEI Contact Information Information for contacts at NCEI. information distributor Zenodo https://zenodo.org/ WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link homepage general web page for Zenodo, and open science repository hosted by CERN information distributor NOAA GeoPlatform gis.community@noaa.gov https://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/home/index.html WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link homepage main access page for the NOAA Geoplatform information distributor https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3909728 WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link US Caribbean Prioritization Data Kraus, J., B. Williams, T. Battista, and K. Buja, Ken. 2021. NOAA NCCOS Assessment: Prioritizing Areas for Future Seafloor Mapping and Exploration in the U.S. Caribbean from 2019-06-28 to 2019-07-28. Zenodo. Dataset, V1.0. doi:10.5281/zenodo.3909729 download https://gis.ngdc.noaa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/nccos/BiogeographicAssessments_USCaribbeanPrioritization/MapServer WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link US Caribbean Prioritization Framework MapServer Geospatial MapServer Web Service: NCCOS Assessment: US Caribbean Prioritization Framework download https://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=537dfa0a18334b1c82e0f691b85c2848 WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link US Caribbean Prioritization Data Viewer US Caribbean Spatial Prioritization Results Spatial Prioritization Data Viewer download https://gis.ngdc.noaa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/nccos/BiogeographicAssessments_USCaribbeanPrioritizationResults/MapServer WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link US Caribbean Prioritization Results MapServer Geospatial MapServer Web Service: NCCOS Assessment: US Caribbean Prioritization Results download dataset Completeness Report For details of data completeness, see Lineage Sources. There were four main steps in the US Caribbean spatial prioritization process. The first step was to identify the technical advisory team, which included the 4 CRCP members: 2 from each the Puerto Rico and USVI regions. This advisory team recommended 33 organizations to participate in the prioritization. Each organization was then requested to designate a single representative, or respondent, who would have access to the web tool. The respondent would be responsible for communicating with their team about their needs and inputting their collective priorities. Step two was to develop the spatial framework and an online application. To do this, the US Caribbean was divided into 4 subregions: nearshore and offshore for both Puerto Rico and USVI. The total inshore regions had 2,387 square grid cells approximately 2.5x2.5 km in size. The total offshore regions consisted of 438 square grid cells 10x10 km in size. Existing relevant spatial datasets (e.g., bathymetry, protected area boundaries, etc.) were compiled to help participants understand information and data gaps and to identify areas they wanted to prioritize for future data collections. These spatial datasets were housed in the online application, which was developed using Esri’s Web AppBuilder. In step three, this online application was used by 15 participants to enter their priorities in each subregion of interest. Respondents allocated virtual coins in the grid cells to denote their priorities for each region. Respondents were given access to all four regions, despite which territory they represented, but were not required to provide input into each region. Grid cells with more coins were higher priorities than cells with fewer coins. Participants also reported why these locations were important and what data types were needed. Coin values were standardized across the nearshore and offshore zones and used to identify spatial patterns across the US Caribbean region as a whole. The number of coins were standardized because each subregion had a different number of grid cells and participants. Standardized coin values were analyzed and mapped using statistical techniques, including hierarchical cluster analysis, to identify significant relationships between priorities, reasons for those priorities and data needs. This ESRI shapefile contains the 2.5x2.5 km and 10x10 km grid cells used in this prioritization effort and associated the standardized coin values overall, as well as by organization, justification and product. For a complete description of the process and analysis please see: Kraus et al. 2020. Kraus, Jennifer jennifer.kraus@noaa.gov processor Kraus, J., B. Williams, S.D. Hile, T. Battista, and K. Buja. 2020. Prioritizing Areas for Future Seafloor Mapping, Research, and Exploration in the U.S. Caribbean. NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS NCCOS 286. Silver Spring, MD. 27 pp. doi:10.25923/w6v3-ha50 LTJG Jennifer Kraus https://doi.org/10.25923/w6v3-ha50 WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link Publication NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS NCCOS 286 information publisher