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Links to benthic habitat mapping related reports and publications outside of Australia

Below is a list of useful reports and publications available on the internet that are a relevant source of information relating to benthic habitat mapping.

The Coastal CRC does not necessarily endorse the views expressed or the facts presented in these documents. Further, the Coastal CRC does not endorse any commercial products that may be advertised or available on these sites, and we cannot support or encourage any lobbying. We hope your visit to our site was informative and thank you for visiting.

Contents

Coastal Benthic Habitat Management | Benthic Classifications | Technical Publications | Glossaries

Coastal Benthic Habitat Management

Environmental Indicators, For National State of the Environment Reporting estuaries and the sea, Australia: State of the Environment, Environmental Indicator Report, Trevor Ward, Edward Butler, Burke Hill, CSIRO Division of Marine Research.
Summary: A key set of 61 environmental indicators for estuaries and the sea is recommended for Australian state of the environment reporting at the national scale. Of these, 3 relate to cited species or taxa, 9 to habitat extent, 17 to habitat quality, 6 to renewable products, 2 to non-renewable resources, 5 to water or sediment quality, 17 to integrated management, and 2 to ecosystem-level processes. Monitoring strategies and approaches to interpreting and analysing each of the indicators are discussed, and possible sources of data are noted. Recommendations are also made for further development of environmental indicators for estuaries and the sea.

Gulf of Maine Mapping Initiative, A Framework for Ocean Management, Thomas T. Noji; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Susan A. Snow-Cotter; Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management; Brian J. Todd; Geological Survey of Canada Megan C. Tyrrell; Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management; Page C. Valentine; United States Geological Survey Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Geological Survey of Canada; Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management; United States Geological Survey, May 2004.

The Gulf of Maine is one of the world's most dynamic, productive, and important ocean systems, often called "a sea within a sea." This ecosystem is facing a range of human uses including commercial and recreational fishing, whale watching, navigation, aquaculture, military operations, pipeline and cable construction, wind and wave energy production, offshore oil and gas development, and mining of sand and gravel. The pursuit of these activities and the evaluation of their effects on the environment requires information about sea floor topography, geology, and habitat.

Broad scale remote survey and mapping of sublittoral habitats and biota, 1999, RL Foster-Smith, J Davies & I Sotheran, SeaMap Research Group, Department of Marine Sciences and Coastal Management, University of Newcastle-upon- Tyne, UK NE1 7RU.
This is the final technical report on broad scale mapping of sublittoral habitats and biota ( biotopes ) based on acoustic remote sensing mapping methodology known as the BMAP project, a project supported by the European Commission under the Life programme.

Changing Oceans and Changing Fisheries: Environmental Data for Fisheries Research and Management Proceedings of a workshop held 16-18 July, 1996. Pacific Grove, California George W. Boehlert James D. Schumacher,NOAA-TM-NMFS-SWFSC-239 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. William Daley, Secretary National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, D. James Baker, Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere, National Marine Fisheries Service, Rolland A. Schmitten, Assistant administrator for Fisheries.

Hydrographic Data Acquisition In Support Of MLPA And MLMA Implementation. Final Report DFG Contract No. P0170015 to the Foundation of California State University Monterey Bay Project No. A025006901. June 15, 2004. Prepared by Rikk Kvitek, Pat Iampietro, Carrie Bretz, Kate Thomas, Saori Zurita, Bryan Jones, Erica Morris. Seafloor Mapping Lab California State University, Monterey Bay. 100 Campus Center Seaside, CA 93955.
Project summary: The goal of this three-year contract has been to produce high-resolution marine habitat maps of nearshore sites deemed critical to the implementation of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) and Marine Life Management Act (MLMA) by the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) Marine Region management team. As part of this contract, the CSUMB Seafloor Mapping Lab (SFML) ran 2755 km of hydrographic survey lines, mapping a total of 243 km2 of habitat in southern and central California. The maps include three of the MPAs and their associated controls within the new Channel Island Marine Reserve Network, as well as nearshore data gaps from the Monterey Peninsula to Point Sur.

On this web site you will find the background, objectives and current status of Integrated Coastal Zone Mapping (ICZMap) within Great Britain. The website contains details of the background to ICZMap, and why the coastal zone is important to the UK's social and economic development.

Also available is the Final Report of the ICZMap Pilot Project, undertaken by the original partnership of Ordnance Survey, the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office and the British Geological Survey. The Pilot was funded under the HM Treasury Invest to Save Budget (ISB) programme and successfully completed in July 2003.

The Marine and Coastal Community Network (MCCN) is a non-government project that builds community, industry and government support for the conservation of marine biodiversity and ecological processes, and the ecologically sustainable use of marine and coastal environments. Taking NRM Beyond the Shore: Integrating Marine and Coastal Issues into Natural Resource Management
Published in April 2005 by the Marine and Coastal Community Network ©

An Inventory of GIS-Based Decision-Support Tools for MPAs. Prepared by the National Marine Protected Areas Center in cooperation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coastal Services Center. Danielle Pattison, David dosReis, and Hamilton Smillie. November 2004. The tools highlighted in this report provide functionality ranging from visualizing and integrating oceanographic data to site suitability modeling and incorporating stakeholder input. The references and specific project descriptions give additional technical background and illustrate how spatial tools can be used in conjunction with other mechanisms to facilitate MPA related management decisions. By documenting these summaries and examples, it is anticipated that MPA managers and staff will have the necessary initial information to determine the applicability of particular tools to their own management needs.

Benthic Classification

Final Report for Task 5, FY 01, Remote Sediment Classification Using Acoustical Techniques, Prepared at The University of Southern Mississippi, Department of Marine Science, By Jerald W. Caruthers and Craig A. Fisher, December 2002. A number of reviews of the work done on remote sediment classification are available. Most such reviews concentrate on vertical-incidence systems such as RoxAnn, QTC View, ECHOplus, the Automated Sediment Classification System (ASCS), and others such as side scan sonar. It describes vertical incidence systems and sediment classification systems for oblique-incidence application.

A standardised classification scheme for the mapping of shallow-water marine habitats in western australia, DRAFT Report: MCB-05/2003, Prepared by K.P. Bancroft.

Copies of this report may be obtained from:
Marine Conservation Branch
Department of Conservation and Land Management
47 Henry St., Fremantle, Western Australia, 6160
Ph: 61-8-9336 0100; Fax: 61-8-9430 5408

The Marine Conservation Branch (MCB) has undertaken the development of the shallow-water marine habitat classification scheme as a result of identifying that marine benthic habitats are a key tool in the planning and management of marine conservation reserves. In the past, many studies have been undertaken to map shallow-water marine benthic habitats and as a result of these independent, uncoordinated studies, a wide range of classification schemes, have been developed.

ICES WGMHM Report 2005, ICES Marine Habitat Committee, ICES CM 2005/E:05, REF. ACE, B. Report of the Working Group on Marine Habitat Mapping (WGMHM), 5–8 April, Bremerhaven, Germany

Deep-Water Marine Benthic Habitat Classification Scheme, Explanation for Habitat Classification Code, (Modified after Greene et al., 1999)
Deep-Water Marine Benthic Habitat Classification Scheme, Key to Habitat Classification Codes for Mapping and use with GIS programs, (modified after Greene et al., 1999)
Classifying Deep Water Benthic Habitats Around Tutuila, American Samoa; Emily R. Lundblad, Dawn J. Wright, David F. Naar, Brian T. Donahue, Joyce Miller, Emily M. Larkin and Ronald W. Rinehart;Proceedings of the 24th Annual ESRI User Conference, San Diego, CA, Paper 1208, 2004;Track: Ocean, Coastal, and Marine Resources (OCE); Session: GIS for the Deep Ocean Contains a useful Flowchart of classification methods. This represents methods for classifying BPI zones and structures around American Samoa.

Technical

Integrated seafloor mapping: A tool for sustainable management of our offshore lands, Coasts & Ports Australasian Conference 2003, Richard A Pickrill Geological Survey of Canada (Atlantic), Bedford Institute of Oceanography P.O. Box 1006 Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada B2Y 4A2 dpickril@nrcan.gc.ca. Geological Survey of Canada (Atlantic), Bedford Institute of Oceanography P.O. Box 1006 Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada B2Y 4A2, dpickril@nrcan.gc.ca.The development of multibeam seafloor mapping has provided the first opportunity to accurately map the shape of the seabed, the sediment cover and associated benthic habitat. The knowledge base can now be provided to support sustainable, integrated ocean management and to complete the mapping of our offshore lands. Several countries, including Canada, are in the process of developing strategies to support national seafloor mapping programs. Keywords: integrated ocean management, multibeam, benthic habitat, Marine Protected Area, environmental stewardship, engineering hazards. New technologies for mapping the seafloor, combined with a range of databases, have become essential tools for seabed management in Canada. New Zealand is working towards adopting the same ideas.

Review of standards and protocols for seabed habitats mapping - MESH 2.1, This document was published within the framework of : MESH action 2.1, which is an INTERREG IIIb-NW European program. http://www.searchmesh.net/, APPROVAL FOR ISSUE Jacques POPULUS, IFREMER, France, Roger COGGAN, CEFAS, UK.
The reviews cover: 1. Remote sensing techniques for shoreline & shallow water surveys e.g. airborne techniques (like Lidar & Casi), satellite imagery, shoreline surveys and ground-truth sampling. 2. Remote sensing techniques for deeper water surveys e.g. acoustics (multibeam, sidescan, AGDS, 3D seismic), optical techniques (camera sledges, ROV's, drop cameras, sediment profile imagery) and in-situ sampling (diver surveys, granulometry, trawls & dredges etc)

Establishing Protocols for acoustic survey for the production of habitat maps using multibeam sonar. Author Dr Tim Le Bas, National Oceanography Centre, European Way, SOUTHAMPTON.In order to test multibeam protocols the multibeam acoustic survey within this project was performed by two different parties using different sampling and processing methods. One, a commercial company largely concerned with bathymetric seabed mapping, used IHO standard operating procedures (as far as possible in limited time) and industry standard software for processing, the other, Dr Tim Le Bas of the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton (NOC), an academic researcher in the area of marine geophysics used standard (but non IHO) operating procedures (largely as a result of bad weather and time constraints) and in-house developed processing software. Both groups used the Reson SeaBat 8101 multibeam system, to survey 4 areas of seafloor to the west of the Hebrides (commercial company) and an area SW of Barra (NOC). This system provides swath bathymetry data and pseudo-sidescan backscatter data from which 100% coverage maps can be drawn.

Tools and techniques for the acquisition of estuarine benthic habitat data, final report, April 2003, SAIC Report No. 628,Prepared for: NOAA Coastal Services Center, 2234 South Hobson Avenue, Charleston SC 29405-2413, Prepared by: Tom Waddington, Karen Hart, Science Applications International Corporation, 221 Third Street Newport, RI 02840. Tools and Techniques for the acquisition of estuarine benthic habitat data (Waddington and Hart, 2003). This NOAA rapport presents and reviews the wide range of methods available for the acquisition of estuarine benthic habitat characterisation data. It focuses mainly on the physical characterisation of the seafloor, which is one of the most important elements in any comprehensive benthic habitat classification scheme. The primary emphasis of this paper is on the effective mapping of shallow-water, estuarine environments. It provides the framework for evaluating the potential applicability of a wide variety of benthic habitat mapping data acquisition tools based on numerous project-specific considerations: data requirements, general environment, habitat scales, budgetary constraints, complexity of the survey area, availability of existing data, etc.

Part of the scope of the ICH was to investigate suitable methods for gathering near-shore hydrographic data. This consisted of evaluating current methods together with monitoring emergent technologies. Integrated Coastal Hydrography (ICH) is a practical partnership between the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO), the Environment Agency, Ordnance Survey and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). The Emerging Technologies Report produced by the project can be downloaded from this link.

One of the objectives of the IHCC project is to gather together as many specifications as possible and then merge these into a common, all embracing, specification for coastal survey. The project has gathered as many survey specifications as possible and reviewed these to identify common as well as unique areas. Review of Existing Hydrographic Specifications. The initial brief of this study was to undertake the following tasks: a. Assemble survey specifications from surveying organisations. b. Identify common data. c. Produce a common specification. A "Common Specification" was required in order that data could be gathered by many different organisations to a universal standard that would be acceptable to all interested parties.It has been decided that no single specification will be able to meet all needs. The project has therefore developed a look up table allowing users to correlate parameters from one specification with those in another.

JNCC Marine Monitoring Handbook, March 2001, Edited by Jon Davies (senior editor), John Baxter, Martin Bradley, David Connor, Janet Khan, Eleanor Murray, William Sanderson, Caroline Turnbull and Malcolm Vincent. The Marine Monitoring Handbook addresses the principles behind, and the procedures for, monitoring the habitats and species within marine SACs in UK waters to assess their condition. These assessments are intended to fulfil the requirements of the EC Habitats and Species Directive and the UK's common standards for monitoring. The Marine Monitoring Handbook should be viewed as a toolkit to assist those with responsibility for monitoring to select and use appropriate methods. It is not prescriptive, rather it aims to support good decision making in marine SAC monitoring in the light of resource availability and other practicalities.

Broad scale remote survey and mapping of sublittoral habitats and biota, 1999, RL Foster-Smith, J Davies & I Sotheran, SeaMap Research Group, Department of Marine Sciences and Coastal Management, University of Newcastle-upon- Tyne, UK NE1 7RU
This is the final technical report on broad scale mapping of sublittoral habitats and biota ( biotopes ) based on acoustic remote sensing mapping methodology known as the BMAP project, a project supported by the European Commission under the Life programme.

U.S. NOAA Coastal Services Center. 2001. Guidance for Benthic Habitat Mapping: An Aerial Photographic Approach by Mark Finkbeiner [and by] Bill Stevenson and Renee Seaman, Technology Planning and Management Corporation, Charleston, SC. (NOAA/CSC/20117-PUB).The primary audience of this document is the spatial data analyst tasked with developing baseline benthic habitat data. The methods that follow rely strongly on aerial photointerpretation and photogrammetry. Effective implementation of these technologies requires a specialized set of skills and experience. Project analysts ideally should have a background in remote sensing and photogrammetry. A familiarity with the physical and biological components of the study area is also very important and a working knowledge of geographic information system (GIS) technology is essential to producing the digital data and conducting further spatial analysis of the results.

IHO standards for hydrographic surveys. 4th Edition, April 1998. Special Publication No. 44, Published by the International Hydrographic Bureau. MONACO. Also see next IHO reference. The content of the IHO Manual is divided into seven chapters:
Chapter 1 refers to the principles of hydrographic surveying, including its specifications;
Chapter 2 refers to positioning;
Chapter 3 to refers to depth determination, including both the principles and techniques used;
Chapter 4 provides information on sea floor classification and object detection;
Chapter 5 refers in particular to water levels and flow;
Chapter 6 is devoted to topographic surveying applied to hydrography;
Chapter 7 provides, in a structured way, complete details on hydrographic practice;

International hydrographic organization. Manual on hydrography and at Publication M-13. 1st Edition. May 2005. International Hydrographic Bureau. 4, Quai Antoine 1er. B.P. 445 - MC 98011 MONACO Cedex. Principauté de Monaco.

The IHO Manual on Hydrography general objective is to provide knowledge on the concepts involved in hydrography as well as guidance to plan and execute hydrographic surveys. The Manual is considered to be a professional guide for hydrographic surveyors and a tool for teachers and students involved in hydrographic courses or programs.

NOS hydrographic surveys specifications and deliverables. March 2003. These are technical specifications that detail the requirements for hydrographic surveys to be undertaken either by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA) field units or by organizations under contract to the Director, Office of Coast Survey (OCS), National Ocean Service (NOS), NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce.

Guidelines for the conduct of benthic studies at aggregate dredging sites. This report has been produced by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science on behalf of the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions. May 2002. This report has been compiled by Dr S. E. Boyd of The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture. Science (CEFAS), Burnham Laboratory, Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex CM0 8HA. Authors responsible for writing chapters of the report are as follows:
Chapter 2 - H. L. Rees and S. E. Boyd; Chapter 3 - C. Brown, D. S. Limpenny, and W. Meadows; Chapter 4 - K. M. Cooper and S. E. Boyd; Chapter 5 - D. S. Limpenny and W. Meadows; Chapter 6 - J. Rees and S. E. Boyd; Chapter 7 - C. Mason and D. S. Limpenny; Chapter 8 - M. Schratzberger and S. E. Boyd; Chapter 9 - H. L. Rees and K. M. Cooper; Chapter 10 - S. E. Boyd and D. S. Limpenny; Chapter 11 - S. E. Boyd, C. Brown and M. Schratzberger; The guidelines are designed to promote a comprehensive and consistent approach to the assessment of the seabed environment (i.e. s ediments and the associated benthic fauna) as part of the planning process and, on granting of a permission to dredge, in response to any monitoring requirements.

The Geocentric Datum of Australia Technical Manual is principally designed to explain all facets of the new Geocentric Datum of Australia, and continues the tradition of providing complete formulae and worked examples - now in computer spreadsheets. To cater for the enormous changes that have taken place since The Australian Geodetic Datum Technical Manual was published; the chapters on the geoid and coordinate transformation have been expanded. A brief history of Australian coordinates has also been included.

An overview of seabed mapping technologies in the context of marine habitat classification.
A. J. Kenny , E. Andrulewicz, H. Bokuniewicz, S. E. Boyd, J. Breslin, C. Brown, I. Cato, J. Costelloe, M. Desprez, C. Dijkshoorn, G. Fader, R. Courtney, S. Freeman, B. de. Groot, L. Galtier, S. Helmig, H. Hillewaert, J. C. Krause, B. Lauwaert, H. Leuchs, G. Markwell, M. Mastowske, A. J. Murray, P. E. Nielsen, D. Ottesen, R. Pearson, M-J. Rendas, S. Rogers, R. Schuttenhelm, A. Stolk, J. Side, T. Simpson, S. Uscinowicz, and M. Zeiler.

Butler, M.J.A., et al., Marine 1986 resource mapping: an introductory manual FAO Fish.Tech.Pap., (274)-256 pp.
The present report is aimed at those officers in the fisheries and marine services of government, and those concerned with coastal planning, by offering a national autonomous approach to cartographic applications. The text follows through the basic concepts underlying preparation of both maps and charts. Attention is paid also to collection of geographical information in fisheries, and to those graphics techniques that improve information transfer from cartographic representation to the end user.
Charting & Mapping plus Ref Section on - Marine resource mapping and case studies

Sound Images of the Ocean in Research and Monitoring
With contributions of more than 120 sound image authors and marine experts of 22 countries
Wille, Peter
2005, XLII, 472 p. 452 illus., 391 in colour with CD-ROM., Hardcover
ISBN: 3-540-24122-1

Glossaries

Reson:   Underwater Acoustic Glossary of Terms.