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2019 NOAA Bathymetric Lidar with Waveform Metrics: Saipan, CNMI

Published by National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Metadata Last Checked: December 19, 2025 | Last Modified: 2024-01-16T00:00:00.000+00:00
This data package contains bathymetric light detection and ranging (lidar) Chiroptera-4X .LAS 1.4 files with waveform metrics (as extra bytes) for 0 to 50 meter depths around the island of Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Bathymetric lidar waveforms depict the amount of laser light returned from the seafloor recorded during each laser pulse. Typically, only the leading edge of the seafloor return is used to calculate bottom depth. However, the shape of the seafloor return also contains novel information about the physical structure and biological cover on the seafloor (Collin et al. 2011, Wilson et al. 2019). To extract this information, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) partnered with Oregon State University (OSU), NOAA Office for Coastal Management (OCM), Woolpert and Hexagon Leica to develop software to export, process, normalize and rasterize 16 LWFM describing the shape of the seafloor return (Jung et al. In Review; Collin et al. 2011; Parrish et al. 2014; Kashani et al. 2015; Kogut et al. 2022). The resulting LWFM rasters were used to predict the distribution of key coral reef taxa and habitats west of Saipan (Costa et al. 2024). This effort marks one of the few studies that have used LWFM to predict tropical coral reef habitats to date. These processing workflows and associated software will also make LWFM creation easier and more routine for future Chiroptera-4X lidar collections by NOAA and its partners. This project was funded by NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP), and leverages significant investments made by NOAA NCCOS, NOAA National Geodetic Survey, NOAA Office for Coastal Management, and the U.S. Geological Survey in the region.

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EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > BATHYMETRY/SEAFLOOR TOPOGRAPHY > BATHYMETRY EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > COASTAL PROCESSES > CORAL REEFS EARTH SCIENCE > SPECTRAL/ENGINEERING > LIDAR EARTH SCIENCE > SPECTRAL/ENGINEERING > LIDAR > LIDAR WAVEFORM CONTINENT > NORTH AMERICA > UNITED STATES OF AMERICA OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > WESTERN PACIFIC OCEAN > MICRONESIA > NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS VERTICAL LOCATION > SEA FLOOR 1 meter - < 10 meters LIDAR > Light Detection and Ranging Airplane > Airplane Geographic Information > Backscatter Geographic Information > Bathymetry Geographic Information > LiDAR Geographic Information > Marine Management Areas Map Images > Backscatter Map Images > Bathymetry Numeric Data Sets > Backscatter Numeric Data Sets > Bathymetry Numeric Data Sets > Benthic OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Western Pacific Ocean > Saipan Island > Chalan Kanoa (15N145E0012) OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Western Pacific Ocean > Saipan Island > Saipan Island (15N145E0002) EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > GIS EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Mapping > Habitat Mapping EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Bathymetry/Seafloor Topography > Backscatter EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Bathymetry/Seafloor Topography > Bathymetry EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Bathymetry/Seafloor Topography > Rugosity EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Bathymetry/Seafloor Topography > Slope EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Bathymetry/Seafloor Topography >Water Depth EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs > Coral Reef Ecology > Habitats NCCOS Research Data Type > Derived Data Product NCCOS Research Data Type > Field Observation NCCOS Research Data Type > Geospatial NCCOS Research Priority > Marine Spatial Ecology NCCOS Research Topic > Habitat Mapping NCCOS Research Location > Region > International NCCOS Research Location > Region > Pacific Ocean NCCOS Research Location > U.S. States and Territories > Mariana Islands > Saipan HABITAT - BENTHIC NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program COUNTRY/TERRITORY > Northern Mariana Islands > Saipan > Chalan Kanoa (15N145E0012) COUNTRY/TERRITORY > Northern Mariana Islands > Saipan > Saipan Island (15N145E0002) VERTICAL LOCATION > SEA FLOOR Hawkeye-4X topo-bathymetric lidar Reims F406 - ZK-XLF DOC/NOAA/NOS/NCCOS > National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, National Ocean Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce Biogeography

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