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Comprehensive inventory of seafloor mapping, ground-truthing, and predictive habitat modeling datasets to support Deepwater Horizon mesophotic and deep benthic community restoration

Published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Metadata Last Checked: January 27, 2026 | Last Modified: 2024-08-02T00:00:00.000+00:00
This dataset is a collection and inventory of existing seafloor mapping, ground-truthing, and predictive habitat modeling data within the Gulf of Mexico. The inventory was compiled by the Mesophotic and Deep Benthic Communities (MDBC): Mapping Ground-truthing, and Predictive Habitat Modeling Project. This project is one of many selected by the Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group to restore natural resources injured by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Data collected from 1980 to 2021 were sourced from federal and state agencies, as well as from academia and industry. Each dataset is represented in the inventory as a spatial footprint with corresponding quantitative and qualitative attributes. The seafloor mapping data are primarily remote sensing observations used to survey and derive depth, shape, and texture of the seafloor and characterize the geomorphological forms, substrates, and biota used to define MDBC habitats. Ground-truthing data are in-situ observations that provide visual and analytical characterization of information documenting the abundance and distribution of MDBC, substrate, and geomorphology. Predictive habitat models analyze habitat-environment or species-environment relationships from seafloor mapping data, in situ observations, and environmental data to predict MDBC habitat. The spatial extent of the dataset is as follows, except for predictive habitat models which have a more global extent.

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0268765 0295552 BATHYMETRY CORAL HABITAT - BENTHIC SEDIMENTS multibeam sonar sediment sampler - corer sediment sampler - grab seismic reflection profiler sonar in situ model output NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science Deepwater Horizon oil spill event (DWH) Mesophotic and Deep Benthic Communities (MDBC) Natural Resources Damage Assessment Process (NRDA Process) World-Wide Distribution oceanography DOC/NOAA/NOS/NCCOS > National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, National Ocean Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce MDBC > Mesophotic and Deep Benthic Communities Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Deepwater Horizon (DWH) Mesophotic and Deep Benthic Communities (MDBC) NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) NOAA National Ocean Service (NOS) National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) NOS Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (OCMS) Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group (OOTIG) U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > MARINE ECOSYSTEMS > BENTHIC EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > BATHYMETRY/SEAFLOOR TOPOGRAPHY > BATHYMETRY EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > MARINE SEDIMENTS EARTH SCIENCE > SOLID EARTH > GEOMORPHIC LANDFORMS/PROCESSES > COASTAL LANDFORMS > CORAL REEFS Marine Spatial Ecology > Ecological and Biogeographic Assessments Marine Spatial Ecology > Habitat Mapping Marine Spatial Ecology > Regional Ecosystem Science Derived Data Product Geospatial Model Acoustic Backscatter Annotations Observations Predictive Habitat Model Predictions Seafloor Bathymetry GRAB SAMPLERS MBES > Multibeam Mapping System SEDIMENT CORERS > SEDIMENT CORERS SEISMIC REFLECTION PROFILERS SONAR > Sound Navigation and Ranging Biological Sampler Geological Sampler Laser-line Scanner Multibeam Sonar Multimedia devices Phase Differential Bathymetric Sonar Sediment Sampler Seismic profiler Side-scan Sonar Sub-bottom Profiler GEOGRAPHIC REGION > GLOBAL OCEAN U.S. States and Territories > Alabama U.S. States and Territories > Florida U.S. States and Territories > Louisiana U.S. States and Territories > Mississippi U.S. States and Territories > Texas Waterbodies > Atlantic Ocean Waterbodies > Gulf of Mexico Atlantic Ocean 9UA6GG E1H7J8

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