| Description |
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (SPCMSC) conducted research to identify areas of seafloor elevation stability and instability based on elevation changes between the years of 2002 and 2016 in the Upper Florida Keys (UFK) from Triumph Reef to Pickles Reef within a 242.4 square-kilometer area. USGS SPCMSC staff used seafloor elevation-change data from Murphy and others (2021) derived from an elevation-change analysis between two elevation datasets acquired in 2001/2002 and 2016/2017 using the methods of Yates and others (2017). Most of the elevation data from these two time periods were collected during 2002 and 2016, so as an abbreviated naming convention, we refer to this study time period as 2002-2016. A seafloor stability threshold was determined for the 2002-2016 UFK elevation-change dataset based on the vertical uncertainty of the 2002 and 2016 digital elevation models (DEMs). Five stability categories (which include, Stable: 0.0 meters (m) to ±0.24 m or 0.0 m to ±0.49 m; Moderately stable: ±0.25 m to ±0.49 m; Moderately unstable: ±0.50 m to ±0.74 m; Mostly unstable: ±0.75 m to ±0.99 m; and Unstable: ±1.00 m to Max/Min elevation change) were created and used to define levels of stability and instability for each elevation-change value (60,585,610 data points at 2-m horizontal resolution) based on the amount of erosion and accretion during the 2002 to 2016 time period. Seafloor-stability point and triangulated irregular network (TIN) surface models were created at five different elevation-change data resolutions (1st order through 5th order) with each resolution becoming increasingly more detailed. The stability models were used to determine the level of seafloor stability at potential areas of interest for coral restoration and 13 habitat types found in the UFK. Stability surface (TIN) models were used for areas defined by specific XY geographic points, while stability point models were used for areas defined by bounding box coordinate locations. This data release includes ArcGIS Pro map packages containing the binned and color-coded stability point and surface (TIN) models, potential coral restoration locations, and habitat files; maps of each stability model; and data tables containing stability and elevation-change data for the potential coral restoration locations and habitat types. Data were collected under Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary permit FKNMS-2016-068. [More]
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