Abstract

Benthic Habitat Mapping St. Kitts and Nevis
Track: Ocean, Coastal, and Marine Resources
Authors: John Knowles

Benthic habitat maps are a critical base layer for marine conservation planning. For the country of St. Kitts and Nevis, which is using a GIS to zone surrounding waters, the identification of seagrass, coral reefs, sand and other benthic habitat is critical in setting conservation objectives within its multiuse zoning project. With funding from the US Agency for International Development, the St. Kitts and Nevis Government partnered with the Nature Conservancy and Nova Southeastern University's Oceanographic Center to generate a relatively low-cost, high resolution benthic habitat map for surrounding waters up to 30m. The technique developed by Sam Purkis' Laboratory at NSU's Oceanographic Center uses satellite imagery and georeferenced drop camera video clips resulting in a 12 habitat classification map. The presentation will walk the audience through the process of obtaining georeferenced video clips and demonstrate the final product.