Details
- Developed in close cooperation with state and local partners to ensure a high degree of accuracy and applicability
- Acquisition and mapping methods employ nationally standardized protocols
- Organized according to the Florida System for Classification of Habitats in Estuarine and Marine Environments (SCHEME)
- Analysis of sediment and biological character based on visual analysis and supporting grab information
- Samples assigned to five general habitat types (shell beds, ampelisca mats, sandy bottom, silty bottom, and oligozoic). Additional attributes are unique to each project
Data available in:
- Florida - Apalachicola Bay
- New York - Jamaica Bay and Lower Bay
- Maine - Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve
- Virginia - Chesapeake Bay
Notes and Limitations: SPI data are collected in a systematic pattern distributed through the project area and require some interpolation to generate a comprehensive data set. Interpolations of these data should be used with caution due to potentially large un-sampled areas that are present within the output data. Users are strongly encouraged to develop or obtain higher-detail data for non-sampled areas within an interpolated output.