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oceanresearch NOAA Maps Shallow-Water Reefs But Many Yet to be Examined NOAA���s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) published in December a summary of more than 12,100 square kilometers of coral-reef ecosystems in U.S. states and territories in the Pacifc Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, mapped by the National Ocean Service since 2000. This includes approximately 5,000 square kilometers of hard-bottom habitats, such as coral reef, rubble and rock, and another 7,100 square kilometers of soft-bottom habitats, such as sand and mud. The report, ���National Summary of NOAA���s Shallow-water Benthic Habitat Mapping of U.S. Coral Reef Ecosystems,��� details mapping methodologies and technologies developed, regional and local applications of the maps and products, and existing data gaps. NCCOS and NOAA���s Coral Reef Conservation Program, Offce of National Marine Sanctuaries and Coastal Services Center partnered on this effort. The region with the largest mapped area is the Florida Reef Tract, with more than 6,000 square kilometers of mapped habitats. The next closest region is the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, with 2,000 square kilometers mapped, followed by Puerto Rico and the main Hawaiian Islands. The mapping technology used includes lidar, acoustic sensors, multibeam sensors, optical imagery sensors and other remote-sensing tools. NOAA also created biogeography soft- ware: the BIOMapper, an interactive, online feature, and the Benthic Habitat Digitizer Extension, a GIS tool. The report, available at http://1.usa.gov/10EnVYS, encompasses 10 coral-reef regions, but the total area mapped represents less than half of the total potential area of coral-reef ecosystems defned by the shallow-water 30-meter depth contour. There are also vast areas of unmapped deeper reef habitats at 30 to 150 meters depth. China, Japan Advance Manned Sub Operations as US Makes Cuts Some marine biologists, such as Robert Ballard, discoverer of the Titanic wreck, advocate the use of telepresence to conduct ocean exploration, but James Cameron pointed out in Newsweek that funding cuts for manned submersibles are not necessarily translating into more funds for ROV and AUV exploration. ���No money is being freed up by these draconian cuts,��� he wrote. ���Funding is being cut across the board, in the U.S., including for ROV and AUV operations, and deep-ocean science in general.��� The Chinese, meanwhile, have launched what Cameron calls ���the most advanced piloted research submersible in the world,��� the 7,000-meter-rated Jialong, which is rumored to have cost hundreds of millions. Also, Japan is developing a $150 million program to dive the Shinkai sub to 6,500 meters to explore trenches and hydrothermal vent sites worldwide. ���I believe the correct approach is combining the strengths of fully autonomous vehicles, remotely operated vehicles, and human-piloted vehicles, into a suite of tools to explore this vast dark territory at the bottom of the world���s oceans,��� E h ic S CograpRNeeds DU Sns for Your Hydr N RrAand Solu T o a db Pro ve n tio B Transducers Applications ��� Frequencies ranging from 10 kHz to 660 kHz ��� Hydrographic Survey ��� Low Q ��� Sub-bottom Pro���ling ��� Minimal sidelobes ��� Side Scan ��� Custom con���gurations available ��� Sound Velocity Pro���ling ACCURACY. RESOLUTION. CHIRP READY SOLUTIO NS. www.airmar.com 84 st / FEBRUARY 2013 www.sea-technology.com