American Samoa Benthic Terrain Viewer

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American Samoa Benthic Terrain Viewer

• Emily M. Larkin and Dawn Wright
• Dept. of Geosciences, Oregon State University
• September, 2004

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The American Samoa Benthic Terrain Viewer

• Web-based GIS to allow more access to marine data
  from American Samoa
• What is a Web-Based GIS?
• A website that allows users to view geographic
  data without GIS software.
• The ONLY Samoan-language web-based GIS in
  existence.

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Why use a Web GIS?

• Natural medium for data distribution and display.
  
• User needs only a web browser to access data.
• Allows multiple levels of users to be served by
  the same site.
• General users can access information, perform
  queries, analyses, and make maps.
• Advanced users can download data and metadata
  through the FBNMS GIS Data Archive and search for
  more detailed information.

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ASBTV Content

• Bathymetry (seafloor) layers obtained from
  multibeam sonar surveys in 2001 and 2002 (Wright
  et al. 2002 Wright 2002).
• Benthic zone and structure layers derived from
  bathymetry.
• Terrestrial layersroads, island DEMs, villages.
• Supporting help and information pages with links
  to find more information.
• Link to American Samoa Coastal and Marine
  Bibliographic Database

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Benthic Zones Structures

• The seafloor can be classified into broad
  categories called benthic zones and more detailed
  categories called benthic structures
• Benthic related to the seafloor (e.g. a benthic
  animal is one that lives on the ocean floor)
• 4 categories of zones flats, slopes, crests,
  and depressions
• 13 categories of structures

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Fagaitua Bay Benthic Zones
Benthic Zones from ArcMap
Benthic Zones from the ASBTV
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Zones/Structures and Biodiversity

• Benthic zones and structures cannot be tied to
  specific habitat types or species at this time.
• Karlson et al. (2004) found a link between
  benthic zone and biodiversity in Indo-Pacific
  coral reefs.
• In general, sloped areas had higher biodiversity
  than flat areas.
• Their samples included American Samoa

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Initial Display of the ASBTV
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Samoan-Language Access

• Greater accessibility for those who may be more
  comfortable in Samoan than in English
• Same content as ASBTV
• O le Alititai o Amerika Samoa The Seafloor of
  American Samoa
• Challenges
• Not all scientific terms translate well into
  Samoan (e.g. benthic structure)
• ArcIMS does not like diacritical markse.g. Sue
  (search) appears in the Mode frame as Sue (a type
  of pufferfish)

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O le Alititai o Amerika Samoa
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What Still Needs Done?

• Error-checking the Samoan grammar
• Addition of final benthic zones for Vatia Bay

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American Samoa Coastal Marine Bibliographic
Database

• A searchable bibliographic database listing
  references related to American Samoa
• Goes back to mid-1800s
• Searchable by keyword, author or area

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ASBTV Site Links

• English
• http//scallywag.science.oregonstate.edu/website/A
  mSamoa/viewer.htm
• Samoan
• http//scallywag.science.oregonstate.edu/website
  /Faasamoa/viewer.htm
• American Samoa Coastal Marine Bibliographic
  Database
• http//astrolabe.csc.noaa.gov/American_Samoa/searc
  h.asp
• More information or questions
• larkine_at_science.oregonstate.edu