Measuring reef habitat growth and erosion

NCRMP carbonate budget assessments were adapted for U.S. Pacific Islands reef species from the Chris Perry's Indo-Pacific Reef Budget approach. Our NCRMP protocol was developed after several years of testing various methodologies to collect benthic, urchin, and fish data. Fish data is collected using SPC surveys. Urchin data is observed by divers along a transect (though depending on region can also be extracted from imagery). Benthic data is extracted from structure-from-motion (SfM) models.
USGS Infographic illustrating the purpose of calculating a carbonate budget.

How to download and use our data

Under 'Distribution' for each InPort record, there are links to each NCEI accession where the raw data is available for download. See R code below for processing scripts and calcification rates referential database.

sops

SOPs

Carbonate Budget Report of Methods Comparison Results and Summary of Standard Operating Procedures (2023) linked below. Estimating coral reef carbonate budgets using Structure-from-Motion photogrammetry 2025 .

Download

data sheets

Data Sheets

Datasheets include site visit metadata / dive nav and urchin data.

Download

access raw data

Access Raw Data

Raw data is archived with NCEI. Links to data are listed in the 'Distribution Information' section of their InPort metadata records - CRCP funded pilot project for methods comparison 2021 - 2023 (Marianas, American Samoa, and O'ahu) and NCRMP funded from 2024(Hawaiian Archipelago).

R code

R Code for Processing

GitHub repository with calcification rates referential database here.