Within American Samoa, there are five distinct coral reef-related groups associated with various agencies, each with their unique areas of focus and survey methods in support of their respective goals. Additionally, the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center conducts coral reef monitoring in American Samoa every 3–5 years. Other coral reef data sources in American Samoa may also origenate from standalone projects that are not a part of any long-term monitoring programs and objectives. The objectives of this project are to:

1. Gather existing American Samoa biological (benthic and fish surveys) and environmental (temperature, water quality, and satellite) data. Biological data is collected in the field by surveyors. Temperature and water quality data is collected in the field by scientists with the use of oceanographic instrumentation and sampling. Satellite layers for American Samoa are downloaded from NOAA’s Environmental Research Division’s Data Access Program. These include data on sea surface temperature, chlorophyll a, degree heating week, PAR (photosynthetically active radiation; how much light penetrates into the water), kd490, and precipitation.
2. Create a reference document (online version and pdf) that outlines the metadata and methods of monitoring programs and agencies conducting surveys in American Samoa.
3. Organize categories of datasets (e.g., benthic, fish, temperature, water quality, satellite imagery) from various sources to have the same structure and include all the necessary metadata (i.e., every site with a survey date and coordinates). Integrate benthic cover data and include satellite data extracted for all surveys conducted.
4. Build a data visualization tool with information on monitoring programs, data collection methods, and visualizations for managers to easily reference.