Typology approach from visual interpretation of satellite imagery for reef passages around 9 South Pacific islands

Data was collected as part of the SOCPacific project. Dealing with challenges of the pandemic and travel restrictions, project participants aimed to develop a typology of reef passages based on visual interpretation of freely available satellite imagery. Nine islands of different sizes and shapes surrounded by coral reef structures were selected based on previous field expertise. Reef passages were mapped in GoogleEarth and further processed in QGIS (version 3.16) and R (version 3.5.3). In addition, outlines for the selected islands were downloaded from the GADM database (gadm.org). Parameters distance to coast, minimal width of the passage and the assigned type were added to the dataset. Passages were assigned one of three types defined in Breckwoldt et al. (in review) - Coastal, Lagoon or Open Ocean - depending on the geomorphological appearance of the reef and distance to the coast.