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Dataset Overview | National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)

Summer 2004 coral bleaching event on Tutuila, American Samoa (NCEI Accession 0001955)

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American Samoa's coral reefs have been impacted by a variety of major events, including periodic severe hurricanes, the most recent of which was Hurricane Heta, which was closest on Jan 6, 2004. Other events have included a Crown-of-Thorns seastar outbreak in 1974 and night scuba spearfishing from 1994-2002. Mass coral bleaching occurred in 1994 and then again in the summers of 2002 and 2003, and the bleaching was severe enough to kill some corals.

Bi-weekly surveys were made of the reefs at Airport Lagoon. During the peak of the summer bleaching, surveys were made at five other locations. The data given with this data set refer to the percent corals bleached within the survey area.
  • Cite as: Fenner, Douglas; American Samoa Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources (2004). Summer 2004 coral bleaching event on Tutuila, American Samoa (NCEI Accession 0001955). https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0001955. In Birkeland, Charles; Fisk, David; Smith, Barry (2001). Status of coral communities in American Samoa: a survey of long-term monitoring sites, 1992-2002. [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/AmSam-Coral_Communities. Accessed [date].
gov.noaa.nodc:0001955
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Distribution Formats
  • Originator data format
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Distributor NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
+1-301-713-3277
ncei.info@noaa.gov
Dataset Point of Contact NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
ncei.info@noaa.gov
Time Period 2003-12-10 to 2004-12-05
Spatial Bounding Box Coordinates
West: -170.76
East: -170.58
South: -14.37
North: -14.28
Spatial Coverage Map
General Documentation
Associated Resources
Publication Dates
  • publication: 2004-12-30
  • revision: 2026-01-26
  • creation: 2004-12-30
Data Presentation Form Digital table - digital representation of facts or figures systematically displayed, especially in columns
Dataset Progress Status Complete - production of the data has been completed
Historical archive - data has been stored in an offline storage facility
Data Update Frequency As needed - NCEI Accession 0001955 was revised and a new version of the archival package was published. Updates to existing archival packages may provide additional files or replace obsolete files. The latest version contains the most complete and up-to-date representation of this archival information package. All of the files received prior to this update are available in the preceding version of this accession. Please see journal.txt in the /about directory for additional details on changes made.
Purpose To understand the annual cycle and status in 2004 of coral bleaching at Airport Lagoon, American Samoa.
Use Limitations
  • accessLevel: Public
  • Distribution liability: NOAA and NCEI make no warranty, expressed or implied, regarding these data, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty. NOAA and NCEI cannot assume liability for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in these data. If appropriate, NCEI can only certify that the data it distributes are an authentic copy of the records that were accepted for inclusion in the NCEI archives.
Dataset Citation
  • Cite as: Fenner, Douglas; American Samoa Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources (2004). Summer 2004 coral bleaching event on Tutuila, American Samoa (NCEI Accession 0001955). https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0001955. In Birkeland, Charles; Fisk, David; Smith, Barry (2001). Status of coral communities in American Samoa: a survey of long-term monitoring sites, 1992-2002. [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/AmSam-Coral_Communities. Accessed [date].
Cited Authors
Principal Investigators
Contributors
Resource Providers
Publishers
Acknowledgments
  • Funding: Department of Marine & Wildlife Resources, American Samoa
Theme keywords NODC DATA TYPES THESAURUS NODC OBSERVATION TYPES THESAURUS WMO_CategoryCode
  • oceanography
Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords Originator Parameters
  • coral bleaching (per cent)
Data Center keywords NODC COLLECTING INSTITUTION NAMES THESAURUS NODC SUBMITTING INSTITUTION NAMES THESAURUS Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Data Center Keywords
Platform keywords NODC PLATFORM NAMES THESAURUS ICES/SeaDataNet Ship Codes
Instrument keywords NODC INSTRUMENT TYPES THESAURUS Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Instrument Keywords
Place keywords NODC SEA AREA NAMES THESAURUS Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Location Keywords Originator Place Names
  • American Samoa
  • South Pacific
  • Tutuila Island
Project keywords NODC PROJECT NAMES THESAURUS
Keywords NCEI ACCESSION NUMBER
Use Constraints
  • Cite as: Fenner, Douglas; American Samoa Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources (2004). Summer 2004 coral bleaching event on Tutuila, American Samoa (NCEI Accession 0001955). https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0001955. In Birkeland, Charles; Fisk, David; Smith, Barry (2001). Status of coral communities in American Samoa: a survey of long-term monitoring sites, 1992-2002. [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/AmSam-Coral_Communities. Accessed [date].
Access Constraints
  • Use liability: NOAA and NCEI cannot provide any warranty as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of furnished data. Users assume responsibility to determine the usability of these data. The user is responsible for the results of any application of this data for other than its intended purpose.
Fees
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Lineage information for: dataset
Processing Steps
  • 2004-12-30T15:20:21Z - NCEI Accession 0001955 v1.1 was published.
  • 2026-01-26T17:38:30Z - NCEI Accession 0001955 was revised and v1.2 was published.
    Rationale: Additional metadata files were received or created for this dataset. These updates were copied into the about/ directory of this accession. These updates may provide additional files or replace obsolete files. This version contains the most complete and up-to-date representation of this archival information package. All of the files received prior to this update are available in the preceding version of this accession.
Output Datasets
Lineage information for: repository
Processing Steps
  • 2015-04-22T00:00:00 - NOAA created the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) by merging NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC), and National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), including the National Coastal Data Development Center (NCDDC), per the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015, Public Law 113-235. NCEI launched publicly on April 22, 2015.
Acquisition Information (collection)
Instrument
  • visual estimate
Platform
  • SWIMMER/DIVER
Last Modified: 2026-01-26T22:36:46Z
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