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This project is a cooperative effort among the National Ocean Service, National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment; the University of Hawaii; and Analytical Laboratories of Hawaii, LLC. The goal of the work was to develop coral reef mapping methods and compare benthic habitat maps generated by photointerpreting georeferenced color aerial photography, hyperspectral and IKONOS satellite imagery.The enhanced spectral resolution of hyperspectral and control of bandwidths of multispectral data yield an advantage over color aerial photography particularly when coral health and time series analysis of coral reef community structure are of interest. Multispectral (blue/green/red/near-infrared) IKONOS imagery was obtained at a four meter pixel resolution. The IKONOS imagery was processed to minimize atmospheric and water column effects. Photointerpreters can accurately and reliably delineate boundaries of features in the imagery as they appear on the computer monitor using a software interface such as the Habitat Digitizer.