About CMECS

CMECS (FGDC-STD-018-2012) is collection of defined terms ("units") used to describe and classify marine ecological data. It is a national scheme for classifying and integrating observational data collected in coastal, marine, and lacustrine environments in U.S. waters. CMECS was published by the U.S. Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) in 2012. The CMECS framework arranges its units hierarchically or semi-hierarchically within domain-specific modules: the Biotic, Geoform, Substrate, and Water Column Components; and Aquatic and Biogeographic Settings. This framework emulates the spatial nesting concepts used in GIS software so that the CMECS units can be used to categorize and map observational data to model ecosystems.

For more information about CMECS, including technical guidance and classification examples, visit the NOAA Integrated Ocean and Coastal Mapping (IOCM) team's CMECS webpage.

The CMECS Document

The CMECS document (FGDC-STD-018-2012) contains the CMECS unit terms and definitions (as of the time of publication) along with scientific context and rationale, implementation guidance, examples and illustrations. This document is the source for the content in the CMECS Catalog, Version 1.0.0. All mentions of page numbers, section numbers, figures, and tables in the CMECS Catalog are references to the CMECS FGDC-STD-018-2012 document, unless otherwise noted.

The document may be accessed from the NOAA Institutional Repository (https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/27552). Please cite as: FGDC. 2012. Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard. Marine and Coastal Spatial Data Subcommittee (Federal Geographic Data Committee). FGDC-STD-018–2012.