Point dataset of 52 benthic monitoring sites in Narragansett Bay. This dataset contains information on benthic habitat type and changes in benthic habitat quality from a sediment profile imaging survey replicated in 1988, 2008, and 2018. Sediment profile imagery is a rapid and efficient technique that collects “optical cores” of marine and estuarine sediments. A large frame is lowered from a boat, and once on the bottom, a wedge-shaped prism slices through the surface sediment, triggering a camera in a watertight housing to take pictures of the sediment-water interface and up to 7.9 inches (20 centimeters) below— the most biologically active zone of the sediment column. The three surveys form a time series spanning 30 years of decreasing anthropogenic nutrient inputs and increasing temperatures. Full reporting on findings from these surveys is available in a report by Shumchenia and King (2019) entitled “Sediment profile imagery survey to evaluate benthic habitat quality in Narragansett Bay – 2018” and an Estuaries and Coasts publication by Shumchenia et al. (2016) entitled “A Re-assessment of Narragansett Bay Benthic Habitat Quality Between 1988 and 2008.” The results of the 1988 and 2008 datasets were presented in the 2017 State of Narragansett Bay and Its Watershed Technical Report (nbep.org). For more information, please contact info@nbep.org.