Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

CS11 Coral Reefs

Date: Monday, February 12, 2001, Time: 10:45:00 AM

Location: Cimarron

Rohmann, S, O, Special Projects Office, NOS/NOAA, 1305 East West Highway, #9650, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910, USA, Steve.Rohmann@noaa.gov

Stumpf, R, P, Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment, NCCOS/NOS/NOAA, 1305 East West Highway, #9109, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910, USA, Richard.Stumpf@noaa.gov

Holderied, K, , Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment, NCCOS/NOS/NOAA, 1305 East West Highway, #9109, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910, USA, Kris.Holderied@noaa.gov

SATELLITE CHARACTERIZATION OF U.S. CORAL REEFS -THE JOY OF MAPPING

Mapping shallow water coral reef ecosystems is a challenging endeavor. About 16,900 square kilometers of coral reefs are under direct United States jurisdiction. Detailed maps are available for about seven percent of these areas. No estimates - and no maps - exist for coral reef areas in the freely associated states within the 200 nautical mile U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone. Deciding which imagery to use for mapping shallow water coral reef ecosystems depends on what questions the resulting maps will be used to answer, the cost of acquiring imagery, the spatial detail needed, and other considerations. Aircraft can effectively acquire imagery for only about 15 percent of U.S. coral reefs. Imagery for the remaining reefs - scattered over vast expanses of ocean - can be most effectively acquired using satellites. A cost-benefit analysis indicates that high resolution satellite imagery should be used to map islands with narrow margin reefs. Moderate resolution imagery should be used to map broad, shallow atolls. For small areas or for areas where more spatial detail is needed, high resolution satellite imagery is the best choice.

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Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

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