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ReefTemp: An interactive monitoring system for coral bleaching using high-resolution SST and improved stress predictors
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
Remote Sensing, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Centre for Marine Studies, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia
ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
NOAA Coral Reef Watch, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
Space Based Observations Section, Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
Anomalously high sea surface temperatures (SST) have led to repeated mass coral bleaching events on a global scale. Existing satellite-based systems used to monitor conditions conducive to bleaching are based on low-resolution (0.5°, ∼50 km) SST data. While these systems have served the research and management community well, they have inherent weaknesses that limit their capacity to predict stress on coral reefs at local scales, over which bleaching severity is known to vary dramatically. Here we discuss the development and testing of ReefTemp, a new operational remote sensing application for the Great Barrier Reef that assesses bleaching risk daily using: high-resolution (2 km) SST, regionally validated thermal stress indices, and color-graded legends directly related to past observations of bleaching severity. Given projections of sea temperature rise, ReefTemp is timely as it can accurately predict bleaching severity at a local scale and therefore help to give focus to future research and monitoring efforts.
Received 27 September 2007; accepted 7 January 2008; published 6 March 2008.
Citation: (2008), ReefTemp: An interactive monitoring system for coral bleaching using high-resolution SST and improved stress predictors, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L05603, doi:10.1029/2007GL032175.
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