Adrian Bishop
Source: EarthTimes [1]
January 27, 2012

"A marine ecologist says new satellite mapping should be introduced to help identify and halt the rapid decline of coral reefs. Phil Dustan has been investigating coral reefs for almost 40 years, since famous marine ecologist Jacques Cousteau warned him in 1974 that humans were destroying reefs.

Dr Dustan, now a University of Charleston biology professor, in the United States, believes that by using Landsat satellite mapping the declining reefs, hotspots can be identified and conservation measures put in place.

He says, "There is no reason that a form of temporal texture monitoring could not be implemented with current satellites in orbit."

Most coral reefs are located in shallow water and can be seen by satellites through passive remote sensing. However, coral, sand and water all reflect light and satellites do not provide the level of spatial or spectral resolution required to separately identify them.

Rather than trying to classify the complex ecosystems, Dr Dustan studies the changes and variations in reflectance levels."

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