USDOC/NOAA/NESDIS NOAA/CSC ICLARM

Agenda
Abstracts
Evaluation Results (downloadable file)
Participants in Attendance (downloadable file)
Presentations
Pictures from the Workshop

Resolution For Action

Coral reefs support the greatest biological diversity of any known marine ecosystem, and provide food, income and coastal protection for hundreds of millions of people around the world. They are vital to the economies of many nations, and provide billions of dollars in annual revenues to countries such as the United States, the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia and Egypt.

Despite the importance of coral reefs and repeated calls for their protection by governments, international coalitions of scientists, and non-governmental organizations, the degradation of these ecosystems continues to accelerate globally. Nearly 60% of the world’s reefs are believed to be under threat from human activities. Given projected increases in human population size and resultant natural resource consumption, the state of coral reefs and related ecosystems is expected to significantly worsen. Only through the immediate development and implementation of sustainable management practices can the maintenance of coral reefs and their natural services be achieved.

In recent years, scientists have documented coral mortality at levels far greater than previously recorded. This mass mortality of corals is largely attributed to widespread coral bleaching associated with the 1997-1998 El Nino event and large-scale epidemics of coral disease, which are increasing in frequency. The loss of coral reefs has substantial negative effects on human well-being and national economies. Thus far, attempts to accurately assess the specific ecological and socio-economic impacts have been hampered by a lack of up-to-date, applicable data. Because the development and implementation of effective mitigation strategies is contingent on such information, coral reefs and the communities that depend on them are now at risk.

The effective management of coral reefs is highly dependent on the availability of accurate and precise information on reef location, spatial dimension, and health status, as well as the patterns and trends of human activities and natural phenomena which threaten reefs. For most of the world’s coral reefs, such information is inadequate to non-existent. Remote sensing has great potential for providing this vital information in a timely and cost-effective manner. However, current limitations on availability, transfer, and utilization of remote sensing data prevent scientists and managers from fully applying these technologies.

In response to the urgent need to advance the application of remote sensing technologies to the sustainable management of coral reefs, and in support of the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) and the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force, the International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM) and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) convened an international assembly of scientists, policy specialists, marine resource managers, and remote sensing specialists in Honolulu, Hawaii from 7-10 June 1999. By consensus, these experts call for immediate action by governments, bi- and multi-lateral development assistance agencies, international organizations, academic institutions, international and non-governmental organizations and the private sector to:

• Establish a focussed scientific program to improve utilization of current technologies, to develop new analytical approaches and technologies, to bring research and developments associated with remote sensing into the toolkit of managers, and to provide early warnings of emerging threats to coral reef ecosystems.
• Develop accurate and precise base maps of all coral reefs at multiple scales to enhance reef conservation and management.
• Form partnerships among government agencies, academic institutions, international and non-government organizations and the private sector to enhance the availability, transfer and utilization of remote sensing data and technologies, to facilitate the use of remotely sensed data by developing countries.
• Develop a virtual facility to link together various remote sensing data sites with each other and with management-relevant data in ReefBase, the Global Coral Reef Database.
• Encourage space agencies and private entities to maintain deployment of existing and relevant operational and research sensors on satellites or other platforms, (i.e. AVHRR, Landsat 7, SeaWiFS, Space Shuttle, Space Station, LIDAR, etc.) and to initiate design and deployment of specialized technology for shallow oceans monitoring.

Undertaking, promoting, and sponsoring these actions will serve to improve the sustainable management of coral reefs, as well as to actively foster intergovernmental cooperation, public-private partnerships, and technology development, enhancement, and transfer globally.

June 10 1999

Recommendations For Action

Preamble
Coral reefs support the greatest biological diversity of any known marine ecosystem, and provide food, income and coastal protection for hundreds of millions of people around the world. They are vital to the economies of many nations, and provide billions of dollars in annual revenues to countries such as the United States, the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia and Egypt.

Despite the importance of coral reefs and repeated calls for their protection by governments, international coalitions of scientists, and non-governmental organizations, the degradation of these ecosystems continues to accelerate globally. Nearly 60% of the world’s reefs are believed to be under threat from human activities. Given projected increases in human population size and resultant natural resource consumption, the state of coral reefs and related ecosystems is expected to significantly worsen. Only through the immediate development and implementation of sustainable management practices can the maintenance of coral reefs and their natural services be achieved.

In recent years, scientists have documented coral mortality at levels far greater than previously recorded. This mass mortality of corals is largely attributed to widespread coral bleaching associated with the 1997-1998 El Nino event and large-scale epidemics of coral disease, which are increasing in frequency. The loss of coral reefs has substantial negative effects on human well-being and national economies. Thus far, attempts to accurately assess the specific ecological and socio-economic impacts have been hampered by a lack of up-to-date, applicable data. Because the development and implementation of effective mitigation strategies is contingent on such information, coral reefs and the communities that depend on them are now at risk.

The effective management of coral reefs is highly dependent on the availability of accurate and precise information on reef location, spatial dimension, and health status, as well as the patterns and trends of human activities and natural phenomena which threaten reefs. For most of the world’s coral reefs, such information is inadequate to non-existent. Remote sensing has great potential for providing this vital information in a timely and cost-effective manner. However, current limitations on availability, transfer and utilization of remote sensing data prevent scientists and managers from fully applying these technologies.

In response to the urgent need to advance the application of remote sensing technologies to the sustainable management of coral reefs, and in support of the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) and the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force, the International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM) and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) convened an international assembly of scientists, policy specialists, marine resource managers, and remote sensing specialists in Honolulu, Hawaii on 7-10 June 1999.

Intention
The purpose of the Recommendations for Action is to mobilize governments, international development assistance bodies, academic institutions, non-government organizations, and the private sector to immediately undertake, promote, and sponsor actions that will advance the application of remote sensing technologies to the sustainable management of coral reefs. The pursuit of these actions will serve to improve the sustainable management of coral reefs, as well as actively foster intergovernmental cooperation, public-private sector partnerships, and technology development, enhancement, and transfer globally. Furthermore it will encourage the active participation of developing countries in the use of remote sensing technologies to assist them in conservation and management of their coral reef and coastal ecosystems.

Principles
Remote sensing is the use of spaceborne, airborne, and waterborne instruments to make environmental observations(1). While government agencies and private industry primarily own these technologies, their products are utilized by a broad diversity of public and private institutions to meet a variety of objectives.

Based on the application of these technologies to map and monitor some coral reefs systems, it is apparent that remote sensing constitutes the most cost-effective and time efficient means to map coral reefs. Remotely sensed data can be integrated with information from other sources in order to assess such parameters as:

• reef health
• potential threats to reefs
• characteristics and proximity of interconnected ecosystems
• socio-economic implications of reef degradation and loss

While many remote sensing methodologies and products can facilitate the mapping, monitoring and management of coral reef ecosystems, and potentially provide early warnings of threats, we lack the coordinated support necessary to effectively apply remote sensing technologies in the management of coral reefs globally.

Actions
Governments, bi- and multi-lateral development assistance agencies, international organizations, academic institutions, and the private sector are urged to use their resources to:

1. Develop accurate and precise graphic base maps of all coral reefs at multiple scales to enhance conservation and management
2. Maximize use of technical expertise and the consistent application of remote sensing technologies to monitor and map coral reef and terrestrial ecosystems, and aid in assessing threats to these ecosystems.
3. Establish a new international body of coral reef managers and scientists to set priorities for the future development of remote sensing technologies and analytical tools, to facilitate their use for coral reef mapping monitoring and threat prediction/assessment, as well as the implementation of other actions recommended herein.
4. Develop a virtual facility to link together various remote sensing data sites with each other and with management-relevant data in ReefBase, the Global Coral Reef Database, and to use and enhance the GCRMN regional nodes, the UNEP Regional Seas Programmes, and related bodies for full and open dissemination of remotely sensed products and training in their use.
5. Extend the use of early warning systems for coral bleaching and other anomalies by (1) enhancing current NOAA AVHRR HotSpot mapping by increasing resolution in targeted areas, (2) involving managers and others in collaborative efforts to develop and refine early warning thresholds by making experimental products available during their calibration and validation phases, and (3) extending use to areas with no direct access to remotely sensed data, via best means available, and developing mechanisms to automatically provide and verify this information.
6. Perform inventories on archived remote sensing data from various sources (e.g. Landsat, Space Shuttle, SPOT) to establish data sets that can be used as a baseline in the analyses of patterns and trends. Retrieve and rescue old data and make it easily accessible to researchers. Encourage access to, and use of, declassified military remotely sensed data to create a detailed, uniform and consistent global set of coral reef maps and to facilitate analyses of changes over time (e.g. MEDEA project, CORONA data, etc.).
7. Perform inventories, both within developed and developing countries, on needs and availability of training and capacity building activities, existing software tools and available handbooks/manuals, and to fill necessary gaps in order to facilitate better implementation of remote sensing capabilities and techniques.
8. Form partnerships between government agencies, academic institutions, international and non-government organizations and the private sector to enhance the availability, transfer and utilization of remote sensing data and technologies, to facilitate the use of remotely sensed data by developing countries.
9. Initiate national and international partnerships among government agencies, academic institutions, international and non-government organizations and the private sector to enhance availability and capacity of remote sensing technologies (e.g. software/hardware technology and imagery)
10. Strengthen involvement of developing countries in remote sensing activities, and improve access to remotely sensed data by developing countries.
11. Encourage space agencies and private entities to maintain deployment of existing and relevant operational and research sensors on satellites or other platforms, (i.e. AVHRR, Landsat 7, SeaWiFS, Space Shuttle, Space Station, LIDAR etc.) and to initiate design and deployment of specialized technology for shallow oceans monitoring.
12. Encourage space agencies, earth science agencies and private industry to configure and deploy sensors (on a satellite or other platform) optimal for coral reef remote sensing (e.g. multispectral scanner with 10 m or less resolution, and the Special Events Imager for large-scale dynamic events that impact reefs such as hurricanes).
13. Develop education, communication and outreach tools to improve the transfer of information among scientists, management and the general public, in order to translate remotely sensed data into information that can be used and implemented by managers, decision-makers, and general public.

Undertaking, promoting, and sponsoring these actions will serve to improve the conservation and sustainable use of coral reefs, as well as to actively foster intergovernmental cooperation, public-private partnerships, and technology development, enhancement, and transfer globally.

The participants of this workshop will continue to develop and assess current and future remote sensing methods and products useful for reef mapping, monitoring, management, and threat prediction.

Scientific conferences will provide a means to report on the results of the recommendations from this workshop and will take place at international coral reef symposia within the next two years. As an outgrowth of this workshop, a special follow-up scientific conference will be convened in 2001.

I. Working Group Reports

In the course of one afternoon, four working groups each drafted a series of principles and recommended actions related to different aspects of advancing remote sensing technologies for the sustainable management of coral reefs. The following morning, these principles and recommended actions were presented to the group as a whole, providing participants the opportunity to offer constructive feedback. What follows is a compilation of the original text drafted by the working groups and the comments made by individuals during the discussion period. Because we wanted to provide comprehensive documentation of the information exchanged during the working group process, we have not edited these working group reports for consistency of style or conceptual synthesis. These working group reports provided the basis for development of two products from the workshop, the Resolution for Action and the Recommendations for Action. We hope that they will inspire additional efforts to promote remote sensing technologies as the most cost-effective and time-efficient means to map, monitor, and manage coral reef ecosystems globally.

Remote sensing is the most efficient means of mapping reefs in a timely manner. We strongly encourage governments, NGOs, universities and private bodies to effectively map and monitor the distribution and health of coral reef communities (as per ICRI Goals) using remote sensing platforms and technologies, and to apply the information to resource management.

• Create a clearinghouse mechanism for available/appropriate remote sensing imagery, using ReefBase as a linking mechanism to other organizations, with the purpose of creating a Global Coral Reef Map to increase both the coverage and resolution currently available.
• Maximize use of the GCRMN regional nodes, UNEP RCUs, academia, and related bodies, for disseminating remote sensing products, enhancing infrastructure where necessary, and allowing training in their use.
• Promote dissemination of available handbooks/manuals describing the utilization of appropriate and affordable remote sensing products and applications. Involve industry products and shareware to the extent possible.

(Ed Green's Handbook: Remote Sensing Handbook for Tropical Coastal Management. Completed and will become available in next few months. Practical recipe style manual A-Z steps for mapping of coral reefs, mangroves and sea grasses specifically designed for non-specialists. Disseminated through UNESCO and free to developing nations. Cost about $50 to everyone else.)

• Access on literature especially on new algorithms since the relevant publications are in color and photocopies can only go so far.
• · Training of local scientists and managers on Remote Sensing principles, capabilities and processing techniques using existing training manuals, sample imagery, exchange programs, and local scientists.
  • Encourage Financial Support for Higher Technology Implementation in Developing Countries or Sharing Technologies.
  • RE: training of local scientists and managers, there is enough training and trained people available but the relevant offices have trouble in retention. Maybe flood the market.
• Familiarizing international development bodies and policy makers on the cost-effectiveness and timeliness of remote sensing as a management tool.
• Feedback Mechanisms - information sent to areas with no other source of data on reef events like bleaching and other anomalies.
• Enhance HotSpot techniques with newly-developed capabilities in detecting and predicting coral bleaching events.
• Facilitate information needs assessment, funding, and information sharing using multiple technologies (video conferencing where appropriate, Internet, or "white boarding").
• Needs Assessment (of particular countries - what are the applicable data for particular area needs)
• Maximum use and development of national and regional expertise and consistency in the application of remote sensing.
• Development of appropriate and affordable remote sensing programs (Please note that MicroBrian is still alive and with modules being distributed in a FTP site. Please check with David Jupp.)
• Idea of encouraging mapping and monitoring is good. But should stress that this needs to be done at a synoptic scale rather than a fine scale so that remote sensing is clearly the obvious tool for that.

Data-related

• It is hard to keep up to date with the types of data that are available, even among practitioners.
• Problems with historical and ongoing variation in data formats.

  Actions:

  • Inventory data sets and formats at local, national and regional levels.
  • Develop a metadatabase on available information to disclose coverage, format, gaps (costs, sensitivity, proprietary). Include fields in the metadatabase, results from the inventory.
  • Develop standards for remote sensing, data distribution and application to facilitate broad use.
  • Convene a meeting to address standard development.
    • Make information available to management, even if it is imperfect or needs refinement.

Capacity

• Building human and technical capacity to facilitate routine use of remote sensing applications and models

  Actions:

  • Emphasize the need (e.g. in coastal development projects) and demonstrate the value and cost effectiveness of the use of remote sensing by managers and decision-makers. This can be accomplished through improving awareness and access to existing technical manuals and training programs and through demonstration projects and case studies.
  • Explore partnerships with the private sector to enhance availability of remote sensing technology (e.g. software and hardware).

Communication

• Communication between scientists and managers is not optimal. Improved dialogue is needed between scientists, managers and the public, so that science can be translated for use by managers and the public.

  Actions:

  • Improve communication between scientists, managers, and the public through GIS (i.e. GIS interface and facilitation of related data).
  • Find ways in which the scientific community can be enabled and more involved in communicating their results (i.e. through applied activities).

  Appropriate level/tools and marketing dissemination for appropriate user/audience

  Actions:

  • Need to distribute basic information, including maps by class and area.
  • This information should be structured to address the kinds of questions frequently asked by managers, such as:
    • Where are reefs?
    • What conditions are reefs in?
    • What are the threats and impacts to reefs, including those from adjacent terrestrial communities?
    • What is a particular reef used for?
    • How is the condition/health of the reef changing?
    • Concentrate on delivering results that are relevant to management.

Existing remotely-sensed data from satellite and aircraft platforms have many potential uses for management. While advanced multispectral, hyperspectral and laser technologies are rapidly developing, their products (primarily aerial photographs and satellite imagery) are not widely accessible to management agencies at this time. Access to much vital satellite data will require that provision be made for a major 'data rescue' from the 'scrounge file' (viz. Landsats 1 - 5). Moreover, someone needs to be given responsibility to make specific requests for acquisition of imagery of coral reefs from future satellites (e.g. Landsat 7). Likewise, the construction of an archive of historical photos of coral reefs, dating back many decades, would be invaluable.

It is noted that the following uses can be made of currently available remote sensed data:

Accurate and Precise Maps of Coral Reefs at Various Scales

• They are a fundamental need for spatial management of coral reefs
• Interim maps with accuracy labeled should be provided on a needs basis prior to the final product being ready
• They are needed at micro to global scales (appropriate level of accuracy for specific management needs)
• Ideally they should identify the position of threats in relation to coral reefs

Education, Communication and Outreach to Public and Policy-makers

• This will require improved packaging of remote sensing products to deliver managers with useful information.
• Products include maps and images to illustrate nature and extent of change in time and space.

A Capacity to Detect, Map and Extrapolate Natural and Anthropogenic Changes, Such As:

• Favorable and deleterious sea surface temperatures
• Changes in benthic ecosystem structure , productivity and biodiversity
• Loss of well-grazed areas as a result of depletion of herbivorous fishes and/or invertebrates
• Nuisance algal blooms, toxic red tides
• Sediment plumes, slicks of coral spawn, oil slicks, etc.
• Coastal shoreline development and structures
• Critical events such as oil spills and ship groundings

Assisting Allocation of Management Efforts, Such as Use of Imagery For:

• site selection for research and monitoring
• mapping of locations at risk of exposure to temperature anomalies (hotspots)
• mapping cumulative fishing effort through use of vessel monitoring systems
• tracking and counteracting effects of man-made plumes and spills
• evaluating the need for, and broad-scale effectiveness of, specific rehabilitation and restoration measure
• assessment of the location and areal extent of hurricane damage
• risk assessments based on distribution, probability, severity of impacts and their consequences

Assisting the Assessment of Living Marine Resources Through:

• development of base maps for maps of distribution of stocks and their levels of utilization and other human utilization of reefs
• direct sensing of shallow marine habitats associated with coral reefs, such as seagrasses, mangroves, algal beds, rocky reefs and un-vegetated shallows
• application of acoustic remote sensing
• essential supplementary ground-truth information (a joint responsibility of scientists and managers)

Assisting the Development and Evaluation of Management Plans Through Provision of Graphic Base Maps For:

• publicizing the location of specially zoned areas such as marine protected areas, marine wilderness areas, fishery management areas, etc.
• accurate mapping of resource information relating to each map unit

Critical questions include:

• Where are the reefs?
• What condition are they in?
• How are spatial scales nested?
• What are landmass influences?
• How can coral cover types be differentiated?
• How to detect coral reef community change?
• Can reef ecosystem functions such as primary productivity, herbivory, calcification, etc., be measured by remote sensing?
• Can human influence be partitioned from natural factors?
• How to measure and integrate atmospheric and oceanic processes?

FOUR Priority Objectives:

1. Use existing satellite data and sensor platforms to improve the detail of existing coral reef maps (from World Conservation Monitoring Center/ReefBase) and create uniform and consistent global coral reef maps.
   • Utilize the full global coverage planned for Landsat 7
   • Encourage the SeaWIFS coral reef mapping initiative
   • Develop a global worldwide search and archive for relevant remote sensing data
     • Examples of source of data to be obtained and archived:
       1. Oil companies
       2. Declassified military (e.g., Project MEDEA)
          
          
2. Create an international working group on the optical spectral properties of coral reef organisms and substrates.
   • Pool existing "spectral/library information".
   • Make recommendations for optimum sensor spectral bands to be measured
   • Define what categories can be discriminated
   • Define spatial pixel requirements--what is the fractal dimension of a coral reef?
   • Develop and improve existing bio-optical models of water column and benthic optical properties for each major tropical ocean (modeling combined with field data)
   • Separate the water column from the benthic community.
   • Standardize protocols for measuring the spectral properties of reefs (similar to the protocols developed for SeaWIFS)
   • Increase awareness of shallow-water and coral reef issues within the international optical oceanography community (e.g. International Ocean Color Coordinating Group, IOCCG)
     
     
3. Encourage the use of Landsat 7 for coral reef remote sensing
   • Acquire global coral reef imagery and make it widely available
   • Work closely with the Landsat 7 Science Team to optimize the application of the sensor for reef characterization. This collaboration should investigate ways to acquire and distribute Landsat data to reef researchers and managers.
   • Initiate and maintain a global coral reef time series based on Landsat 7 imagery.
   • Improve atmospheric corrections for Landsat data
   • Determine whether or not Landsat 7 can detect coral reef bleaching (a phenomenon expected to produce the strongest optical signal change in the reef system)
   • Use NOAA AVHRR 'HotSpot' data and/or in-situ data to trigger detailed collection of satellite scenes that encompass the full course of a bleaching event.
     
     
4. Conduct a scale assessment field experiment(s).
   • Experimentally determine how existing/anticipated remote sensing resources (satellite, airborne, in-situ) can be brought to bear on problems of benthic classification, monitoring, and assessment.
   • Define the capabilities and limitations of existing remote sensing resources as they relate to coral reef mapping and monitoring.
   • Measure multiple simultaneous scales using both active and passive systems:
     1. in situ water
     2. airborne
     3. satellite
   • These experiments could be conducted under the auspices of IGOS (International Global Observing System) as an applications-oriented project using remote sensing
   • Based on the scale assessment, design the next generation of sensors optimized for reef study.
     Additional Objectives (not prioritized)
     
     
5. Deploy the SEI (Special Events Imager) sensor on appropriate platforms and use it as a primary information source for large-scale dynamic events that impact reefs (e.g., hurricanes).
   • Large-scale dynamic monitoring needs to be met from a network of additional standardized platforms worldwide
     
     
6. Encourage space agencies to configure and deploy a future sensor (satellite or other platform) optimally for coral reef remote sensing
   • Considerations should include:
     1. Spectral responsivity
     2. Spatial scale--pixel size of 10 m or less for detecting change in the reef community
     3. Temporal sampling
     4. SeaWIFS-type sensor
     5. Signal : Noise improvement
     6. Active sensors
     7. Measure salinity (e.g. from LIDAR or passive microwave sensor)
   • Implementation should consider:
     1. CEOS as a forum
     2. International cooperation
        
        
7. Develop effective change detection procedures
   • Identify one or more case studies where large-scale reef changes have been observed in situ and where archival remote sensing data is available. Use these cases as prototypes to develop change detection procedures.
   • Incorporate atmospheric and water column correction
   • Sample down to level of algae vs coral cover and change over time
   • Address the problem of comparing images with different error structures
     
     
8. Determine the most important gross characteristics of a reef to measure.
   • Examine the utility of panchromatic albedo (changes from baseline albedo to either lighter or darker albedo) as a means of detecting dramatic changes at the reef level.
   • Major reef elements to distinguish are:
     1. Living vs. dead coral
     2. Coral vs. algae
     3. Silt vs. sand
     4. Seagrasses
     5. Bleaching
     6. Destructive fishing practices (dynamite, cyanide, trawling, etc)
     7. Coral diseases that cause tissue loss
        
        
9. Develop Sea Surface Temperature maps on more detailed spatial scales.
   • This requires a sensor with improved resolution.
     
     
10. Use multiple data sets as inputs to remote sensing analyses because synergistic conclusions will emerge from combined analyses
    • For example, optical, thermal, radar, and LIDAR data are currently analyzed separately, not in combination.