coralreefwatch.noaa

1. 12 weeks  ( HotSpot value  duration )  1°C NOAA Operational Satellite SST for Monitoring Coral Bleaching Thermal Stress: Coral Reef Watch’s Satellite Decision Support System for Coral Reef Managers Gang Liu, C. Mark Eakin, Jacqueline L. Rauenzahn, Scott F. Heron, Alan E. Strong, William Skirving, JiankeLi, Tim Burgess, Krystal Repoff, Kelly Howell, John Sapper coralreefwatch@noaa.gov, NOAA Coral Reef Watch, E/RA3, NCWCP, 5830 University Research Court, College Park, MD 20740 USA NOAA Coral Reef Watch (CRW) has been applying satellite remote sensing to monitor coral reef environments for more than a decade. CRW’s operational satellite sea surface temperature (SST)-based data products monitor global current coral reef environmental conditions to quickly identify areas at risk of thermally-induced mass coral bleaching. Mass coral bleaching events have been well correlated with thermal stress. In the event of severe thermal stress, disease and mortality may follow. Severe bleaching events have dramatic long-term ecological and social impacts. Continuous monitoring of bleaching-level thermal stress at the global scale provides coral reef managers, researchers and stakeholders with critical information to understand, predict, and monitor the development of mass coral bleaching. Taking advantage of continual improvement in NESDIS’ operational satellite SST products, CRW is now developing a next-generation near-real-time satellite decision support system. • Early Warning System for Mass Coral Bleaching Events • (Current system: 50-km, twice-weekly; Next-generation system: 5-km, daily) Coral Bleaching HotSpots Degree Heating Weeks Bleaching Alert Area Sea Surface Temperature (SST) SST Anomaly SST Trends 2001-2012 Annual Composites (Bleaching Alert Area) CRW Satellite Virtual Stations CRW Satellite Bleaching Thermal Stress Monitoring Algorithms 2001 2007 Degree Heating Weeks SST SST Bleaching threshold (MMMSST+1ºC) Hotspot 2008 2002 Maximum of the Monthly Mean SST Climatology (MMMSST) Week-0 Time Week-12 a b c d 2003 2009 2010 2004 HotSpots: Instantaneous thermal stress Degree Heating Weeks Cumulative measure of thermal stress intensity and duration during the most-recent 12-week period 2005 2011 2012 2006 ≥4 DHWs Coral bleaching is expected ≥8 DHWs Widespread bleaching and mortality are expected Bleaching Alert Area Bleaching Thermal Stress Based on Historical Pathfinder SST Data 80 World Pacific Caribbean Increasing Bleaching Thermal Stress 60 > 18ºC % Reefs with Bleaching Stress 40 20 (35S-35N) - Coral reefs thrive in global tropical regions: >18°C (35S-35N) - Cover less than 1% of the Earth’s surface - Provide habitat for 25% of all known marine species - Support approximately 500 million people - Require satellite remote sensing for global coverage, reaching remote areas, synoptic viewsof large areas, and real-time and/or near-real-time monitoring 0 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 Year Stress LevelDefinitionPotential Bleaching Intensity No StressHotSpot≤ 0 No Bleaching Bleaching Watch 0 < HotSpot< 1 Bleaching Warning 1 ≤ HotSpotand 0 < DHW < 4 Possible Bleaching Bleaching Alert Level 1 1 ≤ HotSpotand 4 ≤ DHW < 8 Bleaching Likely Bleaching Alert Level 2 1 ≤ HotSpotand 8 ≤ DHW Mortality Likely Coral Reef Watch: a NOAA/NESDIS program, funded predominantly by the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP), integrates scientists from the Center for Satellite Applications and the Research (STAR) and Office of Satellite and Product Operations (OSPO). (Map from ReefBase) http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov The only satellite-based system available for U.S. and global coral reef management April 2013