New advances- Mapping coral reef diversity using airborne sensors

[charlier]

Here is a link to a well-written article on the Global Airborne Observatory, which effectively can map the seafloor to a depth of 50 feet, in three dimensions. The airborne Global Airborne Observatory can map 250,000 acres a day, at resolution of 4 centimeters, a huge step forward in mapping coral reef biodiversity.

The scientists combined imaging spectroscopy, LiDAR and high-resolution photogrammetry with inertial systems that align each sensor to make an accurate 3D map. I am rarely impressed with science writing but this article is nicely written for the non-scientist.

Go to To Map a Coral Reef, Peel Back the Seawater

 

[drbill]

Certainly much better resolution than we had in mapping coral and giant kelp forests back in the early 90s

 

[charlier]

Certainly much better resolution than we had in mapping coral and giant kelp forests back in the early 90s

In the past 20 yrs, LiDAR technology has greatly improved along with high resolution photography and spectroscopy. In the last 1990’s our best LiDAR produced about 40,000 pulses/sec for mapping topography. New technical advances in sensors and better computing power have really made 3D mapping a reality.

 

[BenjaminF]

That is something which needs to be done all over the world.

 

[charlier]

That is something which needs to be done all over the world.

I completely agree. I suspect that Israel has similar technology and could easily collect data from Eilat.

 

[BenjaminF]

I'm sure that the technology is here. The issue is finding some sort of way to convince people to collect the data.

 

[charlier]

I'm sure that the technology is here. The issue is finding some sort of way to convince people to collect the data.

The Israel Science Foundation funds such studies. A few marine scientists at Hebrew University might be interested. Just a thought..