A New View of Coral Reefs   
       
   Earth's coral reefs teem with diverse forms of life, from microscopic   
   phytoplankton to whale sharks. As much as one quarter of all ocean species   
   depend on reefs for food or shelter-a remarkable statistic considering that   
   reefs cover less than two percent of the ocean bottom.   
       
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6kKSg052c0   
       
   Coral reef ecosystems play a vital role in maintaining Earth's marine   
   biodiversity and are valuable economically and culturally. Reefs protect   
   shorelines from storms, provide food for millions of people and create both   
   jobs and revenue in the tourism industry.   
       
   The bad news: reefs are in trouble.   
       
   Rising water temperatures linked to climate change threaten the health and   
   function of these fragile ecosystems, triggering events such as coral   
   bleaching. Overfishing of key fish and invertebrate species and overharvesting   
   of corals disrupt the natural systems, introducing invasive species and   
   resulting in coral disease.   
       
   Researchers aren't sure exactly how bad the status of Earth's coral reefs is,   
   because very little of the world's reef area has been scientifically studied.   
   Most coral reef measurements to date have been made by labor-intensive diving   
   expeditions, which can sample only one very limited site at a time. Many reefs   
   have never been surveyed at all.   
       
   Eric Hochberg, associate scientist at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences   
   and CORAL project Principal Investigator says, "Right now, the state of the   
   art for collecting coral reef data is scuba diving with a tape measure. It's   
   analogous to looking at a few trees and then trying to say what the forest is   
   doing."   
       
   Enter NASA: A new three-year NASA field expedition to examine Earth's coral   
   reefs is now underway.  The CORAL project-short for the "COral Reef Airborne   
   Laboratory," uses advanced optical instrumentation to survey the condition of   
   more of the world's coral reefs than has ever been undertaken. This effort   
   gives scientists a unique opportunity to understand coral reefs ecology and   
   condition at regional and global scales, rather than relying on patchy,   
   single-point surveys.   
       
   CORAL is using an airborne instrument called the Portable Remote Imaging   
   Spectrometer (PRISM), developed and managed at NASA's Jet Propulsion   
   Laboratory (JPL). PRISM flies at an altitude of 28,000 feet above the coral   
   reefs aboard a modified aircraft. According to Michelle Gierach, the CORAL   
   project scientist at JPL, PRISM was specifically created for remote sensing of   
   coastal and inland waters. PRISM records the spectra of light reflected upward   
   toward the instrument from the ocean below, allowing researchers to pick out   
   the unique details and properties of living corals, algae and sand. The ratio   
   of coral to algae to sand is an indicator of the coral ecosystem's condition.   
   When combined with information on the biological, chemical, and physical   
   processes, these data can provide insight into how the whole ecosystem is   
   functioning.   
       
   Flying high in the air at more than 300 miles per hour to rapidly cover broad   
   areas, Hochberg's team will survey the condition of an unprecedented extent of   
   reef systems in the central and western Pacific. In September and October of   
   2016, the team surveyed six discrete areas of Australia's Great Barrier Reef   
   with a base of operation in the northern portion of the reef. Over the next   
   year, the team will also survey reef systems in Hawaii, Palau and the Mariana   
   Islands.   
       
   "Reefs respond in complex ways to environmental stresses such as sea level   
   change, rising ocean temperatures and pollution," says Hochberg. "We need   
   accurate data across many whole reef ecosystems to develop an overarching,   
   quantitative model that describes why and how reefs change in response to   
   environmental changes."   
       
   For more updates from CORAL, and other NASA airborne missions, stay tuned to   
   science.nasa.gov.   
       
       
   Regards,   
       
   Roger   
      
   --- DB 3.99 + W10 (1607)   
    * Origin: NCS BBS - Houma, LoUiSiAna (1:3828/7)