Project Funding: 2009 - 2014

NRA: 2008 NASA: Decision Support through Earth Science Research Results   

Funded by NASA

Abstract:
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has developed a Decision Support System (DSS) under the Coral Reef Watch (CRW) program to forecast environmental stress in coral reef ecosystems around the world. This DSS uses models and 50 km Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) to generate “HotSpot” and Degree Heating Week coral bleaching indices. These are used by scientists and resource managers around the world. These users, including National Marine Sanctuary managers, have expressed the need for higher spatial resolution tools to understand local issues. We propose to augment the CRW DSS with two products from NASA research programs. One is a series of coral bleaching products at higher spatial resolution derived using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and AVHRR data. We will generate and validate products at 1 km resolution for the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, and global assessments at 4 and 50 km. The other product is the Global Coral Reef Millennium Map, a 30-m resolution thematic classification of coral reefs developed by the NASA Landsat-7 Science Team. The Millennium Maps help understand the geomorphology of individual reefs around the world. The products will be available through NOAA CRW and UNEP-WCMC web portal with visualization and knowledge synthesis tools designed to help users formulate policy options and management decisions. An independent team will evaluate the new products with a range of users. The augmented DSS has a global scope, yet it addresses the needs of local resource managers. The work complements efforts to map and monitor coral reef communities in the U.S. territories by NOAA, NASA, and the USGS, and is a contribution to international efforts in ecological forecasting of coral reefs under changing environments, coral reef research, resource management, and conservation. This activity directly addresses the objectives of the NASA Ecological Forecasting application area.

Publications:

Barnes, B. B., Hallock, P., Hu, C., Muller-Karger, F., Palandro, D., Walter, C., Zepp, R. 2015. Prediction of coral bleaching in the Florida Keys using remotely sensed data. Coral Reefs. 34(2), 491-503. DOI: 10.1007/s00338-015-1258-2

Barnes, B. B., Hu, C., Muller-Karger, F. 2011. An Improved High-Resolution SST Climatology to Assess Cold Water Events off Florida. IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters. 8(4), 769-773. DOI: 10.1109/lgrs.2011.2111353

Cheon, W. G., Lee, S., Gordon, A. L., Liu, Y., Cho, C., Park, J. J. 2015. Replicating the 1970s' Weddell Polynya using a coupled ocean-sea ice model with reanalysis surface flux fields. Geophysical Research Letters. 42(13), 5411-5418. DOI: 10.1002/2015gl064364

Chollett, I., Enriquez, S., Mumby, P. J. 2014. Redefining Thermal Regimes to Design Reserves for Coral Reefs in the Face of Climate Change. PLoS ONE. 9(10), e110634. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0110634

Chollett, I., Muller-Karger, F. E., Heron, S. F., Skirving, W., Mumby, P. J. 2012. Seasonal and spatial heterogeneity of recent sea surface temperature trends in the Caribbean Sea and southeast Gulf of Mexico. Marine Pollution Bulletin. 64(5), 956-965. DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2012.02.016

Chollett, I., Mumby, P. J., Muller-Karger, F. E., Hu, C. 2012. Physical environments of the Caribbean Sea. Limnology and Oceanography. 57(4), 1233-1244. DOI: 10.4319/lo.2012.57.4.1233

Liu, G., Heron, S., Eakin, C., Muller-Karger, F., Vega-Rodriguez, M., Guild, L., De La Cour, J., Geiger, E., Skirving, W., Burgess, T., Strong, A., Harris, A., Maturi, E., Ignatov, A., Sapper, J., Li, J., Lynds, S. 2014. Reef-Scale Thermal Stress Monitoring of Coral Ecosystems: New 5-km Global Products from NOAA Coral Reef Watch. Remote Sensing. 6(11), 11579-11606. DOI: 10.3390/rs61111579

Liu, Y., Lee, S., Enfield, D. B., Muhling, B. A., Lamkin, J. T., Muller-Karger, F. E., Roffer, M. A. 2015. Potential impact of climate change on the Intra-Americas Sea: Part-1. A dynamic downscaling of the CMIP5 model projections. Journal of Marine Systems. 148, 56-69. DOI: 10.1016/j.jmarsys.2015.01.007

Montes, E., Muller-Karger, F. E., Cianca, A., Lomas, M. W., Lorenzoni, L., Habtes, S. 2016. Decadal variability in the oxygen inventory of North Atlantic subtropical underwater captured by sustained, long-term oceanographic time series observations. Global Biogeochemical Cycles. 30(3), 460-478. DOI: 10.1002/2015gb005183

Perez-Santos, I., Schneider, W., Valle-Levinson, A., Garces-Vargas, J., Soto, I., Montoya-Sanchez, R., Melo Gonzalez, N., Muller-Karger, F. 2014. Chlorophyll-a patterns and mixing processes in the Yucatan Basin, Caribbean Sea. Ciencias Marinas. 40(1), 11-31. DOI: 10.7773/cm.v40i1.2320

Soto, I. M., Cannizzaro, J., Muller-Karger, F. E., Hu, C., Wolny, J., Goldgof, D. 2015. Evaluation and optimization of remote sensing techniques for detection of Karenia brevis blooms on the West Florida Shelf. Remote Sensing of Environment. 170, 239-254. DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2015.09.026

Vega-Rodriguez, M., Muller-Karger, F., Hallock, P., Quiles-Perez, G., Eakin, C., Colella, M., Jones, D., Li, J., Soto, I., Guild, L., Lynds, S., Ruzicka, R. 2015. Influence of water-temperature variability on stony coral diversity in Florida Keys patch reefs. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 528, 173-186. DOI: 10.3354/meps11268

Zhang, M., English, D., Hu, C., Carlson, P., Muller-Karger, F. E., Toro-Farmer, G., Herwitz, S. R. 2016. Short-term changes of remote sensing reflectancein a shallow-water environment: observations from repeated airborne hyperspectral measurements. International Journal of Remote Sensing. 37(7), 1620-1638. DOI: 10.1080/01431161.2016.1159746

Zhang, M., Hu, C., English, D., Carlson, P., Muller-Karger, F. E., Toro-Farmer, G., Herwitz, S. R. 2015. Atmospheric Correction of AISA Measurements Over the Florida Keys Optically Shallow Waters: Challenges in Radiometric Calibration and Aerosol Selection. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing. 8(8), 4189-4196. DOI: 10.1109/jstars.2015.2437326

2015 NASA Carbon Cycle & Ecosystems Joint Science Workshop Poster(s)

• National Marine Sanctuaries as Sentinel Sites for a Demonstration Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON)   --   (Frank Muller-Karger, Scott Donahue, Steve Gittings, Mya Breitbart, Enrique Montes, Megan Hepner, Maria Kavanaugh)   [abstract]
• A short story on thermal anomalies and coral bleaching in the Florida Keys   --   (Maria Vega-Rodriguez, Meaghan Johnson, Gabriel Antonio Quiles-Perez, C. Mark Eakin, Matthew McCarthy, Frank Muller-Karger)   [abstract]
• Addressing User Demands: Enhancing NOAA Coral Reef Watch’s Satellite Decision Support System for Coral Reef Managers   --   (Erick F. Geiger, C. Mark Eakin, Gang Liu, Jacqueline L. De La Cour, Scott F. Heron, William J. Skirving, Alan E. Strong)   [abstract]   [poster]

2011 NASA Carbon Cycle & Ecosystems Joint Science Workshop Poster(s)

• High-Resolution Coral Reef Bleaching Tools: A Decision Support System to Help Managers Protect Reefs in a Changing Climate   --   (C. Mark Eakin, Jianke Li, Maria Vega-Rodriguez, Frank Muller-Karger, Gang Liu, Scott Heron, Liane Guild, Louisa Wood, Susan Lynds, Tyler Christensen, Ramakrishna R. Nemani, Jacqueline Rauenzahn, William Skirving, Tim Burgess)   [abstract]
• Developing High-Resolution Thermal Stress Indices To Enhance Regional Coral Bleaching Forecasts Through NOAA's Coral Reef Watch Decision-Support-System: Cold Stress Case Study   --   (Maria Vega-Rodriguez, Frank E Muller-Karger, Jianke Li, C Mark Eakin, Liane Guild, Chuanmin Hu, Liu Gang, Lynds Susan, Nemani Ramakrishna, Heron Scott, Quiles Gabriel, Lirman Diego, Ruzicka Robert)   [abstract]

More details may be found in the following project profile(s):

• NASA Biological Diversity & Ecological Conservation (BDEC) Project Profile