Ackleson, Steven: Naval Research Laboratory (Project Lead)
Project Funding:
2015 - 2017
NRA: 2014 NASA: HyspIRI Preparatory Airborne Activities and Associated Science: Coral Reef and Volcano Research
Funded by NASA
Abstract:
The Naval Research Laboratory will lead a team of coral reef and ocean remote sensing scientists to investigate spatial and temporal gradients in coral reef coverage and water quality around the Hawaiian Islands and adjacent waters of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument (PMNM). The ecological state of coral reefs will be expressed as one of three possible regimes: 1) healthy calcifying corals, 2) turf and coral rubble-dominated, and 3) fleshy macroalgae. Hyperspectral and Infrared Imager (HyspIRI) data, to be simulated with high-altitude aerial surveys in 2016, and Hyperspectral Imager for the Coastal Ocean (HICO) data, collected between 2010 and 2014, will be inverted for coral reef coverage and associated water quality using methods based on state-of-the-art radiative transfer models (spectral look-up tables and optimization procedures). The radiative transfer models will be constrained using extensive, existing data sets of coral reef feature reflectance spectra. In situ observations will be conducted to augment the existing databases, assess sub-pixel variability, and assess the quality of the HyspIRI and HICO data. Error propagation methods will be used to assess uncertainty within derived products as a function of the expected system noise and uncertainties in atmospheric correction. Existing in situ coral reef survey data collected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (NOAA/CRED) will be used to validate regime retrievals. The HyspIRI and HICO results will be used to investigate spatial and temporal gradients in coral reef coverage as a function of proximity to centers of human habitation and human-reef interaction and expected long-term environmental adjustments related to climate change. In addition to new knowledge about spatial and temporal changes in Hawaiian and PMNM coral reef ecosystems, this work will culminate in a more thorough understanding of expected HyspIRI capabilities for assessing coral reef coverage and associated water quality as a function of system noise.
More details may be found in the following project profile(s):
