1. Proposed Research: Temporal Dynamics of Coral Reefs using Remotely Sensed Data Alicia L. Simonti asimonti@clarku.edu http://students.clarku.edu/~asimonti/ Master of Arts Candidate in Geographic Information Science for Development and the Environment International Development, Community, and Environment Graduate School of Geography Clark University Worcester, MA USA Research Advisors: Ron Eastman & John Rogan

2. 2 Research Question Can a correlation between sea surface temperature and changes in live coral cover be determined using a Time Series Analysis of MODIS imagery?

3. 3 Outline Importance of coral reefs Importance of remote sensing to coral reef monitoring Study Area Methodology Conclusion: review the research question Q & A time

4. 4 Why are coral reefs important? Biological importance: most diverse of all marine ecosystems Economical importance: stabilize shorelines/prevent erosion multi-million dollar fisheries industry tourism

5. 5 Benefits of Remote Sensing to Coral Reefs Alleviates many limitations of in situ data collection Ability to observe and analyze reef status across large geographic areas Ability to observe and analyze reef status with much greater temporal resolution

6. 6 Study Area: Mesoamerican Barrier Reef l Map courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) http://www.coral.noaa.gov/reef_maps/volume1/belize_large.jpg

7. 7 Data and Imagery Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrodiometer (MODIS): Multispectral, 250 m, 1-2 days, 2000-2007 Sea Surface Temperature Product Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER): Multispectral, 15 & 30 m, 5 days, 2000-2007

8. 8 Methodology Summarize current literature Mask out terrestrial areas Depth/bathymetry determination Depth/bathymetric correction Map live coral cover Time series analysis Correlation

9. 9 Methodology Interference of Water Image courtesy of Joyce and Phinn, in prep

10. 10 Methodology: Live Coral Index Images courtesy of Joyce et al., in preparation

11. 11 Methodology: Time Series Analysis

12. 12 Methodology: Correlation

13. 13 Methodology Acquire & organize data Summarize water & coral Learn LCI (Live coral index) Mask land Water determination/correction Apply LCI Develop LCI for MODIS LCI Time Series Correlation

14. 14 Research Question Can a correlation between sea surface temperature and changes in live coral cover be determined using a Time Series Analysis of MODIS imagery?

15. Proposed Research: Temporal Dynamics of Coral Reefs using Remotely Sensed Data Alicia L. Simonti asimonti@clarku.edu http://students.clarku.edu/~asimonti/ Master of Arts Candidate in Geographic Information Science for Development and the Environment International Development, Community, and Environment Graduate School of Geography Clark University Worcester, MA USA Research Advisors: Ron Eastman & John Rogan

16. 16 Timeline Summer 2007Acquire & organize data Summarize: coral and water Research LCI Fall 2007Preprocessing Apply LCI Time series analysis Spring 2008Correlation Compare with current literature Generate final paper