Habitat Mapping/Monitoring the GBR
The Great Barrier Reef spans 2,300 kilometres, is made up of over 3000 individual reefs, and is located up to 2,000 metres underwater! Monitoring and management require detailed description of the geomorphic and benthic composition of every single reef to support their action.
In 2021 Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority made such maps available through the Reef Knowledge system via GRBMPA website as part of Phase 1 of the 3D GBR habitat mapping project between UQ and GBRMPA. The mapping framework was developed and implemented by RSRC with assistance of School of Engineering, Australian Institute of Marine Science and EOMAP Ltd. The study builds on two decades of research in this field by RSRC, and two initial pilot studies in 2015-2016 in the Capricorn Bunker group (20 Reefs) and in 2016-2017 in the Cairns Management Region (237 reefs).
In 2021 on the shallow (<20 m) offshore reefs of the GBRMP, with future research on inshore reefs and additional parameters describing the status of the GBR. The approach combines field data, image data, and physical attributes with random forest classification and object based contextual editing.
The field work included thousands of geolocated photoquadrats collected over hundreds of reefs and analysed through machine learning e.g. CoralNet, or ReefCloud. All photo quadrats and analysis are publicly accessible through Pangaea website see below. Sentinel 2 sea floor reflectance mosaic was determined from a multi temporal image stack. Absolute water depth at mean sea level was calculated and used to determine other physical attributes such as wave climate and slope.
In 2023 phase 2 was initiated where the 3D habitat mapping framework developed for the offshore reefs has been improved and will be applied on the inshore reefs as well. Additionally, a process will be initiated to develop an updated outline for each of the individual reefs. The framework itself will be trailed to also update one of the four management sections with new field data and satellite imagery.
Publications:
Roelfsema, C.; Lyons, M.B.; Castro-Sanguino, C.; Kovacs, E.M.; Callaghan, D.; Wettle, M.; Markey, K.; Borrego-Acevedo, R.; Tudman, P.; Roe, M.; Kennedy, E.V.; Gonzalez-Rivero, M.; Murray, N.; Phinn, S.R. How Much Shallow Coral Habitat Is There on the Great Barrier Reef? Remote Sensing. (2021), https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13214343
Lyons, M., C. Roelfsema, E. Kennedy, E. Kovacs, R. Borrego-Acevedo, K. Markey, M. Roe, Y. D. Harris, S.Phinn, G.Asner, J.Li, D.Knapp, N.Fabina, K.Larsen, D.Traganos, N.Murray Mapping the world's coral reefs using a global multiscale earth observation framework. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment (2020). https://doi.org/10.1002/rse2.157
Roelfsema, Chris M., Kovacs, Eva M., Ortiz, Juan Carlos, Callaghan, David P., Hock, Karlo, Mongin, Mathieu, Johansen, Kasper, Mumby, Peter J., Wettle, Magnus, Ronan, Mike, Lundgren, Petra. Kennedy, Emma V. Phinn, Stuart R. Habitat maps to enhance monitoring and management of the Great Barrier Reef. Coral Reefs (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-020-01929-3
Roelfsema C., E. Kovacs, J. Carlos Ortiz, S. Phinn, P. Mumby, D. Callaghan, M. Ronan, N. Wolf, S. Hamylton and M. Wettle “Characterise Geomorphic Zonation And Benthic Habitat Type in the Southern Great Barrier Reef (GBR) through Ecological Modelling And Remote Sensing” Remote Sensing of the Environment, (2018) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2018.02.005
Project Details
Location: Great Barrier Reef, Australia.
Researchers and Students: Chris Roelfsema, Stuart Phinn, Eva Kovacs, Mitchell Lyons, Emma Kennedy, Kat Markey, Chantel Say, Alex Ordonez, Carolina Castro, Meredith Roe, Paul Tudman, Rodney Borrego-Acevedo, Daniel Harris, Doddy Yuwono, Atefeh Sansoleimani
Partner researchers include: EOMAP Australia Ltd, Australian Institute of Marine Science
Funding agency: Great Barrier Reef Foundation, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
Timeframe: 2016-
