Researchers have completed a complete online map of the world’s coral reefs using more than 2 million satellite images
HONOLULU – Researchers have completed a complete online map of the world’s coral reefs using more than 2 million satellite images from around the world.
The Atlas Allen Coral, named after the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, will act as a reference for reef conservation, marine planning and coral science as researchers try to save these fragile ecosystems that are losing due to climate change.
The group announced the completion of the atlas on Wednesday and said it is the first such high-resolution world map. It offers users the ability to view detailed information about local reefs, including different types of underwater structures such as sand, rocks, seagrass, and of course coral.
The maps, which include areas up to 15 meters deep, are used to inform policy decisions about marine protected areas, spatial planning of infrastructure such as docks and docks, and upcoming coral restoration projects.
“Our biggest contribution to this achievement is that we have a uniform mapping of the entire coral reef biome,” said Greg Asner, managing director of the Atlas and director of the Arizona Center for Global Discovery and Conservation. State University.
Asner said they relied on a network of hundreds of contributors who gave them local information about the reefs so they could program their satellites and software to focus on the right areas.
“And that allows us to elevate the playing field to a level where decisions can be made on a larger scale because so far decisions have been super localized,” Asner said. “If you don’t know what you have more uniformly, how would the UN ever play a real role? How would a government with an archipelago with 500 islands make a uniform decision?”
The atlas also includes a coral bleaching monitor to check for corals that are stressed due to global warming and other factors.
Asner said about three-quarters of the world’s reefs had not been previously mapped this way, and many at all.
The project began in 2017 when Allen’s company, Vulcan Inc., was working with Ruth Gates, a researcher from Hawaii whose philanthropic foundation funded the idea of creating a “super coral” for reef restoration.
Gates and Vulcan took Asner because of his work with the Global Airborne Observatory, which had then been mapping reefs in Hawaii.
Allen, who said he wanted to help save the world’s coral reefs, liked the idea of using technology to visualize data, so Gates connected the group to a satellite company called Planet. and Allen funded the project for about $ 9 million.
The University of Queensland, Australia, used artificial intelligence technology and local reference data to generate the layers of the atlas. Everyone can see the maps for free online.
Both Allen and Gates died in 2018, leaving Asner and others to continue their work.
“Ruth would love to, wouldn’t she?” Asner said. “It would just tickle you that this is really happening.”
He said about a third of the calls he receives are received by researchers who hope to use the maps to “be sure that their planning and restoration of the reefs will have their maximum effectiveness.”
When Gates learned she was ill, she selected friend and colleague Helen Fox of the National Geographic Society to help communicate with conservation groups about how to use the tool.
“It really was a global effort,” said Fox, who is now the director of conservation sciences for the Coral Reef Alliance. “There were great efforts in terms of outreach and helping people become aware of the tool and the potential scientific and conservation value.”
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This story has been corrected to reflect that approximately three-quarters of the world’s reefs had not previously been mapped of this kind, or a third.