Chapter 9
Acoustic Applications
Greg Foster, Arthur Gleason, Bryan Costa, Tim Battista
and Chris Taylor
Abstract In the past few decades aerial and satellite imagery have been the primary source for producing regional scale maps of coral reefs. Although these tools
are well-suited for the clear and shallow waters of the typical coral reef setting, they
are less useful for mapping in shallow turbid coastal waters or in mesophotic depths
(30–75 m), where considerable coral reefs are known to exist. Acoustic remote
sensing systems are relatively insensitive to water column transparency and turbidity, making them ideal tools for mapping reefs in settings inappropriate for
optical mapping. Acoustic mapping of coral reefs was in its nascent stage in the
1990s at the time when optical aerial, satellite, and more recently LiDAR technologies were maturing into widely accepted methods for coral reef mapping.
G. Foster (&)
National Coral Reef Institute, Oceanographic Center,
Nova Southeastern University, 8000 N. Ocean Drive, Dania, FL 33004, USA
e-mail: fjohn@nova.edu
A. Gleason
Physics Department, University of Miami, 1320 Campo Sano Ave,
Coral Gables 33146, USA
e-mail: art.gleason@miami.edu
B. Costa Á T. Battista
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 1305 East West Highway,
Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA
e-mail: bryan.costa@noaa.gov
T. Battista
e-mail: tim.battista@noaa.gov
C. Taylor
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research, 101 Pivers Island Road,
Beaufort, NC 28516, USA
e-mail: chris.taylor@noaa.gov
J. A. Goodman et al. (eds.), Coral Reef Remote Sensing,
DOI: 10.1007/978-90-481-9292-2_9,
Ó Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013
221
Acoustic Applications
Greg Foster, Arthur Gleason, Bryan Costa, Tim Battista
and Chris Taylor
Abstract In the past few decades aerial and satellite imagery have been the primary source for producing regional scale maps of coral reefs. Although these tools
are well-suited for the clear and shallow waters of the typical coral reef setting, they
are less useful for mapping in shallow turbid coastal waters or in mesophotic depths
(30–75 m), where considerable coral reefs are known to exist. Acoustic remote
sensing systems are relatively insensitive to water column transparency and turbidity, making them ideal tools for mapping reefs in settings inappropriate for
optical mapping. Acoustic mapping of coral reefs was in its nascent stage in the
1990s at the time when optical aerial, satellite, and more recently LiDAR technologies were maturing into widely accepted methods for coral reef mapping.
G. Foster (&)
National Coral Reef Institute, Oceanographic Center,
Nova Southeastern University, 8000 N. Ocean Drive, Dania, FL 33004, USA
e-mail: fjohn@nova.edu
A. Gleason
Physics Department, University of Miami, 1320 Campo Sano Ave,
Coral Gables 33146, USA
e-mail: art.gleason@miami.edu
B. Costa Á T. Battista
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 1305 East West Highway,
Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA
e-mail: bryan.costa@noaa.gov
T. Battista
e-mail: tim.battista@noaa.gov
C. Taylor
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research, 101 Pivers Island Road,
Beaufort, NC 28516, USA
e-mail: chris.taylor@noaa.gov
J. A. Goodman et al. (eds.), Coral Reef Remote Sensing,
DOI: 10.1007/978-90-481-9292-2_9,
Ó Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013
221