Recent developments in hardware, software, and post-processing, however, have
rapidly elevated acoustic remote sensing to a viable alternative for producing
accurate high-resolution maps of coral reefs. In addition to delineating habitats, the
information encoded in acoustic echoes can also provide information about the
water column and substrate, including suspended solids, fish size and biomass,
bathymetry, grain size, and epifaunal height and abundance.
9.1 Introduction
9.1.1 Relevance to Coral Reef Management
The broad applicability and underlying physics of the various acoustic remote
sensing platforms was introduced in the preceding chapter (Chap. 8), along with
application examples for assessing the bathymetry and environment around reefs.
This chapter will focus specifically on the use of acoustic remote sensing tools for
the production of benthic habitat maps of coral reef ecosystems. Current, accurate
and consistent benthic habitat maps are a vital component of many aspects of
resource preservation and management, including (1) inventorying coral reef
resources, (2) monitoring health, cover, and species assemblages, (3) characterizing habitats for place-based conservation measures, such as marine protected
areas (MPAs) and essential fish habitats (EFHs), (4) enabling scientific understanding of the large-scale oceanographic and ecological processes affecting reef
health, and (5) acting as a proxy for the spatial distribution and abundance of
marine flora and fauna. Other common applications of acoustic remote sensing in
reef environments include fisheries stock assessment, nautical charting, coastal
engineering, and environmental change detection.
9.1.2 Role of Acoustics in Benthic Habitat Mapping
Although aerial and satellite imagery have traditionally been the primary source of
information for producing regional scale maps of benthic habitat in shallow tropical
waters, acoustic remote sensing has several important roles to fill. The science of
acoustic benthic habitat mapping is undergoing rapid developments in hardware,
software, and post-processing methodologies, similar to the rapid development of
optical remote sensing for coastal habitat mapping in the 1990s (Andrefouet and
Riegl 2004). Nevertheless, it can be anticipated that the particular roles to be played
by the various acoustic platforms will largely be a function of their inherent
attributes, including spatial coverage, thematic resolution, and cost effectiveness.
The primary role of acoustics in benthic habitat mapping is for operating in
water that is too deep or turbid for optical techniques. This limit typically occurs at
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G. Foster et al.
rapidly elevated acoustic remote sensing to a viable alternative for producing
accurate high-resolution maps of coral reefs. In addition to delineating habitats, the
information encoded in acoustic echoes can also provide information about the
water column and substrate, including suspended solids, fish size and biomass,
bathymetry, grain size, and epifaunal height and abundance.
9.1 Introduction
9.1.1 Relevance to Coral Reef Management
The broad applicability and underlying physics of the various acoustic remote
sensing platforms was introduced in the preceding chapter (Chap. 8), along with
application examples for assessing the bathymetry and environment around reefs.
This chapter will focus specifically on the use of acoustic remote sensing tools for
the production of benthic habitat maps of coral reef ecosystems. Current, accurate
and consistent benthic habitat maps are a vital component of many aspects of
resource preservation and management, including (1) inventorying coral reef
resources, (2) monitoring health, cover, and species assemblages, (3) characterizing habitats for place-based conservation measures, such as marine protected
areas (MPAs) and essential fish habitats (EFHs), (4) enabling scientific understanding of the large-scale oceanographic and ecological processes affecting reef
health, and (5) acting as a proxy for the spatial distribution and abundance of
marine flora and fauna. Other common applications of acoustic remote sensing in
reef environments include fisheries stock assessment, nautical charting, coastal
engineering, and environmental change detection.
9.1.2 Role of Acoustics in Benthic Habitat Mapping
Although aerial and satellite imagery have traditionally been the primary source of
information for producing regional scale maps of benthic habitat in shallow tropical
waters, acoustic remote sensing has several important roles to fill. The science of
acoustic benthic habitat mapping is undergoing rapid developments in hardware,
software, and post-processing methodologies, similar to the rapid development of
optical remote sensing for coastal habitat mapping in the 1990s (Andrefouet and
Riegl 2004). Nevertheless, it can be anticipated that the particular roles to be played
by the various acoustic platforms will largely be a function of their inherent
attributes, including spatial coverage, thematic resolution, and cost effectiveness.
The primary role of acoustics in benthic habitat mapping is for operating in
water that is too deep or turbid for optical techniques. This limit typically occurs at
222
G. Foster et al.