12.4 Future Directions
The future of remotely sensed thermal data, both for management and for
understanding physical/ecological processes, will undoubtedly be built on the
successes achieved so far. In the 1980s and early 1990s, remote sensing was seen
as the ‘‘tool without application’’ (Andrefouet and Riegl 2004). This stigma had
largely dissipated by the late 1990s with the development of SST products that
directly benefitted reef managers and researchers. The NOAA global HotSpot and
DHW products described above have played a significant role in cementing the
role of remote sensing in reef management as well as for the broader reef research
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Keppel Is
Heron Is
3
C A P R I C O R N C H A N N E L
150°E
24°S
22°S
20°S
152°E
154°E
H
Marion Plateau
Tropic of Capricorn
AUSTRALIA
C a p r i c o r n B u n k e r R e e f s
H2
Capricorn
Wedge
Fraser Is
Swains
Reefs
Fig. 12.6 The Capricorn Eddy forms in the lee of the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef
(after Weeks et al. 2010)
12 Thermal Applications
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