3. Monitoring Applications
In the ‘Monitoring Applications’ section of this book are three Chapters that focus
on assessing temporal change within different aspects of coastal ecology. These are:
• a detailed presentation of an in situ instrumentation platform for remote
identification coral reef stress (Hendee et al., Chapter 6)
• illustration of the use of airborne lidar for shore DEM generation for
predictive modeling of flood risk (Webster and Forbes, Chapter 7)
• assessment of the historical archives of image data relevant to coastal
ecosystem change and variability (Gebelein, Chapter 8)
Chapter 6 (which can be considered as a complement to Skirving et al., Chapter 2)
discusses the CREWS (Coral Reef Early Warning System) network. This network
provides continuous monitoring of wind speed and gusts, direction, air and sea
temperature, salinity, PAR and discrete or broadband ultraviolet radiation, along with
video records of the CREWS array itself when within line of sight of a land observing
post, and underwater video of the substrate. Ensemble anomalies can be determined
through ongoing stochastic analysis of the data. By observation via video of the state of
the substrate, these data anomalies may be confirmed as cases of coral bleaching. The
authors provided a comprehensive list of issues related to permission approval, the
planning sequence for installation, site criteria, and ongoing maintenance. Data
validation and expert system analysis to aid interpretation are explained. Of particular
interest is the provision at some CREWS sites of measurements of coral fluorescence
efficiency. The next generation of pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) fluorometry has
been incorporated into the CREWS architecture. A reduction in coral fluorescent yield
has been associated with coral response to stress, such as a temperature increase. This
instrumentation requires some biofouling maintenance, a procedure that must be built
into the implementation plan. Although these instruments can be expensive to build,
install and maintain (over $100K US) they will provide the definitive in situ temporal
record to assess the impact of natural environmental stress. Their deployment should
be extensive to provide a comprehensive regional and intraregional assessment of coral
stress. We will then have a spatially coherent and temporally consistent archive from
which to examine coral ecosystem health and consequently provide a sound basis for
reef management.
Webster and Forbes (Chapter 7) highlighted the management issues associated
with coastal floods that may result from the increased instances of storm surge as well
as the sea level rise expected with global warming. The authors point out that the risk
of storm surge in low-lying coastal areas can affect 10 million people today. This will
increase to 50 to 80 million people by the 2080s, given the IPCC (Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change) projections of the impact of climate change, and depending
upon adaptive strategies and rate of population increase. Remote Sensing information
from radar satellites such as RADARSAT and ENVISAT may provide accurate spatial
dimensions of flooding and are useful for planning responses to flood, and airborne
lidar can be useful in mapping heights and creating a Digital Terrain Model (DEM)
with sufficient accuracy to map potential flood impact areas for specific flood and surge
projections. The authors provide an in-depth analysis of a lidar mapping campaign as
well as error assessment in creating DEMs for such flood and/or surge scenarios.
Application is tested against a recent storm surge and more severe scenarios are
assessed. They note that “…flood risk maps and information products have made it to
311
Recommendations for Scientists and Managers
In the ‘Monitoring Applications’ section of this book are three Chapters that focus
on assessing temporal change within different aspects of coastal ecology. These are:
• a detailed presentation of an in situ instrumentation platform for remote
identification coral reef stress (Hendee et al., Chapter 6)
• illustration of the use of airborne lidar for shore DEM generation for
predictive modeling of flood risk (Webster and Forbes, Chapter 7)
• assessment of the historical archives of image data relevant to coastal
ecosystem change and variability (Gebelein, Chapter 8)
Chapter 6 (which can be considered as a complement to Skirving et al., Chapter 2)
discusses the CREWS (Coral Reef Early Warning System) network. This network
provides continuous monitoring of wind speed and gusts, direction, air and sea
temperature, salinity, PAR and discrete or broadband ultraviolet radiation, along with
video records of the CREWS array itself when within line of sight of a land observing
post, and underwater video of the substrate. Ensemble anomalies can be determined
through ongoing stochastic analysis of the data. By observation via video of the state of
the substrate, these data anomalies may be confirmed as cases of coral bleaching. The
authors provided a comprehensive list of issues related to permission approval, the
planning sequence for installation, site criteria, and ongoing maintenance. Data
validation and expert system analysis to aid interpretation are explained. Of particular
interest is the provision at some CREWS sites of measurements of coral fluorescence
efficiency. The next generation of pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) fluorometry has
been incorporated into the CREWS architecture. A reduction in coral fluorescent yield
has been associated with coral response to stress, such as a temperature increase. This
instrumentation requires some biofouling maintenance, a procedure that must be built
into the implementation plan. Although these instruments can be expensive to build,
install and maintain (over $100K US) they will provide the definitive in situ temporal
record to assess the impact of natural environmental stress. Their deployment should
be extensive to provide a comprehensive regional and intraregional assessment of coral
stress. We will then have a spatially coherent and temporally consistent archive from
which to examine coral ecosystem health and consequently provide a sound basis for
reef management.
Webster and Forbes (Chapter 7) highlighted the management issues associated
with coastal floods that may result from the increased instances of storm surge as well
as the sea level rise expected with global warming. The authors point out that the risk
of storm surge in low-lying coastal areas can affect 10 million people today. This will
increase to 50 to 80 million people by the 2080s, given the IPCC (Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change) projections of the impact of climate change, and depending
upon adaptive strategies and rate of population increase. Remote Sensing information
from radar satellites such as RADARSAT and ENVISAT may provide accurate spatial
dimensions of flooding and are useful for planning responses to flood, and airborne
lidar can be useful in mapping heights and creating a Digital Terrain Model (DEM)
with sufficient accuracy to map potential flood impact areas for specific flood and surge
projections. The authors provide an in-depth analysis of a lidar mapping campaign as
well as error assessment in creating DEMs for such flood and/or surge scenarios.
Application is tested against a recent storm surge and more severe scenarios are
assessed. They note that “…flood risk maps and information products have made it to
311
Recommendations for Scientists and Managers