ownership of certain data components now that some image sources are private entities.
The chapter concludes with an example of a very successful data integration project, the
“Reefs at Risk” activities in both Southeast Asia and, more recently, the Caribbean.
These integrated data products are accessible through the ReefBase project which
includes these data as well as many others, such as the NOAA coral hotspot
information (Skirving et al., Chapter 2, this book). We are finally entering an era when
disparate data can be combined to provide new analytical insights into processes of
stress on natural coastal ecosystems.
5. Where Are We Heading?
These conclusions and recommendations convey a very optimistic note, but are
based on what we have seen in this field in recent years. The tremendous progress that
we have observed during the past decade has been the result of moving beyond the
concept of producing surface-cover classifications of the image. We are now examining
physical processes that are represented through a combination of increasingly
sophisticated image data and other georeferenced data sets, and are working with
multiple indicators that can be combined to make the ‘fingerprint’. This fingerprint can
provide insight into what is happening, both in space and in time. For example, we are
embarking upon models of community metabolism for coral reef systems that include
parameterized process functions scaled in space and time by remote sensing image data.
We are also seeing tangible remote sensing support being used for analysis of the
particular problems of developing economies which, typically, have been on the other
side of the ‘digital divide’. We are not only providing data, or western notions of
environmental solutions, but have moved to the point that the management at the
community level is being empowered by having visual evidence of what is occurring
around them. More importantly, the skills and technical resources to build this
information have been successfully integrated into the activities and plans of an
increasing number of developing nations. The satellite image is truly becoming a
global currency of information.
We believe that we are now at the turning point where remote sensing can be
integrated into aquatic coastal ecosystem science and management at the process level.
It will be viewed as one necessary data source that is credible and readily analyzed in
concert with traditional information to yield a new dimension for the scientist and
manager. With modest training, one can produce valuable information on a desk-top
computer with data provided on a DVD. It is our hope that this book can help foster
communication between scientists, managers, and remote sensing specialists. At this
point in time the transition necessary to integrate remote sensing in existing and
planned projects has never been easier.
315
Recommendations for Scientists and Managers
The chapter concludes with an example of a very successful data integration project, the
“Reefs at Risk” activities in both Southeast Asia and, more recently, the Caribbean.
These integrated data products are accessible through the ReefBase project which
includes these data as well as many others, such as the NOAA coral hotspot
information (Skirving et al., Chapter 2, this book). We are finally entering an era when
disparate data can be combined to provide new analytical insights into processes of
stress on natural coastal ecosystems.
5. Where Are We Heading?
These conclusions and recommendations convey a very optimistic note, but are
based on what we have seen in this field in recent years. The tremendous progress that
we have observed during the past decade has been the result of moving beyond the
concept of producing surface-cover classifications of the image. We are now examining
physical processes that are represented through a combination of increasingly
sophisticated image data and other georeferenced data sets, and are working with
multiple indicators that can be combined to make the ‘fingerprint’. This fingerprint can
provide insight into what is happening, both in space and in time. For example, we are
embarking upon models of community metabolism for coral reef systems that include
parameterized process functions scaled in space and time by remote sensing image data.
We are also seeing tangible remote sensing support being used for analysis of the
particular problems of developing economies which, typically, have been on the other
side of the ‘digital divide’. We are not only providing data, or western notions of
environmental solutions, but have moved to the point that the management at the
community level is being empowered by having visual evidence of what is occurring
around them. More importantly, the skills and technical resources to build this
information have been successfully integrated into the activities and plans of an
increasing number of developing nations. The satellite image is truly becoming a
global currency of information.
We believe that we are now at the turning point where remote sensing can be
integrated into aquatic coastal ecosystem science and management at the process level.
It will be viewed as one necessary data source that is credible and readily analyzed in
concert with traditional information to yield a new dimension for the scientist and
manager. With modest training, one can produce valuable information on a desk-top
computer with data provided on a DVD. It is our hope that this book can help foster
communication between scientists, managers, and remote sensing specialists. At this
point in time the transition necessary to integrate remote sensing in existing and
planned projects has never been easier.
315
Recommendations for Scientists and Managers