Belizes barrier reef system, consisting of a deep marine cavern referred to as the Great Blue Hole, is the subject of a current study in which scientists used 20 years of NASA satellite data to examine the risk to coral reefs from higher temperatures and murky water.
Scientist developed a toolkit for determining the clarity and surface area temperature of coastal waters. The data is freely accessible information and can help assess reefs around the world.
Scientists utilized NASA satellite measurements and Google Earth Engine information to produce a toolkit for identifying the vulnerability of coral reefs to lightening and collapse. The study ranked marine safeguarded areas off the Belize coast based upon dangers from dirty water and increasing temperature levels, offering a tool for international reef preservation efforts.
Using 20 years of NASA satellite measurements stored in the cloud, researchers recently assessed the vulnerability of Belizes popular coral reefs to lightening and collapse. The findings could assist management authorities secure the reefs from human impacts such as development, pollution, environment, and overfishing change.
The 185-mile-long (298-kilometer-long) barrier reef system off the coast of Belize incorporates vibrant marine environments that support thousands of animal and plant species and drive the Central American countrys largest market, tourist. The system is one of about 1,200 UNESCO World Heritage sites around the globe.
In a research study published in the journal Frontiers in Remote Sensing, the scientists ranked 24 marine secured locations off the Belize coast based on the threats coral face from murky water and rising temperature levels. The study likewise detailed how scientists at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and equivalents in Belize used free, cloud-based data on Google Earth Engine in their analysis.
Scientists at JPL, along with colleagues in Belize, used 20 years of data from MODIS, an instrument on NASAs Aqua satellite, to examine risk to Belizes reef due to human activity and environment change. MODIS caught this picture of the Yucatán Peninsula, consisting of Belize, in February 2022. Credit: NASA
” We depend upon the reef for many things, so saving these resources is essential,” stated Emil Cherrington, a native Belizean and co-author of the paper. He is a research researcher at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and a co-investigator on the Belize Sustainable Development Goal job, a NASA effort to utilize Earth observation data to protect the nations marine ecosystems. “Studies like this are giving the federal government of Belize more tools for saving the resources that the nation has.”
Easy to Use, Easy to Understand
The hard skeletons of stony coral form the structure of the barrier reef, which keeps Belizes shallow coastal waters calm and enables marine life to thrive there. Coral requires clear water and constant temperatures to grow. Modifications in both elements can impact the survival of the cooperative algae that live in the coral and provide food. When the algae leave or pass away, the coral lose their color, a phenomenon called lightening. Coral can make it through under these conditions, however the modifications can put it at higher risk of mortality.
To collect data on water clearness and surface temperature level over big areas, researchers relied on the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), which was developed at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and introduced in 2002 as one of numerous instruments aboard the firms Aqua satellite. In addition to being available from NASA, MODIS images and data sets are available on Google Earth Engine.
Of the 24 marine protected areas ranked in the research study of the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System and mapped here, Port Honduras Marine Reserve off southern Belize had the highest coral vulnerability score: 10 out of 12. The study utilized NASA satellite information taken between 2002 and 2022. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Examining MODIS images collected from 2002 to 2022, the scientists established a vulnerability index that defines the risk to coral in the marine environments that Belize is handling in order to protect biodiversity. The 1 to 6 ratings were then integrated to get the coral index, from 2 to 12.
Port Honduras Marine Reserve, a 156-square-mile (40,469-hectare) safeguarded location in southern Belize, revealed the greatest coral vulnerability rating: 10 out of 12. Based upon the index, the study also flagged Swallow Caye Wildlife Sanctuary, Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve, and Corozal Bay Wildlife Sanctuary as areas for concern.
All the safeguarded areas in the research study are consisted of in the Belize Coastal Zone Management Plan, a framework to direct Belizes government on how to support the sustainable usage of the countrys coastal locations. The nations Coastal Zone Management Authority & & Institute, which is tasked with implementing and keeping an eye on policies that govern Belizes coastal waters, created the last strategy in 2016. The brand-new paper, together with other Belize-focused research sponsored through NASAs Earth Applied Sciences program, will notify the next strategy, which is currently being modified, said Samir Rosado, a co-author of the study and a coastal coordinator at the management authority.
” A lot of our cultural identity emerges from the marine areas,” Rosado stated. “Its a measure of pride– wherever Belizeans go, individuals know the reef.”
Whats Next
The vulnerability index might be utilized for other reef systems around the globe, and it might be customized to include extra water variables such as acidity, said Ileana Callejas, the papers lead author and a college student at the University of California, Los Angeles. Increasing ocean level of acidity– an effect of climate change arising from higher concentrations of dissolved co2 in the water– threatens coral health.
” We were attempting to make the data and our technique as available as possible,” stated Callejas, who started the research during an internship at JPL. “Our main function was to make a toolkit that would be easy to utilize, that would produce an index that was simple to understand, and that might be utilized to see which marine protected locations might need closer attention.”
While the historical record and standard field screening by boat have given seaside management authorities a sense of the most susceptible locations, satellites can shine light on other areas that may be less available or more costly to reach, stated Nicole Auil Gomez, a paper co-author and director of the Wildlife Conservation Societys Belize Country Program.
” Its going to become more beneficial in the future in regards to informing us more about areas we currently keep track of,” she stated. “And for locations we do not monitor, we have some tools now to be able to read more.”
Recommendation: “A GEE toolkit for water quality tracking from 2002 to 2022 in support of SDG 14 and coral health in marine secured locations in Belize” by Ileana A. Callejas, Katie Osborn, Christine Lee, Deepak R. Mishra, Nicole Auil Gomez, Abel Carrias, Emil A. Cherrington, Robert Griffin, Andria Rosado, Samir Rosado and Jennifer Jay, 22 November 2022, Frontiers in Remote Sensing.DOI: 10.3389/ frsen.2022.1020184.
Scientists at JPL, along with associates in Belize, utilized 20 years of information from MODIS, an instrument on NASAs Aqua satellite, to examine danger to Belizes coral reefs due to human activity and environment modification. The difficult skeletons of stony coral form the structure of the barrier reef, which keeps Belizes shallow coastal waters calm and makes it possible for marine life to flourish there. Of the 24 marine safeguarded areas ranked in the research study of the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System and mapped here, Port Honduras Marine Reserve off southern Belize had the greatest coral vulnerability score: 10 out of 12. Analyzing MODIS imagery gathered from 2002 to 2022, the researchers developed a vulnerability index that characterizes the danger to coral in the marine environments that Belize is handling in order to safeguard biodiversity. All the secured areas in the study are consisted of in the Belize Coastal Zone Management Plan, a framework to direct Belizes federal government on how to support the sustainable use of the nations seaside locations.