Project Summary for 2005–03–04: Application of Rov-Based Video Technology to Complement Coral Reef Resource Mapping and Monitoring
Mapping is a crucial component of establishing baseline environmental data. For coral reefs, successful and legally defensible monitoring of reef condition will require estimates of basic ecological parameters, such as live coral cover, species diversity, and mortality and recruitment rates. Presently, such parameters are typically measured by field surveys using trained divers. Airborne or satellite–based remotely sensed data are not currently able to reliably quantify coral condition at the required level of detail. The most appropriate strategy for reef monitoring is detailed analysis of meter–scale plots at high spatial resolution. The goal of this project is to develop technology that will increase the speed and repeatability with which reef plots can be mapped and inventoried. The core of this technology will produce mosaics of underwater video in a highly automated way, thereby increasing the area that can be mapped for a given level of effort. Our primary aim is to implement ROV–based technology to construct geo–referenced video-mosaics of plots on a coral reef and to extract meaningful ecological indices of reef condition from such mosaics.
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