SEMINAR: Geotopics Today - Dr. Brooke Gintert!

[Paul Hagan <phagan@rsmas.miami.edu>]

Presents
Dr. Brooke Gintert
of UMiami RSMAS
"Changing Our View of Coral Reefs: Image Mosaic Solutions for Reef Monitoring and Mapping"

3:15pm SLAB seminar room
refreshments at 3pm

Abstract:

Despite mounting evidence of approaching large-scale changes to coral reef communities due to climate change, ocean acidification, and expanding human populations, few methods of coral reef assessment are adequate for measuring and communicating reefal change.  Underwater image mosaics are created by acquiring downward-looking images over an area of interest, aligning them through sequential and global feature matching algorithms, then blending component images into a single spatially-explicit composite.  Landscape mosaic images are large (from 100s to 1000s m2), and bridge the gap in image-based marine mapping between airborne imagery that provides reef-tract-scale information, and single-photo imaging by divers.  Mosaic images are an excellent archive of reef health and have been used to accurately measure percent cover of major benthic categories, coral colony sizes, and track reef changes over time at both the community and individual scale. Recent innovations in automated benthic classification have improved the utility of mosaic monitoring by providing tools that can classify image mosaics with 96% or greater accuracy.  Image mosaics provide both scientific information for measuring reef change and an unbiased visual record that can be used to increase public awareness of the extent and severity of reef degradation.  

-- 
Paul Hagan
Graduate Student
UMiami RSMAS MGG
4600 Rickenbacker Causeway
Miami, Florida 33149 USA
phagan@rsmas.miami.edu
231-835-0100 (mobile)