High Resolution Landscape (2-D) Mosaics for Improved Coral Reef Monitoring Capability
RC-201021
Objective
The objective of this project is to demonstrate, validate, and transition an innovative image mosaicing technology for coral reef assessment. Landscape image mosaics complement and augment diver measurements of coral reef health by producing spatially accurate, high resolution, plot-scale views of the seabed. Federal policy mandates that the Department of Defense (DoD) characterize, assess, and monitor underwater benthic communities at DoD coral reef sites to document compliance with promulgated national policy and ensure that DoD operations do not lead to natural resource degradation, particularly with respect to coral reefs. This underwater mosaicing technology can assist in that requirement. Specific technical objectives of this project are to: (1) demonstrate that landscape mosaics can enhance assessment and long-term monitoring of coral reefs and (2) demonstrate the value of mosaics as tools for assessing potential physical damage to coral reefs caused by disturbances such as ship groundings, cable installation, and port expansion projects. Each demonstration will assess the performance of the mosaics by comparing ecological metrics extracted from the mosaics with the same metrics measured by divers. Each demonstration will also assess the relative cost of the mosaic technique versus the diver-based technique for acquiring and analyzing ecological data.
Technology Description
A mosaic is a single large image composed of many smaller overlapping images, each covering a small portion of the total area. Here individual underwater images are taken close (approximately 1-2 m) to the seabed; they have high spatial resolution and minimal water column attenuation. The mosaic of these images enables a high resolution "landscape view" of the seabed. The innovative aspect of the current mosaic technology is that the images provide both landscape-level maps and high resolution (sub-millimeter) images of individual coral colonies. Users can, moreover, collect imagery at both landscape and colony levels for areas of several 100 square meters in under an hour of in-water dive time, creating mosaic products that provide increased information on coral colony health and small-scale competitive interactions. This project has been in development for the past several years under the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (RC-1333), where the value of using mosaics for extracting ecological indicators of reef health and for damage assessment has been documented. The mosaic products have excellent archive potential and appear to be superior tools for tracking changes over time.
Benefits
The mosaicing technology will benefit DoD and other governmental agencies, such as NOAA, that are currently engaged in costly and labor- intensive programs of coral reef monitoring and damage assessment. The mosaicing technology is expected to reduce costs of obtaining coral reef and benthic habitat data and to improve the quality and archive potential of ecological data. The mosaicing technology will provide additional capability to complement and augment direct expert observations for benthic habitat analysis, and add important capabilities for analyzing, storing, and sharing important time-series data for the purpose of natural resource management. Underwater mosaics will retain the strengths associated with direct expert observations while, at the same time, circumventing the limitations of a traditional diver-only approach. (Anticipated Project Completion - 2013)
Symposium & Workshop
FY 2013 New Start Project Selections
Points of Contact
Principal Investigator
Mr. William Wild
SPAWAR Systems Center Pacific
Phone: 619-553-2781
Fax: 619-553-6305
Program Manager
Resource Conservation and Climate Change
SERDP and ESTCP
Document Types
- Fact Sheet - Brief project summary with links to related documents and points of contact.
- Final Report - Comprehensive report for every completed SERDP and ESTCP project that contains all technical results.
- Cost & Performance Report - Overview of ESTCP demonstration activities, results, and conclusions, standardized to facilitate implementation decisions.
- Technical Report - Additional interim reports, laboratory reports, demonstration reports, and technology survey reports.
- Guidance - Instructional information on technical topics such as protocols and user’s guides.
- Workshop Report - Summary of workshop discussion and findings.
- Multimedia - On demand videos, animations, and webcasts highlighting featured initiatives or technologies.
- Model/Software - Computer programs and applications available for download.
- Database - Digitally organized collection of data available to search and access.