A COMPARISON OF SATELLITE-BASED ESTIMATES OF CORAL BLEACHING

Abstract

A common agreement between satellite sea surface temperature measurements and observed bleaching events supports the usage of Degree Heating Weeks as a proxy for coral bleaching. This study compares a small set of observed bleaching events to satellite Degree Heating Week data in an effort to determine the ability of satellites to monitor coral bleaching. NOAA geo-polar blended Sea Surface Temperature products from NOAA Coral Reef Watch and NOAA Coast Watch were compared to observational in-situ data from Reef Check¹. From the Reef Check Indo-Pacific regional data, 15 extreme bleaching events were identified and compared to satellite data from the same day the extreme bleaching event was recorded. The satellite and in-situ data aligned for 9 of the 15 events and were mismatched for 6 events. The 9 bleaching events that were indicated by both satellite data and in-situ observational data were all widespread bleaching events in the Indo-Pacific region. Satellite sea surface temperature measurements are an appropriate proxy to measure coral bleaching during widespread bleaching events.

Keywords: Degree Heating Weeks, Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly, Coral Reefs, Coral Bleaching