SeaWiFS Data of Coral Reefs

[gene carl feldman]

Good Morning,
This is just a short note to let everyone know that
for the past month we have been collecting 1 kilometer
SeaWiFS data over regions of the world's oceans that
are not currently covered by receiving stations on the 
ground in an effort to build up a data set of cloud-free
images covering the world's coral reefs.  All these
images are being archived with the intention of working
on developing a SeaWiFS-derived baseline map of all potential 
reef locations to:
	1) compare with the currently available maps
	of coral reefs such as the 1 kilometer Reefbase 
	map and work with the appropriate groups on 
	refining these products if possible 
	2) develop the processing methodologies to best 
	identify potential reefs with SeaWiFS data (a 
	collaboration with NOAA is currently underway) 
	3) make these data sets available to coral researchers.  
We will be providing frequent updates as this activity
evolves but given the recent activity and sets of 
recommendations coming out of the June conference on the
Use Of Remote Sensing Tools For Mapping And Monitoring Coral 
Reefs, I just wanted to let people know that work has 
already begun.

Best regards,
gene feldman
NASA/SeaWiFS Project