[Coral-List] Digitizing the coral reef: HyperDiver surveys

[Arjun Chennu]

Hi Coral Listers,

I'd like to share some information about a new technique for mapping the
benthic biodiversity of coral reefs. A couple of years ago, Paul Färber
and I (Arjun Chennu) developed a spectral mapping device called
HyperDiver at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology.
HyperDiver is a diver-operable hyperspectral imaging system that can be
used to survey shallow marine habitats. Additionally, it also measures
the bottom topography, incident light field and water chemistry along
the survey transects. We performed a pilot study on coral reefs in Papua
New Guinea and managed to collect a good survey dataset.

In order to analyze the survey data in an automated way, I teamed up
with Joost den Haan, a coral reef specialist. By applying a combination
of spectral image analysis, taxonomic identification, and machine
learning, we developed a method to map the benthic biodiversity of coral
reefs in a faster and fuller way than with traditional techniques. The
results are promising, and we hope to see more 'digital reefs' soon.

We put together a short video to explain the method - "Digitizing the
coral reef: HyperDiver surveys" -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v56hAf8SjYY
Info page: http://www.mpi-bremen.de/en/Digitizing_the_coral_reef.html

We would appreciate feedback about this work. If you are interested in
using this method, to either conduct monitoring surveys or integrate it
in ongoing research programs, please contact us.

Dr. Arjun Chennu - achennu[at]mpi-bremen.de
Dr. Joost den Haan - jhaan[at]mpi-bremen.de

Phone: +49 421 2028 832
Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Germany

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Arjun Chennu, Ph.D.
Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology
Celsiusstr. 1, Bremen 28359, Germany
Phone: +49 421 2028 832
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