[Coral-List] NOAA Coral Reef Watch releases publicly-accessible Light Stress Damage product

[J Shapo]

Dear Coral-Listers,

Apologies for any cross-postings.

On October 26, 2012, NOAA Coral Reef Watch (CRW) released on its
website an experimental daily Light Stress Damage product
(http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/research/lsd_index.html) for
the greater Caribbean region. This product seeks to improve upon the
NOAA CRW operational Degree Heating Weeks (DHW) product
(http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/current/products_dhw.html),
by combining light data from Geostationary Operational Environmental
Satellites (GOES), and sea surface temperature (SST) data from GOES
and Polar Operational Environmental Satellites (POES) to continuously
track the efficiency of the coral photosystem, providing managers with
a more useful measure of coral stress. This version of the Light
Stress Damage product is tuned to massive corals of the Caribbean such
as those of the genus Montastraea, and may need to be refined to be
applicable to other corals. This is a completely new approach to
determining thermal stress in corals, which worked efficiently in a
pilot project in the Keppel Islands, Great Barrier Reef, Australia,
where it provided a considerably more accurate indication of the level
of coral stress leading to bleaching than did the DHW product. The
Light Stress Damage product will provide coral reef managers with a
daily measure of coral photo-system health, allowing them to gauge
corals’ robustness to all stressors that may impact the photo-system
at any time during the year.

The experimental Light Stress Damage product was developed by NOAA
Coral Reef Watch in close collaboration with the Universidad Nacional
Autónoma de México, University of Queensland (UQ), and the University
of Exeter, with support from the Bleaching Working Group and Remote
Sensing Working Group of the Coral Reef Targeted Research Program,
Australian Research Council (ARC), and the NOAA Coral Reef
Conservation Program. A significant proportion of the future product
development is being supported by the ARC, which, in 2011, awarded an
Industry Linkage Grant to a consortium including UQ, NOAA CRW, the
Australian Institute of Marine Science, and the Great Barrier Reef
Marine Park Authority.  One of the largest ARC Linkage Grants ever
awarded, the project is aimed at developing a global version of the
Light Stress Damage product.

For more information on the Light Stress Damage product, please
contact coralreefwatch at noaa.gov or visit
http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/lsd/index.html.  Thank you!

Warm Regards,

Jacquie Rauenzahn

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Jacqueline Rauenzahn
NOAA Coral Reef Watch Operations Manager

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NESDIS/STAR/SOCD Coral Reef Watch
NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction (NCWCP), E/RA3
5830 University Research Court
3rd Floor, Room 3219
College Park, MD 20740

TELEPHONE: 301-683-3317
GENERAL SOCD FAX: 301-683-3301
EMAIL: Jacqueline.Shapo at noaa.gov