Researchers at the University of South Australia are designing a global real-time monitoring system to help save the world’s coral reefs from further decline, primarily due to bleaching caused by global warming.Coral
Researchers at the University of South Australia are designing a global real-time monitoring system to help save the world’s coral reefs from further decline, primarily due to bleaching caused by global warming.
Coral reefs worldwide are dying at an alarming rate, with 75% of reefs experiencing bleaching-level heat stress in the past two years.
The World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef (GBR) has been decimated by severe bleaching events since 2016, exacerbated by ongoing crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks and coastal development.
A collaborative project led by the University of South Australia, with input from Queensland and Victorian researchers, is integrating remote sensing technologies with machine learning, AI and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to monitor and hopefully stall the damage.
A multimodal platform will distil all research data relating to coral reefs, including underwater videos and photographs, satellite images, text files and time-sensor readings, onto a central dashboard for real-time global monitoring.
Lead researcher Dr Abdullahi Chowdhury says that a single centralised model will integrate all factors affecting coral reefs and provide environmental scientists with real-time predictions.
“At the moment we have separate models that analyse substantial data on reef health – including bleaching levels, disease incidence, juvenile coral density and reef fish abundance
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