Monitoring of coral reef habitat changes using high-spatial-resolution satellite images

Abstract

We present quantitative estimations of changes in the areal extent of coral reef habitats at Weno Island, Micronesia, using high-spatial-resolution remote sensing images and field observations. Coral reef habitat maps were generated from Worldview-2 satellite image for February 2010 and GeoEye-1 satellite image for August 2013, yielding classifications with 84.38% and 81.58% accuracy, respectively, which is a relatively high level of agreement. The difference between the number of pixels occupied by each seabed type was calculated, revealing that the areal extent of living corals decreased by 5.4 percentage points between 2010 and 2013. This result is consistent with a comparison of the seabed types determined by field observations. This study can be used as a basis for remediation planning to diminish the impact of changes in coral reefs.rldview-2 satellite image for February 2010 and GeoEye-1 satellite image for August 2013, yielding classifications with 84.38% and 81.58% accuracy, respectively, which is a relatively high level of agreement. The difference between the number of pixels occupied by each seabed type was calculated, revealing that the areal extent of living corals decreased by 5.4 percentage points between 2010 and 2013. This result is consistent with a comparison of the seabed types determined by field observations. This study can be used as a basis for remediation planning to diminish the impact of changes in coral reefs.