Ayad Mariam, Lee Christine M, Porter James W, Chirayath Ved, Nivison Camilla L, Vaughn Kelsey M, Kudela Raphael
Department of Ocean Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California 95064, United States.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91011, United States.
Environ Sci Technol. 2025 Jul 29;59(29):15227-15235. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.5c03122. Epub 2025 Jul 21.
Coral reefs are facing several stressors, such as increases in sea surface temperature, eutrophication, and hurricanes, resulting in reef-decline worldwide. In the Florida Keys, these stressors, especially elevated temperatures, have triggered widespread coral bleaching as well as a cascade of simultaneous negative impacts, such as increased disease, accelerated reef erosion, and severe ecosystem degradation. In the summer of 2023, the Florida Keys and the Caribbean experienced a mass bleaching event due to a record-breaking marine heatwave with ocean temperatures exceeding 38 °C. This study investigates whether remote sensing using Planet's SuperDove sensor could detect this mass coral bleaching event at Horseshoe Reef and Cheeca Rocks in the Florida Keys. We validated these data using several sources: NOAA photomosaic data, NASA airborne fluid lensing from two campaigns (before and during bleaching), and underwater orthomosaic data from July 2023. We were able to detect a signal change using the SuperDove sensor between healthy and bleached coral. Bleached corals have a higher reflectance in SuperDove's band 2 (492 nm) compared to healthy coral. The results of this study supports the use of Planet's SuperDove satellite imagery for long-term monitoring of coral bleaching, though confirmation with high-resolution refraction-free data are still needed.
珊瑚礁正面临着多种压力因素，如海面温度上升、富营养化和飓风，导致全球范围内的珊瑚礁衰退。在佛罗里达群岛，这些压力因素，尤其是温度升高，引发了广泛的珊瑚白化现象以及一系列同时出现的负面影响，如疾病增加、珊瑚礁侵蚀加速和严重的生态系统退化。2023年夏天，由于一场破纪录的海洋热浪，海洋温度超过38°C，佛罗里达群岛和加勒比地区经历了一次大规模白化事件。本研究调查了使用Planet公司的SuperDove传感器进行遥感是否能够检测到佛罗里达群岛马蹄礁和奇卡岩的这次大规模珊瑚白化事件。我们使用了多个来源的数据对这些数据进行了验证：美国国家海洋和大气管理局（NOAA）的拼接照片数据、美国国家航空航天局（NASA）在两次活动（白化之前和期间）的机载流体透镜数据以及2023年7月的水下正射影像数据。我们能够利用SuperDove传感器检测到健康珊瑚和白化珊瑚之间的信号变化。与健康珊瑚相比，白化珊瑚在SuperDove的2号波段（492纳米）具有更高的反射率。本研究结果支持使用Planet公司的SuperDove卫星图像对珊瑚白化进行长期监测，不过仍需要高分辨率无折射数据进行确认。
