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ICON/CREWS The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Integrated Coral Observing Network (ICON, formerly CREWS) program is a collaborative effort between two line organizations within NOAA: Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), and the National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service (NESDIS). This is a coral reef monitoring program providing early warnings and long-term monitoring of key coral reefs, both domestic and international. It was initiated in 2000 due to domestic and international interests, but the underlying monitoring work started years earlier. The Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) of OAR is conducting research on the influence of meteorological and oceanographic factors upon coral bleaching, and other biogeochemical processes occurring on coral reefs. Instrument arrays to measure the various environmental influences are being deployed at key coral reef areas to gain long-term temporally intensive data coverage, to provide near real-time information products, and to surface-truth NOAA satellite sea surface temperature (SST) products used for coral bleaching predictions ("HotSpot" products). OAR has developed expert system software plus the instrument array (together called an Integrated Coral Observing Network, or ICON, station) to screen data in near real-time to test for appropriate data ranges for each of the instruments, and to issue "alerts" as to conditions thought to be conducive to coral bleaching, and other modeled events. At each ICON station, local collaborators also provide feedback on the presence and progress of coral bleaching and thus validate coral bleaching predictions made by satellite HotSpots and ICON/CREWS information products. The first ICON/CREWS station was installed near Rainbow Gardens Reef, Lee Stocking Island, Bahamas, in summer 2001.
NESDIS, on the other hand, seeks to monitor sea
surface temperature (SST) anomalies and other environmental conditions,
using satellite remote sensing data, at
coral reef areas throughout the world in a spatially intensive manner (larger
spatial scales and remote locations), and relate
these to incidences of coral bleaching. NESDIS
near real-time global twice-weekly nighttime satellite
Advanced-Very-High-Resolution-Radiometer (AVHRR)-derived sea surface
temperature (SST) products have been used to derive bleaching "HotSpot"
anomaly charts and bleaching Degree Heating Weeks (DHW) charts as indices
of coral bleaching related thermal stress. The HotSpot technique is
proving to be highly successful in providing early warnings of coral
bleaching on large spatial scales to the coral reef community.
These products are accessible online at: Site
Surveys *Note: Files are in *.pdf format - to view you may download the free Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader HERE
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