Creating the First Living
Coral Reef Baseline Map

Educational Poster Designed by Keenan Wyrobek & Dan Kranzler

Remarkably, there is no comprehensive global baseline map of living coral reefs. Scientists do not even know the location of many of the world's reefs, much less their present condition or which species inhabit them. For example, in the Pacific, which has the greatest concentration of coral reefs in the world, it is estimated that 90% of these reefs have never been assessed.* Given the paucity of data, it is impossible to measure the rate at which the reefs are disappearing with accuracy.

By contrast, scientists know exactly how much rainforest is left and how much is being destroyed every day because there is a very detailed rainforest baseline provided by satellite imagery. A comparable baseline map for living coral reefs is urgently needed, and the means to detect and monitor change on a global basis must be developed to track the health of the world’s coral reefs over time. Until this is achieved, we will not have the information necessary to address the coral reef crisis on a planetary scale.

Today, the best way to obtain an accurate, living map of coral reefs is through a multi-faceted approach combining in situ underwater photography, measurements and assessments - so-called 'ground-truthing' with 'real-time' satellite imagery. Yet satellite mapping and monitoring of coral reefs pose unique challenges. Unlike the rainforests, reefs are underwater and often not visible to the naked eye. In effect, the curtains of air and water above coral reefs must be removed to "see" them and detect change. This will only be possible through remote sensing. PCRF is now pioneering a special space-based coral reef sensor for this purpose, the data from which will be transmitted by satellite and made available to the world via the internet.

*Reefs At Risk, World Resources Institute, 1998