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PCRF
at Sea
To date, PCRF's sailing ship is the only
vessel continually in the field studying and monitoring coral reefs on a planetary basis. PCRF
launched its research expedition in 1995 at Turneffe Atoll, Belize which
continued across the Atlantic Ocean, down the Red Sea, Indian Ocean,
Southeast Asia Sea and the South Pacific. In the coming year, PCRF
will continue its journey to Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, South East Asia, Japan, China, Russia, Hawaii and the South
Pacific.
To fulfill its mission, PCRF has chartered
a research vessel since 1991 to
- Conduct on-site monitoring of the health and vitality of coral reefs
worldwide
- Pioneer a method for mapping coral reefs using real-time satellite images
- Provide a permanent platform for ground-truthing assessments once a satellite dedicated to coral reefs is
launched
- Log cetacean and turtle sightings
For further
information about PCRF at Sea, please see the following links:
At each coral reef site visited, PCRF's crew (to date
composed entirely of volunteer officers, scientists and students from around the world)
conducts research. First, the crew performs extensive on-site filming, using a
state-of-the art underwater digital video camera. All of the film is digitized into single
frames and transferred into a special software program for coral reef analysis designed by
PCRF advisor, Dr. Phil Dustan, at the College of Charleston.
In addition,
transect measurements are taken at each site, and the reefs are assessed for their health,
vitality and species content. Results from these studies are sent
to PCRF headquarters in Los Angeles, CA and the College of Charleston.
These data sets are available for analysis to graduate students and
other advanced researchers - please contact PCRF for more information.
A major milestone was achieved in January 2002 when Qamar Schuyler,
Research Associate for PCRF and Masters student at the College of
Charleston under the direction of Dr. Phil Dustan, joined the research
vessel in Karong Kapota Atoll, Sulawesi, Indonesia. Schuyler
brought special computer equipment for satellite image analysis of coral
reefs on loan from the College of Charleston. Over the course of three
weeks, the 15 member crew assisted Schuyler in a
pioneering effort: correlating real-time in situ studies of the atollšs
coral reefs with satellite imagery. Teams went out each day to record the
different communities of corals while taking a latitude and longitude
position of their location using a Global Position System (GPS). They then
returned in the evening to compare their findings with satellite images of
the exact same reef logged into the computer program for coral reef
analysis.
This was the first time satellite mapping of
coral reefs was on board the
research vessel was
real-time: data were taken during the day and analyzed at night to create
the first map of living coral reefs from space in the Southeast Asia Sea. Prior to
this major research accomplishment, data were collected and sent back to
laboratories in the U.S. for analysis.
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