Joint NASA and CSIRO project to monitor Great Barrier Reef health

The health of the Great Barrier Reef could soon be monitored from space if a joint project between United States space agency NASA and Australia's CSIRO provides good results.

Colour imaging technology developed by NASA will be used in September and October to collect information about the condition of the Great Barrier Reef, from an aeroplane flown 8km above the surface of the water.

CSIRO Scientist Dr Arnold Dekker said the technology being used allowed the colours of the reef to be analysed in more detail than was previously possible.

Dr Dekker told the ABC “we now use sensors that can split the light - both the visible light and the infrared - into very small spectral bands or colour bands.’

They will fly swathes of about three kilometres in width and by flying to and fro they will build up a picture of a large area.

The many different colour bands collected by the sensors provide information about the reef's condition by determining the health of the symbiotic relationship between corals and algae.

Dr Dekker explained “the coral polyps, inside their skin, have algae that absorb light and do photosynthesis, and it's the algae that actually colour the reef.

"If the algae are healthy and the corals are healthy you've got all these abundant colours that we all know so well from coral reefs."

When coral reefs are unhealthy, stressed or dying, the relationship between the two living organisms is harmed, often resulting in them splitting.

Dr Dekker added “when they feel uncomfortable, the algae start producing toxic materials and the coral polyps then expel the algae.

"And that's how you can see how healthy the reef is."

Aerial surveys being conducted on the Great Barrier Reef later this year are part of a three-year field expedition by NASA that will also gather information about other reefs around the world.

Florida, Hawaii, Palau and the Mariana Islands, near Guam, are also set to be surveyed by the project, but not before Australia's reef gets a check over.

It is hoped the information gathered in the three-year expedition will allow scientists to determine how healthy the world's reefs are in preparation for future, space-borne missions.

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