HR: 16:15h
AN: OS24A-02    [Abstracts]
TI: Rapid Optical Swath Mapping of Reef Ecology in the Gulf of Chiriquí, Panamá
AU: * Pizarro, O
EM: o.pizarro@cas.edu.au
AF: Australian Centre for Field Robotics, Rose St Bldg J04, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
AU: Camilli, L
EM: zenwaverider@yahoo.com
AF: Center for Habitat Studies, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, Moss Landing, CA 95039, United States
AU: Camilli, R
EM: rcamilli@whoi.edu
AF: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering Dept. Deep Sumbergence Laboratory MS7, Woods Hole, MA 02543, United States
AB: In February 2006 a novel approach to rapid ecological mapping was used along the Western Isthmus of Panamá. Over the course of two weeks, diver-based stereo imaging successfully covered 5km of seafloor habitats, with resolution on the order of 1 cm. Broader scale chemical (CTD, fluorometry, and in-situ mass spectrometry) and acoustic bathymetric transects mapped approximately 300km, collecting over 25,000 chemical samples, with spatial resolution on the order of 10 meters. The results from these surveys provide insight into reef structure, bathymetry, spatial heterogeneity of marine organisms, and fundamental metabolic processes of photosynthesis and respiration. This information has proven useful for understanding both natural and human dynamics affecting tropical reef systems within the eastern Pacific Ocean. Results of this survey also provide baseline ecological information for identifying priority conservation areas in the Veraguas and Chiriquí marine provinces that are biologically linked, although outside Panamá's Coiba National Park. This paper focuses on the optical imaging and data processing aspects that characterize coral reef habitats using automated 3-D imaging and feature classification.
DE: 4220 Coral reef systems (4916)
DE: 4294 Instruments and techniques
DE: 4804 Benthic processes, benthos (0408)
DE: 4815 Ecosystems, structure, dynamics, and modeling (0439)
DE: 4894 Instruments, sensors, and techniques
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting