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A. E. Strong and C. Duda
NOAA/NESDIS/ORA/ORAD
Washington, DC 20233
Satellite-derived sea surface temperatures (SSTs) from AVHRR have been used to identify the
areal extent of coral reef bleaching. To help inaugurate the International Year of the Reef (IYOR)
a new, high-resolution satellite-only SST climatology has been developed to produce anomaly
fields. These fields now make it possible to quickly pinpoint regions of elevated surface
temperatures throughout the Tropics. Whenever positive SST anomalies occur during the
warmest months of the year, often a 1°C elevation above the maximum
monthly mean accompanies bleaching. To take advantage of this finding, an experimental SST chart has been
developed for the Tropics that compares presently observed SSTs to the warmest monthly mean
SSTs at each location. These special anomalies, or "Hotspots," denote potential coral reef
bleaching activity is most likely underway wherever a .1°C elevation above the monthly
mean maximum is seen in the vicinity of a reef. Examples of recent bleaching events are shown.
February 3, 1997
Satellite Applications Conference
NOAA's National Climatic Data Center
Asheville, NC
4-6 March 1997
Converted by Chris Duda, thanks to Andrew Scriven
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Regularly Updated Sea Surface Temperature (SST) Imagery:
50 km Nighttime SST | SST Anomalies | HotSpots | Degree Heating Weeks | Coral Bleaching Virtual Stations | Satellite Bleaching Alerts Regularly Updated Animations of Operational Coral Bleaching Monitoring Products: 50 km Nighttime SST Animations | Anomaly Animations | HotSpot Animations | DHW Animations Retrospective Coral Bleaching Monitoring Products: 1983-1998 SST monthly means | 1983-1998 SST monthly mean Anomalies | 1998 coral bleaching events and animations | 1998/1999 seasonal DHWs | 1985-1999 SST time series for 24 global coral reef sites Other Links of Interest: Ocean Surface Winds | ORA Satellite Oceanography Division | Comprehensive Large Array-data Stewardship System | National Climatic Data Center | Polar Orbiter Data and NOAA KLM User's Guides |
Last Modified March 03, 2008 (jw)