CORAL: A new method for a broader view of coral reefs
The new NASA project called CORAL aims to give an overall view of the chemical components, biological and physical coral reefs.
The monitoring project is not limited only to coral reefs, in his state of polyp and colony but aims to study all of the coral ecosystem ingredients, whether living things, such as fish, worms, invertebrates, algae, etc., or non-living components such as sand, sunlight and water.
This study will exceed analyzes and explorations relative to this fascinating marine animal with a fragmentary manner until now. A unique collection of data that will answer many unresolved questions on the actual resilience of coral to environmental hazards and its evolution that accompanies the change of context.
CORAL allows much more broader views from the sky, up to 8 km above the ocean!
Using specially designed instruments mounted on high-flying aircraft, the scientists plan to map large swaths of coral around the world in hopes of better understanding how environmental changes such as global warming, acidification and pollution are affecting these delicate and important ecosystems.
Reefs around the world are threatened by human impacts and climate change. The limited observations to date suggest that 33 to 50% of the coral reefs of our planet have been significantly degraded or destroyed. Scientists reef specialists fear the disappearance of coral reefs in the middle of the century.
