Benthic habitat and bathymetry mapping of shallow waters in Puerto morelos reefs using remote sensing with a physics based data processing

Abstract

We applied remote sensing techniques using WorldView-2 images with high spatial resolution and field verification to map the bathymetry and benthic habitats of the Puerto Morelos Reef National Park in the Mexican Caribbean. These images were processed using the standardized physics-based data processing of EOMAP´s Modular Inversion and Processing System (MIP). To generate a detailed benthic habitat map we developed a two levelclassification scheme based on biological and geomorphologic characteristics. These images showed high effectiveness for mapping benthic habitat. Further improvements will emphasize and focus on the selection of regional specific main spectral components and the automation of the radiometric fine tuning. The main contribution is the generation of a detailed benthic habitat map representing functional classification by combining both maps. These studies serve for the management of marine areas in Mexico and could be extended to the entire Mesoamerican Reef System.

Massive Influx of Pelagic Sargassum spp. on the Coasts of the Mexican Caribbean 2014–2020: Challenges and Opportunities

“…The resilience of the coastal ecosystems in this region has been altered over the last 50 years due to inadequate coastal management of urban and tourist developments [17], overfishing and, more recently, the massive sargasso influx. [18,19].…”

Improving the accuracy of Multispectral-based benthic habitats mapping using image rotations: the application of Principle Component Analysis and Independent Component Analysis

“…In addition to the existing benthic habitats mapping of medium spatial resolution data such as Landsat series, SPOT series, and ASTER [Capolsini et al, 2003;El-Askary et al, 2014], high spatial resolution multispectral data such as Quickbird, IKONOS, Geoeye-1 and Worldview-2 have added the depth of remote sensing application on benthic habitats mapping [Mishra et al, 2006;Vahtmae et al, 2011;Cerdeira-Estrada et al, 2012;. The variations of sensor spatial resolution have covered wide range of user needs and management scopes.…”

The Incorporation of Biophysical and Social Components in Coastal Management

“…They also serve as a habitat, providing a substrate for animals and plants, including coral larvae. This project was possible thanks to the information gathered previously in long-term monitoring of the maritime climate, beach morphodynamics and marine ecosystems Silva-Casarin et al 2009;Ruiz et al 2010;Cerdeira-Estrada et al 2012;Martell-Dubois et al 2012;Torres-Freyermuth et al 2012;Alcerreca et al 2013). In phases 1 and 2, the cost of the artificial reefs was relatively small, compared with the cost of traditional coastal protection engineering work: phase 1 cost US$253,000 and phase 2 cost US$164,000, including the technical studies, the environmental impact assessment and the permanent monitoring programme (Pablo Lucena, Now Jade Hotel, personal communication 2018).…”