Using Landsat Data to Detect Change in Live to Recently (<6 Months) Dead Coral Cover in the Western Xisha Islands, South China Sea

Xiuling Zuo, Fenzhen Su, Junjue Zhang and Wenzhou Wu
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Xiuling Zuo: School of Marine Sciences, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
Fenzhen Su: State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing 100101, China
Junjue Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing 100101, China
Wenzhou Wu: State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing 100101, China

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 13, 1-13

Abstract: The amount of live and dead coral is related to recruitment, but differentiating them by remote sensing techniques is difficult. We measured change in the amount of live, bleached, and recently (<6 months) dead coral cover (CCA6) for an island archipelago in the South China Sea. Six Landsat 4/7 ETM/8 OLI images from 1989–1990, 2005, and 2014 were analyzed to assess changes in CCA6 at 14 coral reefs in the western Xisha Islands. Satellite images were georectified and calibrated to remote sensing reflectance. Models for three shallow water (<6 m) geomorphic zones throughout the western Xisha Islands are proposed based on ground-truthed data collected in 2014 and satellite-determined spectral values for 2014 images. Nonlinear models based on Landsat image blue spectral bands for reef slope and lagoon habitats, and green bands for reef flat habitats, are determined as optimal models. Significant changes in CCA6 from 2005 to 2014, and changes in coral reefs and geomorphic zones, correlate with increased numbers of both crown-of-thorns starfish, and sea surface temperature in 2007. Detecting change in CCA6 by remote sensing can provide large-scale information of value for coral reef management, restoration, and protection.

Keywords: coral reef; coral cover; remote sensing; change detection; Xisha Islands; South China Sea; climate warming (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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