Last month, the NOAA Coral Reef Watch (CRW) program organized and co-led an international workshop on satellite sea surface temperature (SST) On and Around Coral Reefs (SOAR) alongside the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS).
Held in Townsville, Australia, it was an official Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST) workshop. Its purpose was to identify gaps and potential improvements in current satellite SST products on and around coral reefs. SST users clarified their use of and needs for SST so algorithm developers could better understand the end uses of current and planned products.
It was considered to be a resounding success with many new ideas for satellite SST retrieval identified.
Thirty-seven attendees represented NOAA / NESDIS / STAR, AIMS, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA), Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology, the University of Queensland (UQ), University of Reading, University of Leicester, and University of Exeter.
In addition to the CRW Federal Coordinator, C. Mark Eakin, CRW staff at ESSIC / CICS-MD in attendance included Gang Liu, William Skirving, Scott Heron, and Benjamin Marsh.
Currently, a workshop report is being written for submission to EOS Transactions. A subsequent journal article may follow detailing discussions during and recommendations from the workshop.
To learn more about NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch, click to go to its home page.
