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Spectrographic imaging

A bird's-eye view of the health of coral reefs

Abstract

Almost three-quarters of the world's coral reefs are thought to be deteriorating as a consequence of environmental stress. Until now, it has been possible to evaluate reef health only by field survey, which is labour-intensive and time-consuming. Here we map live coral cover from the air by remote imaging, a technique that will enable the state of shallow reefs to be monitored swiftly and over large areas.

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Correspondence to Peter J. Mumby.

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Mumby, P., Chisholm, J., Clark, C. et al. A bird's-eye view of the health of coral reefs. Nature 413, 36 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35092617

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