Spectral Libraries of Submerged Biotopes for Benthic Mapping in Southwestern Puerto Rico

• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2047/d10009267

The quantitative characterization of the submerged biotopes of Enrique Reef, southwestern Puerto Rico, requires atmospheric and water column corrections of satellite data before performing classification algorithms. The Lyzenga (1978) method was used for deriving three depth-invariant bands based on the visible bands of IKONOS imagery. The spectral reflectance properties of corals, seagrasses, gorgonians, sponges, sand and other benthic components were obtained in situ by a GER 1500 spectroradiometer and used to create a coral reef spectral library. The spectral properties of the submerged biotopes provide a measure of the variability of these targets, the degree at which they could be spectrally separated using multispectral or hyperspectral imagery, and the condition of these communities for change detection due to bleaching, diseases, hurricanes, and other natural or anthropogenic impacts.