Image: AIM
The Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) has launched an open-access, cloud-based platform to enable scientists and researchers globally to work together in real time to improve surveillance. coral reefs and accelerate the sustainable management of coral reefs.
Known as ReefCloud, the platform is underpinned by an artificial intelligence engine that can automatically analyze reef surveillance images before extracting and tagging relevant information, such as coral cover and coral reef composition. The engine was trained using a dataset collected through the long-term monitoring program AIMS, which conducts annual image-based surveys of 80 reefs on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. .
Once the information is extracted, all insights are automatically updated on the platform’s dashboard, designed by Fjord, part of Accenture Interactive. The dashboard provides detailed information on the environmental impact of coral reefs, including environmental patterns and exposure of corals to heat stress and on-site cyclones.
According to AIMs, the platform can analyze reef composition with 80-90% accuracy and 700 times faster than traditional manual assessment that can take weeks or sometimes months.
“ReefCloud will support a transformation in reef monitoring approaches that lead to more informed and timely decision-making on management actions to improve the long-term resilience of coral reefs.” our chant,” said AIMS research team leader and ReefCloud director, Dr. Manuel Gonzalez Rivero.
“ReefCloud is the democratization of knowledge – working together as a community to monitor and share our knowledge and data is much more efficient and effective.”
Rivero added the idea behind ReefCloud is to help standardize data collection on reefs
“Last year, GCRMN (Global Reef Monitoring Network) released a global snapshot of reef health related to integrating reef monitoring efforts from 12,000 reef sites. in 73 countries. With limited human resources, it took years to correct inconsistent data formats and methods,” said Rivero.
“ReefCloud can automate that process, providing updates within hours, leading to more informed and timely decisions about actions to improve the long-term sustainability of coral reefs.” our.”
ReefCloud is a A$6.6 million program, funded by AIMS and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Training. It was developed by AIMS in conjunction with the Palau International Reef Centre, the Fiji Wildlife Conservancy, the International Reef Initiative, the University of the South Pacific, the Queensland University of Technology, Marine Ecology Consultant, Maldives Marine Research Institute, CO2 Consulting and Accenture.
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