upfront
Upcoming Events 14-15 August 2017: Precision Agriculture Symposium; Sydney, NSW. www.spaa.com.au 14-19 August 2017: FOSS4G Boston 2017; Boston, MA, USA. 2017. foss4g.org 15 August 2017: The June 2016 Coastal Storm – the event, damage, response and lessons; Sydney, NSW. bit.ly/2vcF5BS 17 August 2017: Women In Surveying Launch and Networking Event; Melbourne, VIC. bit.ly/2vcPaii 19-20 August 2017: GNSS Control Surveys Workshop; Springfield, QLD. bit.ly/2vcjysY 22 August 2017: Ozri Melbourne 2017; Melbourne, VIC. bit.ly/2rIfxtF 25 August 2017: Ozri Sydney 2017; Sydney, NSW. bit.ly/2rrxvjC 28 August 2017: SIBA|GITA Breakfast; Melbourne, VIC. bit.ly/2vcNmFQ
Reef in grief
T
he Copernicus Sentinel-2A satellite captured this image over part of the Great Barrier Reef off Australia’s northeast coast on 1 April 2017. Extending more than 2,000 kilometres and covering an area of some 350,000 square kilometres, the Great Barrier Reef is the planet's biggest single structure made by living organisms, called coral polyps. Despite its name, it is not a single reef but contains nearly 3,000 different reefs. The reef is home to over 1,500 tropical fish species, 400 types of coral, more than 200 species of bird, 5,000 species of mollusc, 500 species of seaweed and six species of sea turtle. It is also a breeding area for humpback whales. In recognition of its significance, the reef was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981. Coral reefs worldwide are increasingly under threat from coral bleaching, and this is especially true in the Great Barrier Reef. Bleaching occurs when algae living in the corals’ tissues, which capture the Sun’s energy and are essential to coral survival, are expelled due to high water temperatures. The whitening coral may die, with subsequent effects on the reef ecosystems and related industries. The corals of the Great Barrier Reef have now suffered two bleaching events in successive years, to the point that severe
4 position August/September 2017
Copernicus Sentinel data (2017), processed by ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.
coral bleaching has affected two thirds of the entire reef. Experts are increasingly concerned about the capacity for the reef to survive under the increased threat of climate change. In July 2017 the World Heritage Committee (WHC) decided not to include it in the UNESCO ‘in danger’ list, at the dismay of scientists and environmental groups worldwide. The WHC did state it still had concerns about water quality targets and land clearing laws in Queensland. In 2016, NASA began the three-year mission known as COral Reef Airborne Laboratory (CORAL) to thoroughly survey a portion of the world's coral reefs, including The Great Barrier Reef, Palau, the Mariana Islands and Hawaii. The aim of the mission is to assess the condition of these threatened ecosystems and understand their relation to the environment, including physical, chemical and human factors. CORAL is using advanced airborne instruments, including the Portable Remote Imaging Spectrometer (PRISM), and in-water measurements. With new understanding of reef condition, the future—and indeed the fate—of ecosystems like the Great Barrier Reef can be predicted. The results of CORAL are yet to be released. ■
29 August 2017: Ozri Brisbane 2017; Brisbane, QLD. bit.ly/2qS1hzt 31 August-2 September 2017: World of Drones Congress; Brisbane, QLD. www.worldofdrones.com.au 1 September 2017: Victorian Spatial Summit; Kew, Vic. bit.ly/2qWnKGN 11-15 September 2017: Photogrammetric Week; Stuttgart, Germany. www.ifp.uni-stuttgart.de/phowo 13-15 September 2017: AIMS Conference; Hunter Valley, NSW. www. aimsconference.com.au 14-15 September 2017: Construction Innovation 2017 Forum; Melbourne, VIC. bit.ly/2rrxYCl 15 September 2017: Tasmanian Surveying and Spatial Conference; Hobart, TAS. bit.ly/2rAOHSl 18-22 September 2017: ISPRS Geospatial Week; Wuhan, China. gsw2017.3snews.net 20-22 September 2017: Industrial Internet of Things Summit; Melbourne, VIC. bit.ly/2s81q1w 25-29 September 2017: International Astronautical Congress; Adelaide, SA. iac2017.org 26-28 September 2017: INTERGEO; Berlin, Germany. www.intergeo.de 26-28 September 2017: Interaerial Solutions (IASEXPO); Berlin, Germany. bit.ly/2vcY0MR