Caribbean Marine Research Center at Lee Stocking Island, Exuma, Bahamas

Office of Naval Research

The Coastal Benthic Optical Properties (CoBOP) project studies how light in shallow water affects physical and biological processes and how those processes alter the light field in turn. This is being approached by developing and applying new measurement instruments and techniques, advancing the state of the art of computational methods, and conducting basic research into the interaction of light with biological and physical processes on the seafloor around a Bahamian island. CoBOP is a large-scale multidisciplinary field research project involving more than 20 scientists and their research groups. Measurements are being made by scuba divers, bottom-mounted instruments, airborne imagers, as well as towed, remotely-operated, and autonomous vehicles. The project includes biologists, sedimentologists, geochemists, engineeers,mathematical modelers, physicists, remote-sensing specialists and experts in other disciplines, fostering excellent cross-disciplinary collaboration.

• Coastal and marine resources (Chapter IV of the Barbados Programme of Action)
• Biodiversity resources (Chapter IX of the BPoA)

CoBOP has carried out three successful full-scale field campaigns.
A large volume of data has been collected, which will impact research for many years. Combining the work from multiple research teams is already leading to a better understanding of the capabilities and limitations in applying in-water and airborne sensing techniques to the problem of rapid mapping and assessment of coastal resources. Research teams are combining their results to map bathymetry and bottom type over large areas using airborne hyperspectral imagery, while making estimates of features such as percent seagrass cover, sediment type distributions, and location and extent of reefs. In addition to the broad mapping applications, various teams have developed instruments that are already showing promise for marine resource monitoring. One group has developed Caribbean Island Countries a diver-held instrument that assesses the photosynthetic properties of corals, algae, and seagrasses. This instrument is providing insight into coastal productivity and the mechanism of processes such as coral bleaching. Another group has developed a laser fluorescence imaging system that can map broad swaths of the reef and provide detail with a resolution of less than a centimeter. While not yet practical for general use, the system promises to be capable of automatically distinguishing
and mapping numerous types of reef organisms and substrates. Several of the new instruments that have been developed make measurements of bottom optical properties that are of general interest, and these instruments are now available to be applied at other research sites around the world.

The exceptionally multidisciplinary nature of the project has fostered scientific and engineering collaboration that would not have occurred otherwise.Organizing a large research group to work in close proximity in a small area involves very difficult logistical planning and strains the resources of a remote field station, but the scientific benefit of having the diverse researchers living and working shoulder to shoulder has proved to be more than worth the effort and occasional discomfort.

Contacts PI:
Charles Mazel
Physical Sciences, Inc.
20 New England Business Center
Andover, MA 01810

CMRC Contact:
John Marr, Ph.D.
Perry Institute for Marine Science
Caribbean Marine Research Institute
250 Tequesta Drive
Tequesta, FL 33469