Coral Bleaching Along Andaman Coast Due to Thermal Stress During Summer Months of 2016: A Geospatial Assessment

Abstract

Coral bleaching reported in the North Bay, Andaman Islands during the April last week of 2016 due to thermal stress. The Coral Bleaching Alert System (CBAS) a service providing by Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) has reported the warning and the bleaching has been confirmed from the field survey conducted on April 26, 2016. As coral reef is important fragile eco-system of the shallow marine environment suffers due to human and natural impacts. Bleaching has been initiated as weather predictions of the various agencies have suggested the elevated temperatures in the Indian subcontinent this year. We have put forward our remote sensing analysis of coral bleaching warning as Alert Level-1 followed by the initiation of the coral bleaching in the in-situ observation at Andaman Islands enhances the credibility of satellite observation and the service of INCOIS. These results were useful for the coastal management authority for taking suitable measure and policy on important coral eco-system. Keywords: