Spectral identification of coral biological vigour

No quantitative means of remotely determining the biological vigour of corals exists. In an effort to find a quantitative measure, the spectral reflectance of healthy and bleached corals were measured in situ with a hand-held spectroradiometer. Principal components analysis revealed that there is a spectral distinction based on biological vigour. This spectral distinction was largely based on magnitude of reflectance. Spectral derivative analysis was then used to determine the particular wavelength ranges that could be used to identify biological vigour of coral samples.