NESP TWQ Project 5.3 - Benthic light as ecologically-validated GBR-wide indicator for water quality: Drivers, thresholds and cumulative risks, 2019-2020 (AIMS)

Updated: 2026-06-25

The project is developed a water quality indicator based on benthic PAR (light penetrating to the seafloor). The project experimentally estimated irradiance thresholds for ecosystem health for the Great Barrier Reef and developed a new remote sensing algorithm to estimate and map benthic irradiance throughout the GBR. This fed into Reef Plan report cards, RIMReP monitoring, and assessments of drivers of cumulative risks. The project extension focused on: work with stakeholders to embed the products into their workflows; improved the remote sensing algorithm with seasonal and regional cloud corrections; and evaluated an additional benthic light product based on the eReefs models to complement the remote sensing product.