Assessment of Long Term Thermal Stress on Egyptian Coral Reefs Based on Remotely Sensed Sea Surface Temperature Data

Red Sea tourism is highly dependent on the natural resources especially the diversity of Egyptian coral reefs. Local coral bleaching monitoring framework was applied in this study to investigate the threats. The target area included the six richest spots of coral reefs in terms of bio-diversity and tolerance to various stresses. Assessment of the applicability and accuracy of remotely sensed sea surface temperature (SST) data in the region were assessed by comparing them with in situ measurements. The annual and seasonal sea surface temperature (SST) trends have been investigated. Twenty three years (1990-2013) of SST data were used to assure accurate estimation of the monthly maximum mean (MMM) of SST Climatology.