An ongoing NASA study focused on our oceans' coral reefs took its operations 'down under' to Australia this week to examine the Great Barrier Reef.

  • CORAL stands for COral Reef Airborne Laboratory
  • CORAL scientists, Australian collaborators will study Great Barrier Reef from above
  • Technology allows high resolution images shot through ocean's surface

To some, the Great Barrier Reef is the center of a number of scientific mysteries. Among those mysteries are the factors that affect its health, which experts do agree is currently poor.

Soon, however, scientists could know a whole lot more about how we can protect coral reefs, thanks to a three-year NASA project called CORAL.

The latest part of the mission involves a two-month investigation of the Great Barrier Reef from above. Scientists will use a device known as PRISM (Portable Remote Imaging Spectrometer) to literally peer through the ocean’s surface and generate high resolution images of the reef.

NASA scientists say this is important because the public is generally unaware of the dynamic features of coral. It can shrink and grow, and is constantly changing.

To learn more about the CORAL project, check out NASA's release on the latest developments.

The Gulfstream III carrying NASA's PRISM instrument being readied for science flights from Cairns, Australia. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/BIOS)