This measure of energy at the sea surface can be related to the mixing of the water column and algae productivity, aiding in the identification of areas that are prone to algal blooms if they lose herbivorous fish due to fishing.

Credits: MSEL, University of Exeter

This data can be used together with acute measures of stress to categorise reefs and produce thermal regimes that identify reef’s susceptibility to bleaching. In the thermal regime figure, 'A' sites experience high chronic, but low acute thermal stress (predicted to fare better under climate change), 'B' sites experience both high chronic and high acute stress, 'C' sites experience low chronic and low acute stress, 'D' sites experience low chronic and high acute stress (1985-2005, 4 km AVHRR pathfinder data).

Credits: MSEL, University of Exeter