Data

"Sun Shield" to protect corals from high irradiance during bleaching conditions

Name: "Sun Shield" to protect corals from high irradiance during bleaching conditions
Published: 2026

Australian Institute of Marine Science

Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS)

Viewed: [[ro.stat.viewed]] Cited: [[ro.stat.cited]] Accessed: [[ro.stat.accessed]]

ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2FANDS&rft_id=https://apps.aims.gov.au/metadata/view/c5a6e3b7-411f-4036-80e2-5c720cb8bd33&rft.title=Sun Shield to protect corals from high irradiance during bleaching conditions&rft.identifier=https://apps.aims.gov.au/metadata/view/c5a6e3b7-411f-4036-80e2-5c720cb8bd33&rft.publisher=Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS)&rft.description=The frequency of coral bleaching events recorded on the Great Barrier Reef has increased. Coral bleaching is caused by a variety of factors, including thermal stress and high irradiance and a reduction of these stressors may reduce incidence of coral bleaching. Sun Shield is a thin film predominantly composed of calcium carbonate, which can be applied on the water's surface to act as a shade and reduce irradiance stress to corals. Formulations were preliminary tested at the University of Melbourne, Victoria. Tank and open ocean trials were performed at the Australian Institute of Marine Science and its surrounds in Townsville, Queensland. Sun Shield reduced irradiance by 20% in open ocean trials and has the potential to reduce coral bleaching severity at small scale.Maintenance and Update Frequency: notPlannedStatement: Preliminary light attenuation measurements used an Ocean Optics DH2000 light source with a fibre optic cable and collimating lens to direct light down through the Sun Shield film. Another collimating lens and fibre optic cable were used to collect the transmitted light from beneath and was attached to a Flame S UV-VIS-ES spectrometer. Irradiance in tank trials and open ocean trials were measured using Licor LI-250A light meter with LI-192 flat cosine underwater sensors while the light spectrum was measured by a Jaz spectrometer (Ocean Optics, Inc).&rft.creator=Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) &rft.date=2026&rft.coverage=westlimit=147.056138; southlimit=-19.268297; eastlimit=147.056138; northlimit=-19.268297&rft.coverage=westlimit=147.056138; southlimit=-19.268297; eastlimit=147.056138; northlimit=-19.268297&rft.coverage=westlimit=147.058833; southlimit=-19.277333; eastlimit=147.058833; northlimit=-19.277333&rft.coverage=westlimit=147.058833; southlimit=-19.277333; eastlimit=147.058833; northlimit=-19.277333&rft.coverage=westlimit=147.014; southlimit=-19.186833; eastlimit=147.014; northlimit=-19.186833&rft.coverage=westlimit=147.014; southlimit=-19.186833; eastlimit=147.014; northlimit=-19.186833&rft_rights=Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Australia License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/au/&rft_rights=Use Limitation: All AIMS data, products and services are provided as is and AIMS does not warrant their fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. While AIMS has made every reasonable effort to ensure high quality of the data, products and services, to the extent permitted by law the data, products and services are provided without any warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied, including without limitation any implied warranties of title, merchantability, and fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. AIMS make no representation or warranty that the data, products and services are accurate, complete, reliable or current. To the extent permitted by law, AIMS exclude all liability to any person arising directly or indirectly from the use of the data, products and services.&rft_rights=Attribution: Format for citation of metadata sourced from Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) in a list of reference is as follows: Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS). (2024). Sun Shield to protect corals from high irradiance during bleaching conditions. https://apps.aims.gov.au/metadata/view/c5a6e3b7-411f-4036-80e2-5c720cb8bd33, accessed[date-of-access].&rft_subject=oceans&rft_subject=Downwelling vector irradiance as photons (PAR wavelengths) in the water body&rft.type=dataset&rft.language=English Access the data

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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Australia License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/au/

Use Limitation: All AIMS data, products and services are provided "as is" and AIMS does not warrant their fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. While AIMS has made every reasonable effort to ensure high quality of the data, products and services, to the extent permitted by law the data, products and services are provided without any warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied, including without limitation any implied warranties of title, merchantability, and fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. AIMS make no representation or warranty that the data, products and services are accurate, complete, reliable or current. To the extent permitted by law, AIMS exclude all liability to any person arising directly or indirectly from the use of the data, products and services.

Attribution: Format for citation of metadata sourced from Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) in a list of reference is as follows: "Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS). (2024). "Sun Shield" to protect corals from high irradiance during bleaching conditions. https://apps.aims.gov.au/metadata/view/c5a6e3b7-411f-4036-80e2-5c720cb8bd33, accessed[date-of-access]".

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The frequency of coral bleaching events recorded on the Great Barrier Reef has increased. Coral bleaching is caused by a variety of factors, including thermal stress and high irradiance and a reduction of these stressors may reduce incidence of coral bleaching. "Sun Shield" is a thin film predominantly composed of calcium carbonate, which can be applied on the water's surface to act as a shade and reduce irradiance stress to corals. Formulations were preliminary tested at the University of Melbourne, Victoria. Tank and open ocean trials were performed at the Australian Institute of Marine Science and its surrounds in Townsville, Queensland. Sun Shield reduced irradiance by 20% in open ocean trials and has the potential to reduce coral bleaching severity at small scale.

Lineage

Maintenance and Update Frequency: notPlanned

Statement: Preliminary light attenuation measurements used an Ocean Optics DH2000 light source with a fibre optic cable and collimating lens to direct light down through the Sun Shield film. Another collimating lens and fibre optic cable were used to collect the transmitted light from beneath and was attached to a Flame S UV-VIS-ES spectrometer. Irradiance in tank trials and open ocean trials were measured using Licor LI-250A light meter with LI-192 flat cosine underwater sensors while the light spectrum was measured by a Jaz spectrometer (Ocean Optics, Inc).

Notes

Credit
Prime, EL. Deakin University, Australia

Credit
Scofield, JMP. University of Melbourne, Australia

Credit
Mongin, M. CSIRO Environment, Australia

Credit
Bougeot, E. CSIRO Environment, Australia and Ecole Nationale Superieure d'Ingenieurs de Limoges, France

Credit
Baird, ME. CSIRO Environment, Australia

Credit
Negri, AP. AIMS

Credit
Qiao, GG. University of Melbourne, Australia

Credit
Flores, F. Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), Australia

Credit
Severati, A. AIMS

Modified: 11 09 2026

This dataset is part of a larger collection

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text: westlimit=147.056138; southlimit=-19.268297; eastlimit=147.056138; northlimit=-19.268297

text: westlimit=147.058833; southlimit=-19.277333; eastlimit=147.058833; northlimit=-19.277333

text: westlimit=147.014; southlimit=-19.186833; eastlimit=147.014; northlimit=-19.186833

Subjects

Downwelling vector irradiance as photons (PAR wavelengths) in the water body | oceans |

User Contributed Tags

Other Information

Scofield, J. M. P., Prime, E. L., Flores, F., Severati, A., Mongin, M., Bougeot, E., Baird, M. E., Negri, A. P., & Qiao, G. G. (2024). The Development of a Floating Mono-Particle “Sun Shield” to Protect Corals from High Irradiance during Bleaching Conditions. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 12(10), 1809. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse12101809

doi : https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse12101809 DOI Link

Identifiers

global : c5a6e3b7-411f-4036-80e2-5c720cb8bd33