ORAL - Mohamed (CANCELLED, did not show up)

Coral reefs are the big cities of the sea. One-fourth of all known marine species live in reefs, including fish and thou-sands of kinds of plants and micro-organisms. Reefs are critically important to our planet's ecosystem. (There are three primary coral habitats along the Sudanese coastline: barrier reefs, fringing reefs and Sanganeb, an oceanic atoll). Sudan has one of the most attractive coral reefs in the world. There are three types of coral reefs. These are: the fring-ing reefs where continuous masses of luxuriant growth of stony corals are found, the barrier reefs (outer reefs) usually 3- 6 miles off - shore and Sanganeb atoll which has already been declared as a marine park of international heritage. These luxurious reefs being in the warm and clear Red Sea water are excellent potentials for tourism activity. They include 32 marine species. Marine applications of GIS are an important way to manage large amounts of data pro-duced during surveys or through remote sensing. GIS is increasingly being used to evaluate and monitor coral reef systems worldwide and many of the techniques developed else where can be applied and verified to the ecosystem in the Red Sea. In developing countries and/or in very remote places that may not have the technological infrastructure to house data about local reefs GIS and remote sensing can play an effective role in forming policies and development of the environmental degradation that facing the Reefs in Red Sea. The area of this study was the Sudan Costal in the Red Sea. Using the methods from a GIS marine data model and a satellite image provide by Landsat TM5/ETM+7.Remote sensing is used to measure change that affect coral reefs during the years these will be done by analyzing remote sensing imagery through different years to identify the condition of reefs and understanding the change that effect coral reefs.

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