Sergio Cerdeira-Estrada

• Dr.
• Coordinador del Sistema de Información y Análisis Marino Costero (SIMAR) at Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad

Mexico has committed to protecting 30% of its marine territory by 2030 to comply with Target 3 of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted during the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. In this paper, we demonstrate the feasibility of meeting this commitment by determining the marine extent o...

Massive influxes of holopelagic Sargassum spp. (Sargassum natans and S. fluitans) have been causing major economic, environmental and ecological problems along the Caribbean coast of Mexico. Predicting the arrival of the sargassum as an aid to addressing these problems is a priority for the government, coastal communities and the society; both miti...

Abiotic factors and human impact have a considerable influence on reef corals driving their dynamics and distribution. Most studies on coral reefs address only biological variables that cannot alone explain the predominant stressors and processes. For this work, we studied 46 shallow reefs and 48 deep reefs between 2010 and 2013 in the Cuban archip...

Noticeable within the Mexican Caribbean is the Arrecife de Puerto Morelos National Park (APMNP), a marine protected area established as an essential component for managing and protecting coral reefs. In June 2019, we conducted a survey in eight shallow reef sites of the APMNP with the purpose of applying a coral reef assessment method, based on bio...

Citation: Velasco Herrera, V.M.V.; Martell-Dubois, R.; Soon, W.; Velasco Herrera, G.; Cerdeira-Estrada, S.; Zúñiga, E.; Rosique-de la Cruz, L. Predicting Atlantic Hurricanes Using Machine Learning. Atmosphere 2022, 13, 707. https://doi.

The electrical grid of the Baja California peninsula, Mexico, operates separately from the National Interconnected System, with Baja California connected to the Western Electricity Coordinating Council of the USA; and Baja California Sur having an isolated, independent network. Based on the need for alternative renewable sources of electricity gene...

The map represents the spatial distribution of benthic habitats in shallow waters of the Mexican Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, from Cabo Catoche to Xcalak, in an area of 1001 km2, with an average maximum depth of 18 m. The resulting map defined 50 classes generated from the union of benthic cover and submarine relief maps, estimated from the pr...

Site-specific pest management (SSPM) is a component of precision agriculture that relies on spatially enabled agronomic data to facilitate pest control practices within management zones rather than whole fields. Recent integration of high-resolution environmental data, multivariate clustering algorithms, and species distribution modeling has facili...

The boreal forests of the Northern Hemisphere (i.e., covering the USA, Canada and Russia) are the grandest carbon sinks of the world. A significant increase in wildfires could cause disequilibrium in the Northern boreal forest’s capacity as a carbon sink and cause significant impacts on wildlife and people worldwide. That is why the ability to fore...

Tarjeta de Reporte del estado de los Pastizales Marinos. Parque Nacional Arrecife de Puerto Morelos, México, 2019. Sistema de alerta de la condición ecológica de los ecosistemas marino costeros (EcoSAT), del Sistema de Información y Análisis Marino y Costero (SIMAR), Conabio, México

This dataset represents in-situ bathymetry data collected in shallow waters of the Mexican Caribbean, from Cabo Catoche to Xcalak. The data were collected during seven field campaigns (2010-2016). Bathymetric surveys were carried out using the Garmin GPSmap 541s echo sounder. The information is presented in tables in ASCII format and were used as r...

This dataset (in Excel format) represents in-situ information on the percentage of benthic cover collected at 714 stations. Seven field campaigns were conducted (2010-2016), in shallow waters (up to 25 m depth) along the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, from Cabo Catoche to Xcalak, as part of the Mesoamerican Reef System. The biotopes of r...

This collection integrates data from the project "Spatial distribution of benthic habitats in shallow water marine ecosystems of the Mexican Caribbean using WorldView-2 (ArrecifeSAM) satellite images (2010-2018)". The study area covers the shallow waters of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, from Cabo Catoche to Xcalak, as part of the Mesoamerican Re...

Sustainable energy is needed globally, and Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) is a possible way to diversify the energy matrix. This article suggests a preliminary selection process to find optimal sites for OTEC deployment on the Mexican coastline. The method comprises the (1) evaluation of the thermal power potential, using daily data (16 yea...

This study aims to estimate, with a climatology perspective, the average seasonal pattern of phytoplankton biomass (SP-PBavg) and its distribution in Bahia Magdalena (Mexico) as a baseline to evaluate PB changes in future studies. This lagoon is in a semi-arid region, lacks river discharges, and channels with vegetation are limited at the north and...

Fortalecer el sistema de monitoreo marino para el apoyo de la toma de decisiones y la aplicación de las políticas públicas para los mares mexicanos, la pesca sustentable y la conectividad ecológica y el manejo integrado del paisaje marino.

In the Mexican Caribbean, 15 marine protected areas (MPAs) have been established for managing and protecting marine ecosystems. These MPAs receive high anthropogenic pressure from coastal development, tourism, and fishing, all in synergy with climate change. To contribute to the MPAs' effectiveness, it is necessary to provide a long-term observatio...

En esta obra se integran y proponen protocolos de monitoreo de la biodiversidad marina en áreas naturales protegidas del Caribe mexicano, como parte de un programa de estudio con enfoque integrador que permite extender su implementación a las áreas marinas protegidas de la región del Gran Caribe. La aplicación de las metodologías descritas permite...

Marine protected areas have been established as essential components for managing and protecting coral reefs to mitigate natural and anthropogenic stressors. One noteworthy example within the Mexican Caribbean is the Arrecife de Puerto Morelos National Park (APMNP), where several studies on the coral communities have been carried out since 2006. In...

Delineation of management zones is one key feature of precision agriculture (PA), an agricultural management strategy which aims to maximize productivity and sustainability of crops by making optimum use of inputs. Common means of achieving this include the delineation of site-specific management zones (SSMZ), which are subregions of crop fields wh...

Bahia Magdalena is a coastal lagoon with an enormous biological and fishing wealth; it is located in the Pacific coast of Baja California (Mexico), a transitional zone between tropical and temperate regions which is strongly affected by the global-scale climate phenomena. The objective of this work was to determine the impact of the unusual and con...

Bahia Magdalena is a coastal lagoon with an enormous biological and fishing wealth; it is located in the Pacific coast of Baja California (Mexico), a transitional zone between tropical and temperate regions which is strongly affected by the global-scale climate phenomena. The objective of this work was to determine the impact of the unusual and con...

Increased loads of land-based pollutants are a major threat to coastal-marine ecosystems. Identifying the affected marine areas and the scale of influence on marine ecosystems is critical to assess the ecological impacts of degraded water quality and to inform planning for catchment management and marine conservation. Studies using remotely sensed...

Wave data collected near the Caribbean coast of Mexico were used to study the frequency and directional structure of the wave field that was generated during the passing of 3 hurricanes. The data were recorded with 2 different acoustic wave gauges, which were installed at a depth of about 20 m. These records provided 183 directional wave spectra co...

Phytoplankton blooms are sporadic events in time and are isolated in space. This complex phenomenon is produced by a variety of both natural and anthropogenic causes. Early detection of this phenomenon, as well as the classification of a water body under conditions of bloom or non-bloom, remains an unresolved problem. This research proposes the use...

Predicting the impact of sea-level (SL) rise on coral reefs requires reliable models of reef accretion. Most assume that accretion results from vertical growth of coralgal framework, but recent studies show that reefs exposed to hurricanes consist of layers of coral gravel rather than in-place corals. New models are therefore needed to account for...

Predicting if reefs can keep pace with future sea-level (SL) rise is problematic because accretion occurs over geological timescales. For example, although meltwater pulses drowned reefs during postglacial SL rise, drowning has also been reported during the mid Holocene, when SL rise was slower and meltwater pulses unlikely. Here we report the disc...

Predicting if reefs can keep pace with future sea-level (SL) rise is problematic because accretion occurs over geological timescales. For example, although meltwater pulses drowned reefs during postglacial SL rise, drowning has also been reported during the mid Holocene, when SL rise was slower and meltwater pulses unlikely. Here we report the disc...

Light availability is an important factor driving primary productivity in benthic ecosystems, but in situ and remote sensing measurements of light quality are limited for coral reefs and seagrass beds. We evaluated the productivity responses of a patch reef and a seagrass site in the Lower Florida Keys to ambient light availability and spectral qua...

La informática de la biodiversidad ha revolucionado la accesibilidad a los datos y la información que usualmente se encontraban dispersos, en distintos formatos y con difícil acceso. Hace más de 20 años, la Conabio empezó a desarrollar el Sistema Nacional de Información sobre Biodiversidad (snib) para hacer disponible el conocimiento sobre la diver...

Diurnal variation of net community production (NEP) and net community calcification (NEC) were measured in coral reef and seagrass biomes during October 2012 in the lower Florida Keys using a mesocosm enclosure and the oxygen gradient flux technique. Seagrass and coral reef sites showed diurnal variations of NEP and NEC with positive values at near...

This work characterizes patterns of temporal variability in surface waters of the central Gulf of Mexico. We examine remote-sensing based observations of sea surface temperature (SST), wind speed, sea surface height anomaly (SSHA), chlorophyll-a concentration (Chl-a) and net primary productivity (NPP), along with model predictions of mixed layer de...

The aim of this book is to assist environmental authorities and technicians in the design of effective environmental monitoring programs.Consensus exists that any good management program must be able to distinguish between natural variability and changes induced by anthropogenic activities. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to implement continu...

En este capítulo los autores proponen una nueva aproximación para evaluar florecimientos algales nocivos tomando en cuenta las propiedades ópticas inherentes y aparentes de los cuerpos de agua, en especial del fitoplancton y sus productos de degradación. Los datos que llevan al desarrollo de la aproximación son obtenidos en la Península de Yucatán...

The aim of this book is to assist environmental authorities and technicians in the design of effective environmental monitoring programs.Consensus exists that any good management program must be able to distinguish between natural variability and changes induced by anthropogenic activities. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to implement continu...

Decisionmakers need updated, scientifically sound and relevant information to implement appropriate policy measures and make innovative commitments to halt biodiversity loss and improve human well-being. Here, we present a recent science-based synthesis on the biodiversity and ecosystem services of Mexico, intended to be a tool for policymakers. We...

Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) pose a threat to marine ecosystems, human health, and the local economy of the Gulf States in both the U.S. and Mexico. HABs are often dominated by the toxic dinoflagellate Karenia brevis, which occur almost every year on the West Florida Shelf (WFS). Off the Mexican coast, several other phyto...

We applied remote sensing techniques using WorldView-2 images with high spatial resolution and field verification to map the bathymetry and benthic habitats of the Puerto Morelos Reef National Park in the Mexican Caribbean. These images were processed using the standardized physics-based data processing of EOMAP´s Modular Inversion and Processing S...

We applied remote sensing techniques using WorldView-2 images with high spatial resolution and field verification to map the bathymetry and benthic habitats of the Puerto Morelos Reef National Park in the Mexican Caribbean. These images were processed using the standardized physics-based data processing of EOMAP´s Modular Inversion and Processing S...

Blooms of the toxic marine dinoflagellate Karenia brevis cause massive fish kills and other public health and economic problems in coastal waters throughout the Gulf of Mexico [Steidinger, 2009]. These harmful algal blooms (HABs) are a gulf-wide problem that require a synoptic observing system for better serving decision-making needs. The major nut...

Multispectral satellite data (WordView-2, IKONOS, QuickBird) are used to map bathymetry and spectral sea floor classes in a range of coastal areas. The standardized physics-based data processing integrates MODIS satellite data for the radiometric intercalibration and estimates of turbidity. This process includes corrections for sunglitter, the adja...

To analyze patterns in marine productivity, harmful algal blooms, thermal stress in coral reefs, and oceanographic processes, optical and biophysical marine parameters, such as sea surface temperature, and ocean color products, such as chlorophyll–a concentration, diffuse attenuation coefficient, total suspended matter concentration, chlorophyll fl...

Resumen Los manglares son ecosistemas clave para los ambientes costeros y marinos. México presenta degradación e impactos en sus manglares, sin embargo existen discrepancias entre las estimaciones de la superficie que estos ecosistemas ocupan en México, lo que complica el cálculo de una tasa de deforestación precisa. El objetivo de este estudio fue...

Mangrove forests are a key ecosystem for coastal and marine environments. Mexico has a high level of mangrove deforestation, although there are discrepancies among estimations. The aim of this study was to estimate the recent distribution and extension of mangrove forests in Mexico with high resolution remote sensing data and field work. 134 SPOT-5...

In this paper we present a automatic processing of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) images using the SeaDAS software, to provide continuous information regarding phytoplankton content and sea surface temperature values of Mexican seas. This automatic processing has permitted obtaining near-real-time ocean products (Level 2): Oc...

The spatial distribution of benthic habitats in the Gulf of Batabanó obtained by remote sensing, using five images from the Landsat-7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) satellite sensor, is reported for the first time. The map covers a total underwater area of 21,305 km2 and is presented at the 1:250,000 scale. Five benthic habitats were identifi...

Se identificaron 5 Hábitats Bentónicos del Golfo de Batabanó en Cuba, teniendo en cuenta el sustrato y la vegetación submarina (pastos marinos y macroalgas), mediante la clasificación supervisada de cinco imágenes del sensor Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), del satélite LANDSAT-7. Se obtuvieron un total de 45 estaciones de muestreo o campos de...

SeaWiFS ocean-colour products for the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean are evaluated in comparison with in situ bio-optical data collected during the March 10-12, 2002 cruise from Ushuaia to Uruguay. Radiometric measurements and surface water sampling were carried out at 14 stations. The in situ dataset included HPLC chlorophyll-a concentration (chl-a),...

Space and time variability of sea surface temperature in oceanic and shelf waters of Cuba were examined using the AVHRR sensors flown on NOAA satellites from February 1995 to August 2001. Statistics at 90 specific time series stations around Cuba were extracted from the AVHRR images to characterize shelf and oceanic waters using the long term overa...

Most of the assessd coral reefs are in critical o very critical condition. The regional/global scale problems (coral disesases, Diadema mass mortality, hurricanes) strongly predominated over local antropogenic ones (pollution, over fishing, nautical and dive physical damage). The reef crests are very damaged by old mortality, even in greater extend...

La circulación en la zona de interacción entre el Mar Caribe y el Golfo de México presenta características que propician los fenómenos de frontogénesis. Los diferentes tipos de energía presentes en los frentes oceánicos juegan un papel importante en la interconectividad de estos dos acuatorios.

Se estudia la variación espacio-temporal y zonificación de los pigmentos fotosintéticos del fitoplancton en zonas del Golfo de México, Mar Caribe occidental y en el entorno de la Isla de Cuba a partir del procesamiento digital de imágenes del sensor de color del mar "Coastal Zone Color Scanner" (CZCS) ubicado en el satélite Nimbus 7 entre los años...

The space-time variation of phytoplankton pigments in the western Intra-Americas Sea (IAS), in the vicinity of the island of Cuba, is examined using digital images obtained with the Coastal Zone Color Scanner sensor flown aboard the Nimbus 7 satellite from 1978 to 1986. The results are compared to historical in situ hydrographic observations. A mar...

Se estudia la temperatura superficial del mar al Norte de Cuba y NE de la Península de Yucatán, utilizando métodos de teledetección; para ello se realiza un estudio comparativo entre los resultados obtenidos en el procesamiento de imágenes de satélite y mediante mediciones in situ. Se genera una paleta de colores que amplifica la representación de...

Abstract The Yucatan Current has received very little biological or oceanographic attention in the past, but oceanographers from Cuba, Mexico, and the United States are changing that. They have assembled a multidisciplinary, multinational dataset and are beginning a detailed examination of the current, which has a large impact on all three count...

The Yucatan Current has received very little biological or oceanographic attention in the past, but oceanographers from Cuba, Mexico, and the United States are changing that. They have assembled a multidisciplinary, multinational dataset and are beginning a detailed examination of the current, which has a large impact on all three countries. A seri...

Se estudia la variación espacio-temporal de los pigmentos fotosintéticos del fitoplancton en aguas del Caribe noroccidental, Corriente del Lazo, Estrecho de la Florida y Este de la Península de la Florida a partir del procesamiento digital de imágenes del sensor de color del mar Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) de 4 Km de resolución espacial, del...

The space-temporal variation of the photosynthetic pigments of the phytoplankton in zones of the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea and around the Island of Cuba, is characterized starting from the digital processing of the monthly images of the sensor “Coastal Zone Color Scanner” (CZCS) of the satelite Nimbus 7, for the year interval 1979 - 1981. The r...