Download Enhanced Measurements from Ships of Opportunity 2010

Enhanced Measurements from Ships of Opportunity
2010-2013 IMOS EIF Facility Project Plan
Overview:
Infrastructure
Investment:
Extend and enhance multi-disciplinary ship of opportunity observations in
Australian waters
IMOS Facility:
Enhanced Measurements from Ships of Opportunity (SOOP)
Operating Institution:
CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (CMAR)
Facility Leader (for this
Proposal):
Ken Ridgway (CMAR), (03) 62325226, [email protected]
Sub-Facility Leaders
Other(s) key people
involved:
Collaborating
Institutions:
XBT - Ann Thresher (CMAR), [email protected]
BGC – Bronte Tilbrook (CMAR), [email protected]
CPR – Anthony Richardson (CMAR), [email protected],
Graham Hosie,(AAD), [email protected]
SST – Helen Beggs (BOM), [email protected]
Air-sea Flux – Eric Schulz (BOM), [email protected]
Bio-acoustics – Rudy Kloser (CMAR), [email protected]
Dr Richard Matear, Mark Underwood, Dr Peter Thompson, Dr Chris
Wilcox (CMAR), Dean Roemmich (SIO), Phil Sutton (NIWA), Graeme
Ball, Lisa Cowen (BOM), Dave McKinnon, Craig Steinberg (AIMS), Fred
Stein (MNF), Prof. Ian Robinson (NOC), Dr. Craig Donlon (ESA), Dr
Graham Hosie, Dr Steve Nicol, Dr Andrew Davidson, Dr Andrew
Constable (AAD), ,
Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), Scripps Institute of
Oceanography, Royal Australian Navy, Australian Antarctic Division,
Marine National Facility, Australian Climate Change Science Program,
Water Studies Centre, School of Chemistry, Monash University,
Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), National Oceanographic
Centre, Southampton, European Space Agency, Group for High
Resolution SST (GHRSST), University of Tasmania
Nature of Investment:
This proposed investment involves
1. Extending for a further 2 years the existing set of 5 SOOP sub-facilities
2. Enhancing 1 of these sub-facilities with new measurements
3. Including 1 new sub-facility collecting new data streams.
The proposal includes the following sub-facilities
1. Expendable Bathythermograph (XBT) – collect temperature profiles using high-resolution
XBT lines to monitor the major boundary currents around Australia.
2. Biogeochemical (BGC) - obtain high quality biogeochemical (BGC) data from two ships; the
Astrolabe in the Southern Ocean and the Southern Surveyor, which operates from the
tropics to the 50°S. These data help to determine the regional uptake of carbon dioxide
(CO2) around Australia and in the Southern Ocean and provide data to evaluate the
biogeochemical models of the region
3. Australian Continuous Plankton Recorders (AusCPR) - tow CPRs behind ships to collect
plankton samples for subsequent identification in the laboratory. Data products are
abundances and species composition of phytoplankton and zooplankton communities, as
well as simultaneous auxiliary data (temperature, salinity, fluorescence).
4. Sea Surface Temperature (SST) – collect sea surface temperature bulk measurements
using hull-mounted sensors from a range of vessels for cal/val of satellite SST products and
incorporation into SST analyses.
5. Air-Sea Flux (ASF)- routinely measure while at sea all the meteorological observations
(wind, air and sea temperature, humidity, pressure, precipitation, long- and short-wave
radiation) required to estimate bulk air-sea fluxes of momentum, heat and mass.
6. Bio-Acoustic (BA) - collect bio-acoustic measurements to estimate mid-trophic organism
distribution and abundance around the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) shelf,
slope and oceanic environments.
Implementation Strategy:
Summary
The aim of the SOOP Facility is to implement a set of integrated observing systems in Australian
regional seas that link physical, chemical and biological oceanography. Our ships of opportunity
include both commercial vessels on regular routes and research vessels covering more varied
routes. This is a very cost effective means of obtaining data. The target regions are the boundary
current systems off Eastern and Western Australia, the Southern Ocean, the shelf seas around
Australia, and the Great Barrier Reef.
Objectives
General
This portfolio of SOOP sub-facilities;
1. Leads to the ongoing development of a coherent, well-positioned Bluewater and Climate
Node
These SOOP activities provide a truly integrated marine observing system involving several
major institutions with an ongoing investment in the Australian bluewater region. The
comprehensive set of SOOP observations represent a major opportunity within IMOS of
linking climate change to ecosystem effects and therefore will be used to address some of
the main science questions within the Bluewater and Climate Node (BCN).
2. Provide impact and delivery through improving model output
The SOOP data provide in situ input and/or validation to model and data analyses covering
the waters around Australia. For example the SST and air-sea flux measurements are
used to calibrate and validate satellite products, to improve model parameterizations and
are directly input to data analyses and assimilated into models.
3. Contributes to the national backbone
Observing boundary currents, by measuring the mean, seasonal, interannnual and decadal
changes in the transport of mass, heat and freshwater across the major boundary currents,
4. Develops a whole of system approach
By implementing fully integrated repeated SOOP lines across the Tasman Sea and
Southern Ocean which include a suite of physical, biogeochemical observations.
5. Drives down the cost per observation
By exploiting ships of opportunity as observation platforms
6. Builds the national capacity
Demonstrated in plankton observation systems, including the collection, processing and
analysis of samples, to enable a comprehensive network to be established.
7. Partnering for sustained ocean observing
The number of national and international institutions involved and the high level of
collaboration associated with these 8 sub-facilities draws upon the main strengths of the
Australian marine research community producing a robust set of observation systems well
capable of being sustained in the longterm.
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Specific
• Collect, count and archive plankton samples from Australian waters and regional seas, and
to make these available to the community.
• Establish a baseline of plankton population and distribution to be used to reference
changes due to climate change, eutrophication, pollution, exotic species introductions, and
overfishing.
• Determine the temporal changes of plankton species on seasonal, interannnual timescales.
• Determine the long-term mean, annual cycle, interannual and decadal fluctuations of
temperature and large-scale velocity and circulation in the top 800m of the ocean.
• Characterize the structure of baroclinic eddies and estimate their significance in the
transports of heat and water masses,
• Determine the spatial statistics of variability of the temperature and geostrophic velocity
fields, identify persistent small-scale features,
• Estimate the wet weight biomass of mid-trophic functional groups their energetic transfer
between the epi and mesopelagic layers for decadal trends and region and global
ecosystem models.
• Determine baseline and long term (decadal) trends in the changes of distribution, biomass
and behaviour of mid-trophic micronekton (primarily myctophids).
• Obtain time series of nutrients in association with CPR
• Deliver sustained observations of surface CO2 in the Australian region and the critical
Southern Ocean.
• Obtain meteorological observations of sufficient accuracy to enable the calculation of
climate quality air-sea fluxes of heat, mass and momentum.
• Provide in situ input and/or validation to model and data analyses covering the waters
around Australia (SST, Air-Sea flux, BLUElink, Predictive Ocean Atmosphere Model for
Australia (POAMA), etc).
Vessels are selected for inclusion into the SOOP network if they meet the following criteria:
o Meets one or more of the above science goals.
o Multiple parameters are measured on the one platform
o The voyage track is either repeated regularly or over time covers some portion of the
waters around Australia
o The route is stable
o Agreement is obtained from the vessel owners, operators, master and crew
o The vessel is able to be serviced adequately from one or more ports.
o The data-stream is overseen by an interested party
An Integrated Observing System
There is now a suite of mature technologies that provide at least a preliminary integrated marine
observing system. While it is still not practical to routinely measure all components of the marine
ecosystem, there is a subset of key trophic levels and their drivers that have mature and tested
observing technology (see Table 1).
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Table 1. Physical and biogeochemical marine properties with mature technologies that enable sampling
using SOOPs.
Group
Measurements
Device
Maturity
Deployed on
SOOPs by
project Team
Physical
Temperature
XBT
A fundamental
Many years of
properties
profiles
tool of climate
experience
research
Temperature,
CTD-F
Deployed on
Yes within IMOS
salinity,
Continuous
and SO-CPR
fluorescence
Plankton
Recorders in the
North Atlantic
over the past
decade
SST
Hull-mounted
Proven on range Operates on
sensor
of vessels
several vessels
Chemical
properties
pCO2
pCO2 system
Proven in many
installations
Meteorological
properties
wind, air & sea
temperature,
humidity,
pressure,
precipitation,
long- and shortwave radiation
Abundance,
species
composition,
biomass,
functional
groups
Abundance,
species
composition,
functional
groups
Biomass
estimates
Automatic
Weather Station
BOM has long
experience
deploying on
AVOS
Continuous
Plankton
Recorder
Robust
technology
deployed since
1931 in the
North Atlantic
Yes within IMOS
Continuous
Plankton
Recorder
Robust
technology
since 1931 in
the North
Atlantic
Used
qualitatively
since 1932 and
quantitatively
since 1980s
Yes within IMOS
Phytoplankton
Zooplankton
Mid trophic
levels (fish,
squid, large
crustaceans)
Echosounders
Yes, within
IMOS on SS &
Astrolabe
Installed on
Southern
Surveyor,
Aurora Australis
Yes since 2002
To provide a high level of integrated measurements we focus on 2 lines, a Tasman Sea crossing
and the Southern Ocean transect. Additional integrated datasets will be obtained from the suite of
instruments on Southern Surveyor.
The Tasman Sea integrated transect
The Tasman Sea is a key area to establish time series observation to document and understand the
response of aspects of marine ecosystems including nutrients, plankton and mid-trophic levels. We
propose an integrated SOOP line across the Tasman Sea. Such an integrated package would be
unique globally. Bringing these technologies together, will provide new insights into pelagic marine
ecosystem dynamics and provide a long-term baseline for assessing impacts of climate variability and
climate change on marine biological systems.
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The Tasman Sea transect will be towed seasonally from either Brisbane or Sydney to Wellington or
Auckland, depending on the most feasible route. CSIRO has existing very strong relationships
with shipping companies through the XBT and AusCPR programs. A flow analyser will be installed
on the water intake for nutrient analysis. A towing point for the CPR will be installed upon the ship.
If the existing vessels echosounder is not suitable a 38 kHz split beam system would be installed
on the vessel. Additional annual transects of the Tasman Sea would be obtained to provide a
regional synoptic view. The vessels will be with an automatic weather station including a hullmounted SST sensor. If a Sydney-Wellington line is used it would include XBT measurements.
The Southern Ocean integrated transects
This aims to study the links between climate variability, biogeochemical processes and ecosystem
biodiversity by regular measurement of key oceanographic parameters. These include the
distribution, composition and productivity of phytoplankton, zooplankton, fish and other
mesopelagic fauna; coupled with measurements of biogeochemical properties influencing the
ecosystem processes.
Measurements will include temperature (surface from TSG and hull-mounted sensors and depth
profiles from XBTs), Zooplankton will be measured by surface collection using towed Continuous
Plankton Recorders, coupled with bioacoustic measurements in multiple frequency bands that will
provide depth distribution data of zooplankton, fish and other mesopelagic fauna. Biogeochemical
sampling will include underway measurements of pCO2. A full set of meteorological properties will
be collected using an Automated Weather system (AWS) - already on Aurora and to be installed in
l’Astrolabe).
Measurements will focus on transects of l’Astrolabe between Hobart and Dumont d'Urville (up to 8
occupations per year) and Aurora Australis which occupies various routes (depending on Antarctic
operations) providing spatial comparison with Astrolabe transects. These transects will be
augmented by data from Japanese Antarctic vessels and wherever possible, fishing vessels
visiting the Kerguelen-Heard Island plateau. The Southern Ocean observations are an integral
component of the Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS) and thus provide a link between
IMOS and this global program.
List of major activities – including major party(s) involved, duration, start, finish
Extension
XBT
1.
Collect data and report in real-time from 4 High-density and 2 frequently repeating
lines (2011-2013, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (CMAR), Bureau of
Meteorology (BOM)).
BGC
2.
3.
CPR
4.
SST
5.
Prepare, calibrate and maintain instrumentation on ships of opportunity. CSIRO staff
from the biogeochemistry/CO2 group are trained in maintaining these systems and
data QC. (mid 2010 to 2013, CMAR).
Complete laboratory van and test on Astrolabe (mid 2010 to early 2011, CMAR).
Extend the AusCPR East Australian Current route from Brisbane to Melbourne and
the Southern Ocean route from Hobart to Antarctica (2011-2013, CMAR, AAD).
Continue collection of SST from hull-mounted SST sensors 13 vessels in the
Australian region. (2011-2013, BOM, CMAR,AIMS, AAD).
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6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
ASF
11.
Existing hull-contact temperature sensors recalibrated. Start: Jul 2011. Finish: Jun
2012. BOM.
SST collected in near real-time, Quality Controled (QC’d), bulk SST available to
GTS and Ocean Portal from at least 13 vessels (3 tourist ferries, 2 research vessels
and at least 8 AVOF). Start: Jul 2011. Finish: Jun 2013. BOM/CMAR/AIMS
Purchase 4 extra hull-contact sensors for any additional AVOF-AWS vessels and for
spares. Start: Jan 2012. Finish: Jun 2012.
All new AVOF-AWS vessels (expect 2) installed with hull-contact sensors. Start: Jul
2011. Finish: Dec 2012.
Near real-time, QC’d, SST from new ships available to GTS and Ocean Portal.
Start: Jan 2013. Finish: Jun 2013.
Continue collection of high-quality meteorological data from Southern Surveyor and
Aurora Australis and the subsequent generation of air-sea flux products (2011-2013,
BOM, AAD, MNF).
Enhancement
BGC
1.
Purchase General Oceanics partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) system for ship (mid
2010).
2.
Prepare, calibrate and maintain instrumentation on Aurora Australis (mid 2010 to
2013). CSIRO staff from the biogeochemistry/CO2 group, are trained in maintaining
these systems and data QC.
CPR
3.
June 2010: Buy 4 new CPRs from the North Atlantic CPR survey (SAHFOS).
4. June 2010: Buy 4 RBR-XR420 CTD-Fs, one for each CPR.
5.
June 2010: Buy 4 Chelsea Trilux sensors measuring phytoplankton pigments
(chlorophyll-a,phycoerythrin, phycocyanin).
6.
Enhance the existing AusCPR survey in Australian waters and regional seas to
include quarterly routes in:
a.
The Northern Tasman Sea (Brisbane to Wellington; March 2011)
b.
The Great Barrier Reef (from Cairns to Gladstone; Oct 2010)
c.
Southern Australia (from Melbourne to Adelaide; July 2010)
d.
Western Australia (The Kimberley from Wyndham to Broome, and the Leeuwin
e.
Current from Carnarvon to Fremantle; Jan 2011)
f.
Tasmania east coast (Melbourne to Hobart; May 2011)
g.
The Southern Tasman Sea (Annual route only; Devonport to Nelson; Jul 2010)
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Bio-acoustics
7.
Undertake repeated acoustic transects from Surveyor, Aurora Australis and large
fishing vessels;
8.
Collection of data from SS, AA and FV with existing echosounders commenced in
July 2010.
9.
Calibration of vessels carried out at the most cost effective time July 2010 to June
2011.
10.
Finalise procedures and personnel for data quality and data management, July
2010 to Dec. 2010.
11.
Posting of calibrated data from vessels on web site from Jan 2011 to June 2013.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
Installation of two new echosounder recorders (and potentially transducers) on
selected fishing or cargo vessels.
Selection and trials of appropriate vessels with recording of existing echo-sounder
transducers July 2010 to March 2011.
If required installation of two new transducers on the selected vessels at the most
cost-effective time (dry docking) March 2011 to Dec. 2011.
If required calibration of new vessels transducers carried out at the most cost
effective time March 2011 to Dec. 2011.
Posting of calibrated data from vessels on web site from installation and calibration
times (March 2011 – June 2013).
All sub-facilities
17.
Process raw data, apply quality control procedures and produce a final high-quality
data stream.
18.
Provide data to eMII and international data facilities in:
a.
Real-time with initial quality control.
b.
Delayed mode following full quality control.
Note that for some data-streams; CPR and Bio–Acoustics, data will only be delivered in
delayed mode but in a timely fashion (1-3 months) and on a regular basis.
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Figure 1:
The 6 XBT routes included in the proposal.
Figure 2:
SOOP and mooring (existing and proposed) CO2/acidification measurements with Australian involvement.
The approximate area of operation for the Southern Surveyor is shown by the light grey areas. Ancillary
measurements of carbonate parameters at mooring reference sites and on the SOOP BGC lines are used
with the moored sensor data to describe the carbonate chemistry (saturation states, pH). The Tasman and
Coral Sea underway SOOP line (green) sampling is done by the National Institute for Environmental Studies
(NIES), Japan, and CSIRO have a collaboration to obtain some data on carbonate chemistry through discrete
sampling.
Figure 3:
Map of current AusCPR routes (in red) and enhanced AusCPR routes (in black)
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Figure 4:
SST data have been collected on these routes using hull-mounted sensors within the existing IMOS program.
Figure 5:
Proposed annual within season collections for IMOS SOOP, solid existing and dashed new. Priority - Green
long term 5 year transect lines, blue new fishing vessel routes, orange Aurora Australis route and gray is
approximate Southern Surveyor route/ year. New routes proposed are dashed with Eastern Tuna fisheries
region blue and combined CPR/Acoustic routes red dashed.
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Figure 6:
Routes occupied by Aurora Australis, and L’ Astrolabe. Data from the 2 additional
vessels shown will be available to supplement the IMOS observations.
List of major equipment to be purchased
Extended
XBT
o 5 Devil data acquisition systems 2010 (5x $5K)
o 5 XBT Iridium communication systems 2011 (5x $2K)
BGC
o three oxygen optodes ($22K),
o replacement laboratory van for Astrolabe ($130K),
CPR
o none
SST
o 4 SBE 48 Hull-Contact Temperature Sensors: (4x $4.5).
ASF
o
standard off-the-shelf marine research grade instrument, such as the systems currently
deployed on the SS and AA.
Enhanced
BGC
o pCO2 system for Aurora Australis ($85K).
CPR
o
4 CPRs will be purchased from the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science
(SAHFOS)
BA
o
2 Simrad Acoustic transducer & transceiver sets plus installation costs (2x $120K).
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Access, pricing regimes:
Data Access
Preliminary quality data from the existing sub-facilities (apart from CPR) are available from eMII
in near real-time. All delayed mode data at the highest quality are routinely delivered from
eMII. All these data are contributed to other international systems (eg Global
Telecommunications System) for input to analysis systems, operational and seasonal ocean
forecasting models. Data are also contributed in delayed mode to other global data archives
(eg Global Data Assembly Centre (GDAC) in Washington at the National Ocean Data Centre
(NODC)).
Data Management
The data processing, QC delivery systems have been developed and implemented for the
existing sub-facilities. The proposed components will require the development of appropriate
systems with coordination with eMII. More details for each sub-facility are provided in the
individual proposals.
External dependencies
This portfolio of SOOP projects involves the collaboration of many institutions (see list on page
1). There is a high dependence on the owners, master and crew of a range of commercial
vessels. The cooperation of the volunteer ships requires very good negotiation and
communication skills, which must be maintained at a high level.
Collaborative structures for allocation of priorities
An overarching aim of this facility is where possible to provide an integrated set of observations
which will address the main science questions with a complete dataset. To this end we have
focused on a limited number of platforms that are instrumented with the widest array of
observations systems. These include the Southern Ocean transect (L’ Astrolabe), a trans
Tasman Sea line, and the research vessels Southern Surveyor and Aurora Australis.
Furthermore each of the sub-facilities have followed guidelines established in international
science plans. For example, the 6 XBT lines were allocated the highest rating at the Upper
Ocean Thermal Review Workshop (1999) conducted under the auspices of the CLIVAR Upper
Ocean Panel, the GCOS/GOOS/WCRP Ocean Observations Panel and IOC/WMO Integrated
Global Ocean Service System. This has been confirmed by the SOOP recommendations at
OCEANOBS09. We have also drawn from recommendations included in other SOOP white
papers presented at the Ocean OBS09 meeting (Venice, September 2009).
Governance
Performance indicators
o Achievement of milestones for instrument deployment and operation
o Production of high quality data
o Data delivered to international programs, assimilated into models, merged into data
analyses
o Data products delivered through the eMII data portal in near real-time
o All delayed mode data available through eMII at the highest quality in a timely fashion
(1-3 months).
o Uptake of the data in regional and global models and by national and international
researchers.
o Uptake by management agencies of the derived information using the data or
supporting ongoing data collections for long term monitoring.
o Use of data by researchers and included in PhD studies
o Publications in international journals using the SOOP data.
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Key Risks and Risk Management strategies
.
Risk
Risk mitigation
Vessels are
relocated
The Southern Surveyor is in service until mid 2013 where it will be replaced by a new ship. The
equipment will be installed and used until then. The Aurora Australis should also be in operation until
mid 2013.
The Astrolabe is used to resupply the French Base, Dumont D’Urville. The size of Astrolabe means it
needs to make a number of repeat trips from Hobart to Antarctica for resupply, making it an ideal ship
for Southern Ocean observations. The contract for the ship was recently re-signed and it is expected
to remain on the line past mid-2013.
Commercial shipping is very volatile and there is a high degree of uncertainty with ships moving on
and off established lines in response to commercial demand. This is managed by having a thorough
knowledge of the industry and a good relationship with the companies which operate on our lines of
interest. Priority will be placed on installing acoustic system on vessels that have proven stable
longevity on selected routes. When a ship is moved, we are in a good position to find a replacement
at short notice and have therefore successfully maintained these lines for many years. The likelihood
is ‘likely’, the impact could be ‘significant’ but the rating of the risk is ‘moderate’ with a history of
effectively managing this risk over the years. If equipment needs to be moved most of the hardware
can be unbolted although an installed acoustic transducer would be only recovered at the next
scheduled dry dock. Installation costs would be lost in that event.
System failure
Operator/crew
safety
Laboratory
Safety
CPR Loss
CPR Damage
Loss of key staff
The equipment is chosen because it is robust, delivers high quality data, and is proven to work for
long periods in harsh conditions at sea. Regular checks and maintenance procedures are carried out
on the ships and almost all data lost to date has been through failure of ship’s equipment (pumps,
thermosalinographs). The work in the last two years has resulted in identifying and correcting a
number of issues on the ships and data returns of about 95% are routine
CPR - We use methods that reduce to as small as possible the safety risks to ships’ crew. We
emphasise that safety is our key concern and ask them not to deploy the device if they have safety
concerns (e.g., rough weather, fishing vessels nearby). We have provided a manual for deploying
and retrieving the CPR, which emphasises these precautions.
CPR - Formalin, which is a carcinogen, is used as a fixative in our plankton samples. We have used
best practice to reduce risks posed by formalin. We cut the silks in a fume cupboard, conduct
phytoplankton counts within a microscope fume hood, and count zooplankton in water without
fixative. All samples once counted are preserved in a safer chemical and removed from the laboratory
as soon as possible. We also check that formalin readings within the lab are below recommended
levels using a formaldemeter.
CPRs have been deployed in the North Atlantic survey since 1931. Over 4000 deployments have
been completed, and only a single unit has been lost during deployment when the tow vessel failed to
retrieve the recorder before entering port. As a precaution to loss, CPR towing points on vessels are
tested and certified after installation (to 2 tonnes safe working load). We also inspect the towing
points on the CPR unit itself after each deployment, and replace when necessary. We replace the
towing wire after every 6 tows. CPR loss is considered unlikely.
The CPR is built to withstand the rigours of deployment behind large vessels travelling at >20 knots.
However, minor damage is common, usually in the form of damage to the sacrificial fender, which is
easily replaced. We inspect the CPR after each deployment and replace any worn components.
AusCPR now has considerable experience in maintaining and servicing CPRs. The crew retrieve the
CPR under rough sea conditions (Beaufort Scale 7), minimising the chance of damage and loss. CPR
damage is commonplace, but we have taken all necessary precautions to minimise this problem.
Staff are not expected to leave the project. The CO2 group in Hobart have ensured there are a
number of people trained in the maintenance and repair of the equipment. Any loss of a staff member
from the group could be covered by others. The CSIRO electronics group in Hobart are familiar with
the software.
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Response to IMOS Review
The review panel made the following recommendation.
SOOP in conjunction with nodes need to develop;
1.
A clear plan for uptake of data, especially the new data-streams,
2.
Integration of the components within the SOOP facility, & into coastal Nodes.
1. Data Uptake
We note that the Bluewater and Climate Science and Implementation Plan includes a
comprehensive strategy for data uptake.
o The XBT, SST, meteorology, and PCO2 data are available in real-time and submitted to the
GTS. Operational centres and data archive centres automatically receive data via the GTS,
enabling dissemination to scientists, research institutions and assimilation into operational
forecast systems (atmospheric and ocean models). In such applications the data will be
downloaded in bulk (all data for a particular time, region or platform type) rather than as
data-streams from single platforms.
o The high-quality meteorology data is an Australian contribution to the Shipboard Automated
Meteorological and Oceanographic System (SAMOS) initiative
(http://samos.coaps.fsu.edu/html/). SAMOS aims to improve the quality of meteorological
and near-surface oceanographic observations collected in-situ on research vessels and
select volunteer observing ships. Australia is the first international contributor to this
American initiative.
o A further group includes users of analysis products such as BLUElink, GHRSST and AirSea Flux products (such as HOAP: http://www.hoaps.org/ , and the NOCS flux dataset).
Here the SOOP data provides major inputs into the product but is not used as individual
data-streams
o XBT data from the IMOS lines have been used in many research projects (more than 75
published papers).
o Several PhD students at the University of Queensland will use IMOS data. Discussion
occurring regarding the use of CPR data within the New South Wales (NSWIMOS) Node.
Four areas where AusCPR data will be valuable are (1) climate variability and climate
change, (2) fisheries, (3) eutrophication/pollution, and (4) validation of ecosystem models
and remote sensing products.
o The availability of the high-quality IMOS SOOP SST data stream will be promoted at the
next Group for High Resolution SST (GHRSST) Data Users Symposium and GHRSST
Science Team Meeting in California in May/June 2009. This will ensure that the
international satellite SST research and operational community make the most of this very
valuable resource for validation of satellite SST products and research.
2. Integration of Datastreams
A detailed explanation of how we propose to provide an integrated SOOP observing system is
presented in our implementation plan. Note also that several SOOP lines are now closely linked
with the coastal nodes (see Table 2).
Budget:
Detailed budget in ‘Final IMOS EIF Project Plan’ submitted to DIISR 26 February 2010
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TABLE: Observations required by the Nodes in relation to this Facility
TABLE 2: Observations required by the Node
NODE
Observations required by the Node
EIF first $8M funded
Extension of existing facility
(already allocated to Jun10)
infrastructure out to 2013.
NCRIS Funded
(already allocated to
Jun11)
(see Appendix 1 of the Guidelines)
BCN
XBT
Maintain HD and FRX
lines
BGC
L’Astrolabe, Southern
Surveyor
CPR
EAC, Southern Ocean
lines
SST
In situ SST on ferries,
research vessels
ASF
Southern Surveyor &
Aurora Australis
Enhancements of existing
Facilities / new infrastructure
required 2010-2013
Extend XBT lines
Extend CO2 on SS and
Astrolabe
Extend CPR existing lines
SST - Extend existing lines
& roll out new sensors
ASF – extend Existing lines
SS & AA
Expand CPR survey to include
other regional nodes and trans
Tasman Sea line
SST - Radiometers on
research vessels
Extend onto new vessels
ASF Underway obs on transTasman CPR line
BA , Nutrients
On Trans-Tasman lines,
integration with CPR
Southern Ocean Ecosystem
Suite of obs on Aurora
Australis, Astrolabe
All data from SOOP sub-facilities are required by the BCN.
NODE
WAIMOS
Q-IMOS
NSW-IMOS
SAIMOS
TASIMOS
Observations required by the Node
NCRIS Funded
EIF first $8M funded
Extension of existing facility
(already allocated to Jun11)
(already allocated to Jun10)
infrastructure out to 2013.
(see Appendix 1 of the Guidelines)
Fremantle-Singapore line
(IX1) provides largescale
context of Indian ocean
circulation and time series of
Leeuwin Current
SST – Rotmest Ferry
Brisbane-Fiji line provides
long-term time series of EAC
off southern Queensland.
SST - GBR Ferry
The EAC flow off Sydney is
monitored by the SydneyWellington line (PX34). Data
available from 1991.
CPR – Melb to Brisbane
Limited transects available
off southern Australia – end
of southern Indian Ocean
line (IX15). See Figure 1.
Southern Ocean XBT line
Astrolabe
Enhancements of existing
Facilities / new infrastructure
required 2010-2013
Extend XBT, SST
CPR line (Fremantle-Carnarvon
and Wyndham to Broome)
Extend XBT, SST
CPR – Cairns – Gladstone, trans
Tasman Sea, AFS, BA, MA
Extend XBT
CPR – Melb to Brisbane
CPR – cross Tasman
Nutrients, Bio –acoustics, AFS
Extend XBT
CPR – Melb to Adelaide
Suite of properties on
Astrolabe
BA & CPR line - Devonport to
Nelson
BA - East coast Tas line
Note Southern Surveyor provides data to all nodes at some time.
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