2011-12 Annual Progress Report
Integrated Marine Observing System
for
National Collaborative Research Infrastructure
Strategy - Capability 5.12
and
Education Investment Fund
Super Science Initiative - Marine and Climate
IMOS is supported by the Australian Government through the
National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy and the
Super Science Initiative. It is led by the University of Tasmania
on behalf of the Australian marine & climate science community.
1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1
Executive summary
2
Description of activities:
2.1
Research infrastructure
2.2
Access and pricing
2.3
Performance indicators
2.4
Governance
2.5
Risk management strategy
2.6
Promotion
3
Progress against milestones
4
Deviations from the Business Plan
5
Financial and human resources
6
Audit statement
7
Confidential information
APPENDICES
A
Facility reports:
A.1
Argo Australia
A.2
Enhanced Measurements from Ships of Opportunity (SOOP)
A.3
Australian Bluewater Observing System (ABOS)
A.4
Australian National Facility for Ocean Gliders (ANFOG)
A.5
Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Facility (AUV)
A.6
Australian National Mooring Network (ANMN)
A.7
Australian Coastal Ocean Radar Network (ACORN)
A.8
Australian Animal Tagging and Monitoring System (AATAMS)
A.9
Facility for Automated Intelligent Monitoring of Marine Systems (FAIMMS)
A.10 electronic Marine Information Infrastructure (eMII, including AODN)
A.10c OceanCurrent
A.11 Satellite Remote Sensing (SRS)
A.12 IMOS Office
B
List of data streams that are available for use in research
C
Performance indicator reports
D
Node and Steering Committee report
E
Milestone reports
E.1
NCRIS milestone report
E.2
EIF milestone report
F
Financial statements
F.1
NCRIS financial statement
F.2
EIF financial statement
G
List of acronyms
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1
Executive summary
This Annual Progress Report covers the fifth full year of IMOS operation. 2011-12 was also the first
year of extension beyond the initial NCRIS period, supported by an $18M per annum funding
allocation made under the Marine and Climate Super Science initiative.
The achievements documented in this Annual Progress Report provide clear and compelling
evidence of the benefits being generated from sustained investment in IMOS. These benefits
manifest through:
1. national scale, multi-institutional capability to successfully deploy and recover a wide range of
marine observing platforms and sensors, often in harsh and remote conditions,
2. a functioning national information infrastructure, enabling marine and ocean data to be
discovered, accessed, used and re-used,
3. science uptake of IMOS observations and data streams to increase our knowledge and
understanding of Australia’s marine estate, and
4. outputs produced by research providers using IMOS data, to address priorities across
Government portfolios, industry sectors and societal needs.
The vast majority of deployments and recoveries were successfully completed during the year, as
outlined in the Facility Reports in Appendix A. New deployments and data streams successfully
initiated, funded through the Super Science initiative and through Western Australian State
Government co-investment, included the following:
• East Australian Current (EAC) transport mooring array
• South East Queensland (SEQ) shelf mooring array
• shelf mooring arrays in the Kimberley and Pilbara regions of North West Western Australia
(NW WA)
• coastal gliders in the Kimberley and Pilbara
• Maria Island and Kangaroo Island ocean acidification moorings
• the long-delayed Coffs Harbour ocean radar
• an acoustic receiver array off the east coast of Tasmania (Maria Island line), supported by the
global Ocean Tracking Network, and
• acoustic receiver arrays at Rowley Shoals and Scott Reef (off NW WA).
Some deployment and recovery challenges were inevitably encountered given the inherent risks
associated with sensor based observing in the marine environment. In November 2011, the Sirius
Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) was lost at sea during a survey in SEQ. Miraculously, two
weeks later, the vehicle washed ashore some 100km to the north having sustained relatively little
damage. The Ocean Glider Facility had a very mixed year. The coastal (Slocum Glider) component
of the work program went very well, but the deep ocean (Seaglider) component suffered a series of
setbacks which resulted in only six missions being attempted (30% of planned), with two successful,
two aborted and two lost. Deployments have been suspended while the communications problems
encountered are being investigated in liaison with the manufacturer and other users. Excessive
biofouling has been a confounding issue in Southern Ocean deployments.
Further development of the national marine information infrastructure progressed strongly during
the year. The Ocean Portal architecture was completely redeveloped to overcome user-identified
limitations, and now has more powerful search and download capabilities. Availability of data
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continued to build, and as at 30th June 2012 there were 2,143 data metadata records created, all
with data attached. IMOS has also received strong support and cooperation in taking responsibility
for developing the Australian Ocean Data Network (AODN), which had 10,941 metadata records at
year end, of which 51% had data or data products attached. This gives an indication of the leverage
provided by having a single national marine information infrastructure, and partnering with
research institutions, Commonwealth Government departments, State Governments and the
private sector to make much, much larger quantities of marine and ocean data discoverable,
accessible, usable and reusable.
IMOS has worked effectively with other NCRIS Capabilities in the eResearch domain. Good
progress has been made on common research data standards, sharing of infrastructure,
collaborative tool development, and establishment of virtual laboratories. However reliance on the
now defunct Australian Research Collaboration Service (ARCS) for storage of IMOS data was
identified as a risk in the 2011-12 Annual Business Plan, and we still don’t have certainty about
future provision of ‘data fabric’ services. This remains a risk issue requiring attention.
A particular highlight was the establishment of IMOS OceanCurrent in September 2011. Building on
historical work by David Griffin of CSIRO, OceanCurrent has been producing daily maps of surface
currents and temperature using Argo, satellite altimetry, and satellite sea surface temperature.
During the year it was expanded to include near real time data from ships of opportunity and ocean
radars, as well as satellite ocean colour. OceanCurrent has been very successful as a ‘super user’ of
IMOS near real time data streams, and as a mechanism for uptake and use in both the scientific and
user communities. Whereas the IMOS Ocean Portal receives ~1,100 unique visitors per month,
OceanCurrent receives ~8,000 per month, peaking at ~12,000 in December 2011 due to interest in
the EAC and the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.
Science uptake of IMOS observations and data streams continued to grow during 2011-12 in line
with expectations, as detailed Appendix C (Performance Indicators). For the second consecutive
year, publications and reports using IMOS data grew by 40% per annum, to ~1,500 in total
(cumulative). This includes 110 post graduate projects, and 250 journal publications including in
press.
Importantly, it also includes 145 research projects and programs that are producing science outputs
addressing priorities across a range of Government portfolios, industry sectors and societal needs.
These include:
• extensive use of IMOS data within the Australian Climate Change Science Program (ACCSP),
informing climate change policy and management
• use of data by the Bureau of Meteorology to inform and improve seasonal forecasts and
numerical weather predictions
• assimilation of data into the BLUElink Ocean Forecasting System used by the Royal Australian
Navy
• partnering with the Australian Government’s National Environmental Research Program
(NERP) to provide data for use in development of a set of National Marine Ecological Indicators
to monitor and evaluate the state of Australia’s marine environment
• engagement with the Bureau of Meteorology and Environment Department under the
National Plan for Environmental Information (NPEI), focused on environmental information
infrastructure development, and provision of data to the ‘marine’ pilot project on the Great
Barrier Reef, and
4
•
use of IMOS data to inform and improve ecosystem based fisheries management through
research projects across a range of Commonwealth and State-managed fisheries.
Overall progress against milestones was excellent (see Appendix E). Of the 190 milestones under
EIF and NCRIS, 91% were achieved with a further 7% substantially in progress at 30th June 2012.
There were three delayed milestones, two relating to reoccupation of Lucinda Jetty after damage
by Cyclone Yasi, and one relating to equipment supply.
A number of key risks were identified in the Annual Business Plan for 2010-11. Risks around loss of
equipment in the harsh, remote Southern Ocean, and due to cyclone activity in the tropical North,
have been effectively managed this year. The risk that WA State Government would not approve a
proposed cash co-investment did not eventuate, with a $6M three-year agreement being signed in
October 2011. Increasing reliance on the Marine National Facility (MNF) to support IMOS
deepwater moorings remains a risk, though the MNF’s transition from RV Southern Surveyor to RV
Investigator is proceeding well given the scale of the project with only three months slippage at this
stage.
However the risk of discontinuity of funding beyond June 2013 has increased substantially since the
Annual Business Plan was submitted, to the extent that it now overwhelms all other risks to the
program.
In summary, the IMOS community has again worked effectively to deliver at a demonstrably high
level in the 2011-12 year. Important steps have been taken in hardening the observational
capability and the information infrastructure, and in growing the science uptake and production of
relevant outputs. Indications are that all of these factors continue to trend positively in the first
quarter of 2012-13. However the IMOS community cannot continue to deliver at this level without
a clear signal of funding support beyond June 2013.
2
Description of activities
2.1 Research infrastructure
IMOS creates and delivers data streams for use in marine and climate science in Australia.
Essentially, the research infrastructure we are creating and developing are the long time series
gathered from the observing equipment we have deployed in Australia’s oceans.
The IMOS Ocean Portal (http://imos.aodn.org.au) allows the marine and climate science
community to discover and explore the data streams coming from all of the facilities. All IMOS data
streams are available, some in near-real time, some as non-quality controlled, increasingly as
delayed mode quality controlled data. Details of the data streams available are provided in each of
the Facility Reports (see Appendices A.1-A.9 and A.11).
Key Deployments of research infrastructure in 2011-12:
• Argo – a total of 30 IMOS and 30 co-invested floats were procured
• Ships of opportunity – 3 new continuous plankton recorders were purchased, along with
instrumentation across the fleet
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Deepwater moorings – duplicate flux mooring procured, mooring refurbishment of the timeseries site, and mooring equipment for the Indonesian Through-Flow and East-Australian
Current sites
Ocean gliders – 3 new slocum gliders purchased. Argos communications purchased for the seaglider fleet
Autonomous underwater vehicle – refurbishment equipment including GPS beacon and battery
upgrade
National moorings network – new shelf and passive acoustic moorings for Kimberly and Pilbara
as a result of new funding from WA Government funding, replacement Port Hacking shelf
mooring, Kangaroo Island acidification mooring, plus mooring refurbishment equipment across
all sites
Ocean radar - Coffs Harbour radar deployed March 2012, and refurbishment equipment across
all sites
Animal tagging and monitoring – Narooma line deployed, plus the first of the Ocean Tracking
Network lines off NE Tasmania, biologgers purchased, and refurbishment of equipment across
all acoustic receiver sites.
Wireless sensor networks – purchase of computers, wireless network equipment and
replacement sensors and equipment across all sites
eMII – release of new IMOS and AODN portals and the OceanCurrent site, upgrade of
geonetwork and implementation of geoserver
Satellite remote sensing – rebuilding of the LJCO infrastructure pending deployment in
September 2012, refurbishment of equipment across all sites
2.2 Access and pricing
All of the data collected by IMOS is openly and freely available in a timely manner to all users
through the IMOS Ocean Portal (http://imos.aodn.org.au/webportal/ ). This includes users for
research, as well as operational activities such as BLUElink and seasonal climate forecasting and
commercial applications.
2.3 Performance indicators
Details on the performance indicators are given in the reports from each of the facilities in
Appendix A, the list of data streams in Appendix B, and the performance indicator reports in
Appendix C. As detailed in those reports, all facilities have developed quantitative indices of
performance.
Providing research infrastructure
The financial reports at Appendix F record the total capital purchases from both DIISRTE funds and
co-investment. In addition, there is a list of capital purchases in each of the facility reports in
Appendix A.
Meeting research needs
The Performance Indicator reports in Appendix C identify a total of 145 research projects and 110
Postgraduate projects using IMOS data. This includes 17 new research projects and 14 new
postgraduate students in the 2011/12 year.
6
Over the past year the eMII facility has run four road shows/data user workshops in Tasmania, New
South Wales, Western Australia and South Australia. The format of the road shows has been
revamped with the focus on tutorial-guided discovery and use of the data, with many tutorial
assignments constructed from feedback on interests requested from attendees prior to the
workshop. eMII also contributed to the new SIMS Topics in Marine Science Masters course run
February-May 2012.
Quality of research infrastructure
IMOS is regarded internationally as a leading regional component of the Global Ocean Observing
System (www.ioc-goos.org ), and all of the facilities provide a benchmark for their research
infrastructure in the facility reports in Appendix A.
Fostering collaborative development of infrastructure
The IMOS facilities are involved in many international programs, and many scientists within the
IMOS community have leadership roles in international bodies engaged in marine observing
activity, including:
• International Argo Steering Team
• Global Temperature and Salinity Profile Program
• International Ocean Carbon Coordination Program
• Shipboard Automated Meteorological Oceanographic System
• Global Ocean Surface Underway Data Project
• International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set
• OceanSITES (global deep ocean moored observatories)
• NASA Astrobiology Science and Technology for Exploring Planets program
• International Network of Coral Reef Ecosystem Observing Systems
• Pacific Ocean (acoustic) Shelf Tracking
• Ocean Tracking Network
• Coral Reef Environmental Observatory Network
• Global Telecommunications System
• Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) International Oceanographic Data and
Information Exchange (IODE) Ocean Portal Development Team
• National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA) CoastWatch
IMOS has brought the Australian marine research community together on a national scale, to work
towards common goals. This collaboration is providing important benefits to Australia, through
world-class research and support for a strong marine industry sector.
Fostering interdisciplinary and world-class research
Across the Facilities of IMOS a total of 250 Journal articles (both published and in press) using IMOS
data have been identified. This includes 78 new Journal papers in the 2011/12 year. Other peerreviewed literature includes 90 Conference Proceeding papers (23 in the 2011/12 year), and 99
book chapters, white papers, reports and theses (24 in the 2011/12 year).
The Facilities have also identified a total of 701 conference oral, poster, and workshop
presentations, including 245 new presentations in the 2011/12 year. A further 77 public seminars
were also presented (16 in the 2011/12 year).
Refer to the Performance Indicator Reports in Appendix C for further details.
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Performance against EIF principles
Principle 1: Projects should address national infrastructure priorities
The 2011 Strategic Roadmap for Australian Research Infrastructure confirms that IMOS continues
to address national infrastructure priorities. In the past year we have had one progress report, two
business plans and four milestone reports accepted by DIISRTE. In addition, both the NCRIS and EIF
contracts have recently been extended out to December 2014, all of which demonstrate that we
continue to address the priorities which IMOS was set-up for.
Principle 2: Projects should demonstrate high benefits and effective use of resources
IMOS continues to meet budget targets, and as additional resources are identified is able to rely on
its previous plans and national consultation to ensure resources are allocated effectively to
maximise the benefits achieved by IMOS.
Principle 3: Projects should efficiently address infrastructure needs
The national collaboration with the marine and science community ensures that we consult widely
and that decisions on use of resources are made to efficiently address infrastructure needs.
Principle 4: Projects should demonstrate they achieve established standards in implementation
and management
In July 2011 the University of Tasmania received a report from KPMG which confirms that IMOS has
strong processes in place to implement and manage the IMOS Project. The key elements of this are
a dedicated IMOS Office, an Advisory Board, and continued high-level adherence to the terms of
the IMOS Funding Agreements.
2.4 Governance
The Advisory Board met for the scheduled half-yearly meetings, plus at the IMOS annual planning
meeting.
• 14 September 2011, Brisbane – Key agenda items were approval of the 2010-11 IMOS NCRIS/EIF
Annual Progress Report and 2011-13 NCRIS Business Plan; IMOS decadal strategy, budget, board
performance, KPMG audit and collaboration with Terrestrial Ecosystems Research Network
(TERN). Following the meeting, the IMOS and TERN Boards held a joint meeting to discuss areas
of collaboration.
• 14-15 February 2012, Brisbane – IMOS Annual Planning Meeting, to finalise the details of the
2012-13 Business Plan.
• 16 February 2012, Brisbane – Key agenda items were approval of 2012-13 EIF Business Plan,
future of IMOS, budget, governance and financial processes and policies.
• 23 May 2012, Melbourne – Key agenda items were future of IMOS, engagement strategy and
planning process.
Dr Ian Poiner was appointed as Chair, and new members Dr Bruce Mapstone, Cmdr Robyn Phillips
and Prof Lee Asthiemer joined the Board. For the whole of 2011-12 continuing members were Dr
Nick D’Adamo, Mr John Gunn, Prof Rob Lewis, Prof Jason Middleton, Dr Peter Rogers, Dr Neville
Smith, Prof Paddy Nixon and Mr Tim Moltmann. Jo Neilson, IMOS Project Manager, is Secretary to
the Advisory Board.
8
The Steering Committee also met on a number of occasions during 2011-12. Please refer to
Appendix D Node and Steering Committee Report for further information.
2.5 Risk management strategy
The IMOS Office coordinates a twice yearly update of the IMOS Facility risk assessment, as part of
the process to develop the Annual Business Plans and Annual Progress Report. The last risk
assessment was done during July-August 2012, with the Facilities providing a self-assessment of the
risks they face, and the IMOS Office then assessing the residual risk. The majority of risks were
assessed to be in the low to mid-range, with major risks and risk management strategies being:
• Reliance on research vessels to deploy / retrieve equipment.
Transition from Southern Surveyor to Investigator may lead to gap in deep water voyages.
Forward planning to ensure voyages are confirmed. Awareness of alternate options for ad hoc
recoveries
•
Funding discontinuity beyond June 2013.
Strategy formulation, political awareness, making sure IMOS is seen as critical. Possibility of
transitional funding is being investigated
•
Ensuring high quality data is made available to and used widely by the marine and climate
science community.
Employment of quality staff dedicated to the continued delivery of world-class data
•
Attracting and retaining high-quality staff for all aspects of the IMOS work
Have agreed with DIISRTE to extend funding term to December 2014, however additional
funding not yet secured, so unable to extend staff contracts past June 2013
2.6 Promotion
The key forum for promotion of IMOS to the research community was via Node meetings held
around the country - see Appendix D for details. In addition, IMOS Facility staff presented at a
number of national and international conferences. Detail is provided in the Performance Indicator
Reports (Appendix C).
A Communication Plan has been developed for IMOS and was successfully implemented during
2011-12. A constant web presence was maintained, monthly email bulletins sent to an ever
growing list, the biannual newsletter (‘Marine Matters’) produced, and the second IMOS Annual
Highlights Document published in November 2011. Hard copies were distributed to over 100
stakeholders (including DIISRTE, State Governments and co-investors), and a further 750 copies
have been distributed since in the broader marine and climate science community.
The promotional activities that the IMOS Office has completed in the past year are outlined in the
IMOS Office report (Appendix A.12).
9
3
Progress against milestones
The NCRIS milestone report is in Appendix E.1
The EIF milestone report is in Appendix E.2.
Details are given on the status of each milestone by Facility and Operator, a description of what has
been achieved and any relevant comments that will affect the completion of the milestone.
Milestone Summary for 2011-12 (including those brought forward from June 2011):
June 2012 Status
NCRIS
EIF
Total
%
Achieved
40
133
173
91%
In Progress
7
7
14
7%
Delayed
2
1
3
2%
Deleted
4
5
9
Total
53
146
199
100%
4
Deviations from the Business Plan
The following deviations are advised from the 2011-13 NCRIS Annual Business Plan (as it relates to
the 2011-12 year):
• NCRIS Milestone tables in Appendix E.1 detail agreed activities not completed (ie having a status
of either ‘Delayed’ or ‘In Progress’) and remedial actions proposed.
The following deviations are advised from the 2011-12 EIF Annual Business Plan
• Argo – CSIRO co-invested 9 additional floats as part of a risk management plan to do a ‘proof of
concept’ trial on new float types as part of the forward tender process. The Bureau was unable
to invest 8 floats in 2011-12 and is unlikely to be able to provide 8 floats in 2012-13.
• Ships of opportunity – Implementation of a wireless XBT systems; l’Astrolabe lab van delayed
until December 2012; additional CPR tows from Brisbane to Fiji as part of PIGOOS pilot project;
recruitment of RV Tangaroa to the air-sea fluxes fleet; and new tuna vessel added to
bioacoustics fleet.
• Deepwater moorings – on SOFS mooring added profiler to estimate zooplankton biomass
variability; and at SOTS site added near-bottom CTDs to measure ocean heat at depths lower
than Argo can reach.
• Ocean gliders – further development of Gliderscope and tutorial to analyse glider data being
developed. Deployment of sea-gliders was suspended in October 2011 due to ongoing
communications problems which remain unresolved. Additional slocum glider voyages in
Kimberley and Pilbara added in response to the new WA Government funding.
• Autonomous underwater vehicle – Loss and subsequent recovery of the AUV meant one voyage
was aborted and the subsequent one cancelled. Additional tracking has been added and
voyages rescheduled.
• National moorings network – in Q&NA additional Kimberley and Pilbara lines added resulting
from new WA Government funding; and One ITF slope mooring site had to be reinstated after
loss. In NSW, Port Hacking mooring was lost and reinstated; and working towards real time
transmission at ORS site. In SA, lower number of CTDs meant only 5 rather than 6 moorings
could be deployed simultaneously. In WA, delays experienced with quality control of data;
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•
•
•
•
5
Passive Acoustics rely on node leaders to submit data to eMII. Darwin and Yongala NRS
redesigned; and Yongala NRS damage during TC Yasi will not be rectified until late 2012, which
also caused a delay in installing the CO2 mooring at that site.
Ocean radar – Cervantes antennae additional move planned for later in 2012; monitoring
processes significantly improved at all sites; workshop held to discuss datastreams and user
expectations; Codar data continues to be a problem.
Animal tagging and monitoring – Deployment of the Flinders OTN line delayed until October
2012; and delay in availability of biologger datastreams
Wireless sensor networks – remedial work due to TC Yasi damage delayed to August 2012.
eMII – New MARVL, MARVLIS and RDSI proposals successful; generic graphing service in
progress; and new technology means constant changes to keep up to date.
Satellite remote sensing – re-processing SST data back to 1992 will be done by June 2013;
AODACC V1delayed to second half of 2012, due to eMII need to focus on delivery of the new
Portal; Townsville groundstation upgrade delayed to August 2012, to fit with new building plans
at AIMS site; and LJCO re-instate now expected by September 2012.
Financial and human resources
The financial statements have been provided at Appendix F. These statements include information
on the receipt and expenditure of NCRIS (see Appendix F.1) and EIF (see Appendix F.2) resources
from DIISRTE, interest and co-investments (both cash and in-kind).
In August 2013 the Funding Agreements for both NCRIS and EIF were extended out to December
2014 (final report due by 31 March 2015). While no additional funding was agreed as part of the
extension, the extension facilitates a transition to the next phase of IMOS. The Advisory Board
expects to recommend by December 2012 the opportunities to be progressed with any unallocated
funding.
Staffing (full-time equivalent FTE staff numbers) on the project in the 2011-12 year was as follows:
Facility
Sub-facility
DIISRTE
Co-investment Total FTE
01 Argo
n/a
3.99
2.01
6.00
02 SOOP
2aa XBT 1.25; 2ab BGC 1.47; 2ac CPR
8.96
3.48
12.44
4.57; 2b Trop RV 0.37; 2c SST 1.31; 2d
Air-sea flux 0.61; 2e bioacoust 2.86
03 ABOS
3a SOFS 0.78, 3b SOTS 5.40, 3c Deep
5.36
2.47
7.83
Arrays 1.65
04 ANFOG
n/a
5.09
0.10
5.19
05 AUV
n/a
1.85
2.05
3.90
06 ANMN
6a Q&NA 7.63, 6b NSW 2.38, 6c SA 2.35,
16.79
7.29
24.08
6d WA 2.43, 6e PassAcous 0.82, 6f NRS
7.83, 6g CO2 0.64
07 ACORN
n/a
4.55
0.76
5.31
08 AATAMS
n/a
1.76
2.87
4.63
09 FAIMMS
n/a
1.08
1.53
2.61
10 eMII
10a eMII 10.17, 10b AODN 6.20, 10c
17.16
0.36
17.52
OceCurr 1.15
11
11 SRS
12 Office
WAIMOS
Grand Total
6
11a SST L2P 1.30, 11b AODAAC 0.50,
11c Tville Upgrd 0.44, 11d OceCol 2.41,
11e SatAltim 2.24
n/a
n/a
5.64
1.25
6.89
5.27
0.00
77.50
0.00
0.23
24.40
5.27
0.23
101.90
Audit statement
In reference to clause 12.6 of the IMOS NCRIS Funding Agreement dated 22 May 2007, and the
IMOS EIF Funding Agreement signed 24 June 2009, the University of Tasmania is audited by the
Tasmanian Auditor-General and the income and expenditure of IMOS is subject to these audits.
Therefore, instead of the certificate and audits required under clause 12.2, the financial statements
discussed at part 5 above, and included at Appendix E, have been endorsed as per clause 12.6.
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Confidential information
None of the material in this report is to be treated as confidential.
12
Appendix A – Facility reports
Appendix A.1 – Argo Australia
Facility Leader:
Susan Wijffels, CSIRO
Contact details: Phone: 03 6232 5450; Email: susan.wijffels@csiro.com
1. Overview of status of Facility
The Facility remains a strong contributor to the international Argo program. It also continued to
underpin a large number of diverse science papers, including high profile publications in Science,
Nature Climate Change and Nature Geosciences. Internationally, Argo underpins over 200
publications a year.
Operational highlights this year include the deployment of more than 50 floats by the Sailing Vessel
Lady Amber in areas that would have been otherwise inaccessible. This little ship has made a large
contribution to maintaining the distribution of Argo floats in the Indian Ocean. The crew were also
excellent ambassadors for Argo, working with the media in Western Australia and Tasmania. We
also had some media attention focussed on the effect of piracy in the western Indian Ocean on float
deployments and the hole in the Argo array emerging in that region because of the risk to
deployment vessels. The RAN and US navies stepped up and helped us deploy a total of 15 floats in
this dangerous region and we thank them. The Facility also successfully completed the first step in a
complex tender process to test and validate the use of 3 new float models in Argo Australia.
2. Activities undertaken to establish and operate the infrastructure
The Facility achieved the preparation and deployment of 82 floats in this fiscal year. Overall, the
fleet now stands at over 380 active floats (including 116 with iridium sensors and 34 with oxygen
sensors), greatly exceeding our milestone for 240 active floats. In addition, we have delivered
Delayed Mode Quality Controlled (DMQC) data for over 85% of profiles that are eligible for DMQC.
Overall, we are well positioned in the Argo community with the second highest number of active
floats and the majority of that data is of the highest possible quality. All data is delivered in real
time (most within 24 hours of reporting) to the GTS, global Argo Data Centres, eMII and is available
through the IMOS Ocean Portal. In addition, we now co-chair the two key international Argo
leadership teams, with Susan Wijffels co-chair of the Argo Science Team and Ann Thresher taking up
the position of co-chair of the Argo Data Management Team this year.
3. Progress against agreed Milestones
Please refer to Appendix E – Milestone Reports
4. Deviations from 2011-12 Annual Business Plan
Additional activities undertaken: A big challenge this year has been the requirement that we go to
tender for our float purchases. With the advent of three new manufacturers offering credible new
float models that could meet Argo requirements, the requirement for an open tender process was
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met. As a result, we issued a tender in January 2012 that was finalized in March. This was a
complex and challenging process that required a lot of help from CSIRO Procurement.
If an Argo float fails, we cannot retrieve it easily nor can we easily fill the hole in the monitoring
array quickly. Thus the failure of a large numbers of floats must be avoided at all costs as it results
in a permanent degradation of the ocean climate record. To reduce this serious risk to the data
stream, we undertook a ‘Proof of Concept’ trial (POC) with an add-on for ‘Proven Technology’
(currently the Teledyne Webb APEX APF9 float). The POC allows us to carry out field testing to
ensure candidate float models meet the Facility’s needs, particularly around reliability and data
quality.
We received a total of 4 bids and initially assessed all as viable for a POC trial. One vendor pulled out
when it was clear that they couldn’t meet our requirement for 2db data. In the end, we purchased 9
floats and received a further 7 floats for assessment without charge. Four of these will carry the new
Seabird Oxygen optical sensors, also provided without charge. This is a fantastic result for the
program. Most of the 16 POC floats have arrived in Hobart and all will go onto the NZ RV Kaharoa
for deployment in October/November 2012. Initially, they will be ‘fast cycled’ to test their batteries
and we will then re-program them to test 2-way communications and ease of changing the missions
in the field.
5. Progress against 2011-12 Implementation Plan
Work Plan for 2011/12: We again plan to deploy 60 floats between July 2011 and June 2012. This
will be composed of a mix of floats from EIF funding, BoM funding, CMAR funding and ACECRC
funding. By the end of the year, we expect to have approximately 300 active floats. We currently
have 304 active floats giving reliable data which exceeds our goal of 240 floats. The long life of the
floats as well as our excellent record of deployment has contributed to this success.
Improving the useability and accuracy of the Argo trajectory data set will be a focus of both national
and international data teams in the upcoming year.
Actual progress in 2011-12: The Facility deployed 82 floats in this fiscal year. This combined with our
float longevity has meant an increase of active floats to just over 380. The down side of this
increase is that our communications costs have risen but we are actively managing this by adjusting
the communications methods used and seeking cheaper providers. Communications for new floats
are costing less than 2/3 of the cost for the older floats as a result. We therefore remain well within
budget in this area, despite the increase in the size of our Argo fleet.
The Argo Data Team has approved a new trajectory format and is developing a ‘cookbook’. We have
provided our raw hex data to a French team creating new files and a trajectory product. All Argo
data centres will be working on encoding data in the new format over the upcoming year.
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Providing research infrastructure
Details of new infrastructure
14
A total of 30 IMOS floats, 16 CSIRO CAPEX floats and 14 ACE CRC floats were procured this fiscal year.
At this point, we have fewer than 50 floats remaining in the lab and many of these have identified
deployment opportunities in the next 6 months.
Outline the continuity of one key time series of data to be assessed against an appropriate benchmark
for this facility.
Through IMOS (50%) and with international (50%) partners, Argo Australia has maintained design
density (1 float every 3° of latitude and longitude) in the Australian sector of the Southern Hemisphere
since late 2007 – the first region in the Southern Hemisphere to reach this goal. The Southern
Hemisphere coverage has been near design density since 2008.
Quality of research infrastructure
Benchmark against other similar overseas infrastructure
1. A technical performance benchmark around float reliability which reflects the quality of the
engineering and technical care taken in acquiring, preparing and deploying floats – the % survival
rate of floats deployed in any given year. Argo Australia achieves longer mean survival rates
compared to the next two largest national programs from the USA and Japan. While Japan Argo has
deployed over 1100 floats (compared to our 521), their active array is smaller (~255) floats than
Argo Australia’s array due to our longer float lifetimes (almost double).
2. A timeliness metric regarding data made available to the operational centers on the WMO’s GTS:
Argo Australia is adequate with occasional months of slow data delivery due to teething problems
with Iridium floats and lack of backup personnel to attend the data stream at BoM. Data is
delivered to eMII in real-time and so is available to Australian researchers even if there are slight
delays in delivery to the GDACs.
3. Progress in achieving high quality QC of the Argo data (delayed-mode quality control): Argo Australia
is over 80% which is above or near most other global programs. Our documentation of this process
is benchmark (see http://www.cmar.csiro.au/argo/dmqc/index.html )
Fostering Collaborative development of infrastructure
Participation in international programs collecting similar data streams
Argo Australia contributes to and participates in the international Argo program in the following ways:
1. Guide, coordinate and improve the Argo program by participating in the International Argo Steering
Team (IAST) meetings (represented and now co-chaired by Susan Wijffels), as well as being a
member of the Argo Executive team. IAST sets the scientific goals, guides the data system and
oversees Argo implementation;
2. Helps support the international infrastructure required by Argo - the Argo Information Centre (and
the Argo Technical Coordinator) - required to track and coordinate the global array and satisfy
relevant international law under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)
and notification of float deployment near a country's Exclusive Economic Zone;
15
3. Actively participates in the development and improvement of the Argo data system by contributing
to and attending Argo Data Team meetings (now co-chaired by Ann Thresher), and Argo delayedmode data workshops;
4. Co-operates with partner Argo countries to assist in the implementation of Argo through:
• auditing the global data archive to check on how pressure corrections have been applied to Argo
profiles, identifying errors, informing the relevant National Data Centers, assist in fixes, and
leading an international working group on quantifying Argo pressure accuracy. Two audits are
achieved per year and have been vital in identifying and correcting biases in Argo data
(http://www.cmar.csiro.au/argo/dmqc/audits_2012_03_04/).
• assisting the Indian program by providing and helping implement Australia’s realtime software,
and also assisted India in delayed mode processing with software and training.
• assisting Korea’s KORDI to implement our software and improve their realtime processing.
• closely collaborating with US Argo and NIWA, New Zealand, to ensure that the South Pacific and
South Indian Ocean arrays remain gap free. This is achieved through shared leasing of the New
Zealand vessel RV Kaharoa and joint deployment planning across these basins.
Other collaborations
•
•
•
We have signed an MOU with Teledyne Webb Manufacturing which will give us access to their
proprietary software and engineering information with a view to improving float performance.
We are collaborating with SeaBird Electronics on testing new pressure sensors and analysing their
performance. We are also going to be testing their new oxygen optical sensor.
We are assisting Teledyne Webb in providing specifications for the next generation controller for
APEX Argo floats.
Other performance indicators
Please refer to Appendix C – Performance Indicators
Financial and co-investment information
Please refer to Appendix F – Financial Statements
Cash co-investment – the Bureau has advised that due to a misunderstanding the 8 floats which were
planned for 2011-12 have not been purchased. Due to financial constraints the 8 planned for 2012-13
are unlikely. The Bureau remains fully committed to in-kind support for Argo.
OTHER INFORMATION
Risk Assessment: A tough general budget environment in government is putting pressure on coinvesting programs such as the Bureau of Meteorology’s Observations and Operations Branch, the
CSIRO CAPEX funds and both the Antarctic and Ecosystem CRC and Australian Climate Change Science
Programs. To date, despite very tough budget situations, these programs have continued to prioritise
investing in Argo above other areas. We expect an even tougher future challenge to maintain this level
of co-investment in the near term, though the facility will continue to advocate and highlight the strong
dependence of these programs on Argo data streams.
16
Appendix A.2 – Enhanced Measurements from Ships of Opportunity
Facility Leader:
Contact details:
No.
Ken Ridgway, CSIRO
Phone: 03 6232 5226; Email: ken.ridgway@csiro.com
Sub-Facility
2aa
Expendable
Bathythermograph (XBT)
2ab Biogeochemical (BGC)
2ac
2b
2c
2d
2e
2f
Continuous Plankton
Recorders (AusCPR)
Sensors on Tropical
Research Vessels
Sea Surface Temperature
(SST) Sensors for
Australian Vessels
Research Vessels RealTime Air-Sea Fluxes
Bio-Acoustic
Sensors on Temperate
Merchant Vessels
Leader, Operator
Phone
Email
Ann
Thresher,
CSIRO
Bronte
Tilbrook,
CSIRO
Anthony
Richardson, CSIRO
Miles Furnas, AIMS
03 6232 5419
ann.thresher@csiro.au
03 6232 5273
bronte.tilbrook@csiro.au
07 3826 7183
anthony.richardson@csiro.au
07 4753 4323
m.furnas@aims.gov.au
Helen Beggs, BoM
03 9669 4394
h.beggs@bom.gov.au
Eric Schulz, BoM
03 9669 4618
e.schulz@bom.gov.au
Rudy Kloser, CSIRO
02 6232 5389
rudy.kloser@csiro.au
Randall Lee, EPA, 03 8458 2368
Vic
randall.lee@epa.vic.gov.au
1. Overview of status of Facility
Enhanced Measurements from Ships of Opportunity Facility overview:
The SOOP facility made up of 7 sub-facilities has continued to provide a substantial amount of
quality assured data to eMII. The success of the SOOP facility and its ability to partner with existing
vessel infrastructure is underpinned by its core attachment to the uptake of the data in science
programs. The uptake of the data and the connection of the sub-facilities with national and
international programs ensure the facility and its sub-facilities remain at world’s best practice. This
is demonstrated within the “Fostering interdisciplinary and world-class research” section and the
annual interaction that practitioners are making nationally and internationally.
A continuing challenge for the facility is to maintain a reliable fleet of vessels on the required
routes. The shipping industry is highly volatile and vessels go off line and/or change routes often
with very little warning. Some sub-facilities face particular problems to identify suitable vessels in
the desired location with the appropriate infrastructure. These external influences are outside the
control of the sub-facilities and need to be carefully monitored and action taken to mitigate the
effects. While significant issues have arisen throughout the year, all sub-facilities have been able to
find acceptable ‘work arounds’ to overcome a range of vessel access problems. While the datastreams on research vessels are generally more reliable, several sub-facilities will need to address
the imminent transition to the RV Investigator.
17
Highlights:
• Further SOOP collaboration with New Zealand with the IMOS endorsement of the inclusion of
the NIWA vessels RV Tangaroa into the Air-Sea Fluxes fleet and negotiations in progress to add
BGC capacity.
• Expansion of the CPR program, including collaboration with AIMS in NW Australia and the GBR,
first NZ tow, and completion of tows from Brisbane to Fiji
• Description of the first appearance of the red tide species Noctiluca scintillans in the Southern
Ocean - likely to be related to the strengthening of the East Australia Current and more warmcore eddies propagating into the Southern Ocean.
• Development of the wireless XBT system which has lead to an increase in the number of ships
available for XBT sampling
• A cost-efficient and high resolution data logging and transmission system installed on container
vessel MV Xutra Bhum enabling significantly higher precision data to be transmitted from a
SOOP at lower transmission cost per byte.
2aa Expendable Bathythermograph:
The XBT works have gone well this year with some significant technological developments but we
have also had challenges as usual with ships. For much of the year, transect PX30 was occupied by
two ships from Noumea and going in different directions. This was expensive and because of
recruitment difficulties (and the Qantas shut-down!), we only managed 3 transects. PX34 was
occupied for 4 sections as required.
2ab Biogeochemical:
The BGC CO2 systems are installed and operating on all ships. There have previously been some
delays with obtaining ship’s data from Aurora Australis and Southern Surveyor which caused delays
in finalising the BGC data. This problem has been largely overcome with only a few outstanding files
for the past year awaiting ship data. The Australian Antarctic Division have facilitated the operation
of the underway instrumentation on the Aurora Australis that has made operating the equipment
on the ship much more straight forward.
2ac Continuous Plankton Recorders:
Highlights: Starting of collaboration with AIMS in Northwest Australia and on the Great Barrier Reef.
First tow from NZ to Australia on the RV Rehua. Tows from Brisbane to Fiji as part of a pilot project
of Pacific Islands GOOS (Global Ocean Observing System). Taken delivery of 3 new CPR units.
Difficulties: Loss of a CPR on 29 June 2012. Most likely reason was a very severe collision and it
broke at the shock absorber eye-bolt. This was only the second trip that the eye-bolt had been used
on and they should be refurbished only every 12-24 months. We have revisited our maintenance
schedule and enhanced it, although for such a new unit maintenance was not the primary problem.
We have an ongoing difficulty of obtaining permits from AFMA for sampling.
Breakthroughs: Description of the first appearance of the red tide species Noctiluca scintillans in
the Southern Ocean. This is likely to be related to the strengthening of the East Australia Current
and more warm-core eddies propagating into the Southern Ocean. The increase in warm-water
transport by the East Australia Current has been related to climate change.
18
2b Sensors on Tropical Research Vessels:
Currently operating on a routine basis. Action taken to make data available sooner when vessels
are out of 3G phone range.
2c Sea Surface Temperature (SST) Sensors for Australian Vessels: A very cost-efficient and high
resolution data logging and transmission system has been installed on container vessel MV Xutra
Bhum enabling significantly higher precision data to be transmitted from a SOOP at lower
transmission cost per byte. Three new vessels supplying real-time SST data have been
instrumented or recruited over the past year (RV Linnaeus, MV Pacific Celebes and MV Xutra
Bhum). However, since 18 Jan 2012 three vessels have ceased to provide SST data to IMOS (MV
Iron Yandi, PV Pacific Sun and MV Pacific Celebes). During FY11/12, the total number of vessels
providing real-time SST data to IMOS was 13, but as at 18 July 2012 the number is now 11. It is
expected that MV Wana Bhum will supply SST data commencing August 2012. A paper on the
IMOS ship SST data was published in March 2012 in Journal of Operational Oceanography and has
stimulated a great deal of international interest in the instrumentation and data from the UK
Hadley Centre, NOCS, Meteo-France, Ocean University of China and JCOMM Ship Observations
Team.
Difficulties: Poor quality SST data from Rottnest Ferry (PV SeaFlyte) – likely cause low water flowrate past the sensor and/or engine room heating of the water being measured. Reported in web
document by Verein et al. (2011) Report on Rottnest Ferry SST Validation Tests (5-7 April 2011)
located at http://imos.org.au/soopdoc.html. Helen Beggs requested that CSIRO Marine and
Atmospheric Research to relocate the SBE 38 sensor on the vessel. Not yet done.
2d Research Vessels Real-Time Air-Sea Fluxes:
The sub-facility continues to provide real-time quality controlled meteorological and oceanographic
observations from routinely calibrated instruments from three research vessels to eMII. The RV
Tangaroa recruitment was consolidated with additional operating funds from IMOS.
2e Bio Acoustic:
The bio-acoustic facility is now logging calibrated data from 9 vessels and data is being processed
based on priorities determined within the nodes. Significant bio-acoustic transects in the Indian
Ocean have provided unique insights into the spatial and temporal variability of vertical migration
in this remotely sampled region.
2f Sensors on Temperate Merchant Vessels:
• August 2011: Wetlabs FLNTU instrument failure sent back to USA. EPA invested an additional
FLNTU instrument to be installed to minimise data loss.
• Jan 2012: IMOS SOOP TMV data used to track significant algal bloom/collapse and related fish
death event in Port Phillip Bay in Jan 2012 (see link http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/ourwork/publications/publication/2012/august/1484)
• May 2012: Paper published in Journal of Ocean Dynamics using IMOS SOOP TMV data to show
significant response of Port Phillip Bay to long -term drought conditions.
Lee R.S., Black K.P, Bosserel, C., and Greer. D. (2012) Present and future prolonged drought
impacts on a temperate marine embayment, Journal of Ocean Dynamics, Topical Collection on
Physics of Estuaries and Coastal Seas 2010, Ocean Dynamics, 2012, Volume 62, Number 6,
Pages 907-922
19
2. Activities undertaken to establish and operate the infrastructure
2aa Expendable Bathythermograph:
This year Alan Poole developed further his wireless XBT data acquisition system. It now fits on a
carry-on suitcase, weighing less than 7 kg. This is compared to the large trunk we formerly carried
to the ships. The creation of this system has increased the number of ships accessible to us and we
have now recruited a gas ship for the Brisbane to Fiji run (PX30). Without the wireless system, we
could not use this ship and would still be using two ships going in opposite directions. Gas ships are
particularly difficult – they don’t come in to port so must be loaded from a launch, they have
completely sealed bridges making the running of cables from a bridge computer to the launch point
impossible and no setup can be carried out until the ship is at sea because of the risks during gas
loading. It is therefore a real asset to the project and a significant achievement in infrastructure
improvement.
We continue to recruit ships on the lines as required, using a total of 9 different ships last year.
Craig Hanstein has proven to be adept at recruitment and has risen to this challenge very well. We
hope to see the ships settle down this next year but only time will tell.
2ab Biogeochemical:
An underway system for Aurora Australis had to be completely rebuilt after a flood that resulted
from a problem with the ship plumbing. The system was completed, installed and tested in time for
the first cruise on Aurora Australis for FY11/12 and worked well. A CO2 calibration facility in the lab
was completed that allowed the testing of all instruments prior to deployment on ships. This
facility is also used for testing and calibration of moored sensors. It means the performance of
instruments can be tracked, problems diagnosed and corrected rapidly to minimise the chances of
equipment failure and maximise high quality data returns.
2ac Continuous Plankton Recorders:
Purchased CPRs and in regular discussion with vessel operators. Performed regular taxonomic
training of staff. Regular maintenance of CPRs. Regular data delivery to eMII.
2b Sensors on Tropical Research Vessels:
Thermosalinographs installed on the two AIMS research vessels (R.V. Solander, R.V. Cape Ferguson)
are operated on a routine basis. Data is downloaded on a regular basis while the vessels are in
mobile phone range. During the course of the year, provision was made to incorporate more
frequent data downloads from the Solander via a new satellite phone/data link to be installed
during early 2012/13. A stand-alone Iridium phone system for the TSG system was purchased for
the R.V. Cape Ferguson, to be installed during refit during early 2012/13. Ongoing improvements to
the automated data processing system were undertaken over the course of the year.
2c Sea Surface Temperature (SST) Sensors for Australian Vessels:
MV Xutra Bhum has been instrumented with the new data logging and satellite transmission system
and since 5 July 2012 has been sending 5 minute SST data in hourly bursts to the GTS. MV Wana
Bhum has been inspected and is expected to be similarly instrumented in August 2012. In addition,
real-time SST data is now sent to the GTS and IMOS Ocean Portal from the RV Linnaeus in
collaboration with CSIRO. Delayed mode and real-time SST data from MV Pacific Celebes was also
added to the Ocean Portal during FY11/12.
20
During FY11/12 all hull-contact SST sensors so far deployed for > 12 months were recalibrated by
the manufacturer, SeaBird, showing very minimal drift in SST calibration. Four new SBE 48 hullcontact sensors were purchased, bringing the total number to 16. Data loggers, wireless modems,
power supplies, GPS’s and satellite transmission units for three vessels not instrumented with
automatic weather stations have been purchased and two full shipboard SST data logging and
transmission systems have been designed and constructed within the Bureau.
2d Research Vessels Real-Time Air-Sea Fluxes:
The Aurora Australis, Southern Surveyor and Tangaroa have continued to provide a data stream of
meteorological and oceanographic observations. Routine instrument calibrations have been
undertaken. Daily quality control of the data continues, with files sent to eMII. Value-added flux
files are also generated daily and sent to eMII.
2e Bio Acoustic:
A new instrument was installed and calibrated on a tuna fishing vessel which is now collecting data.
New templates have been designed to add multi-frequency data with processing corrections for
motion, absorption, calibration and sound speed. Progress towards incorporation of the bioacoustic
data into regional and global ecosystem models is progressing (Handegard et al. 2012).
2f Sensors on Temperate Merchant Vessels
• June 2011-March 2012: Melbourne University provided operational support through research
collaborative study
• March 2012: EPA engaged support (staff) through R&D partnership to sustain operations and
undertake developments
3. Progress against agreed Milestones
Please refer to Appendix E – Milestone Reports
4. Deviations from 2011-12 Annual Business Plan
2aa Expendable Bathythermograph:
Additional activities undertaken - Implementation and commissioning of the wireless XBT system on
all Tasman Sea high density transects.
Agreed activities not completed - One transect on PX30 was not completed, in part because of the
dynamics of requiring two ships for each transect and in part because we had someone at the
airport when Qantas shut down operations world-wide. Have now secured the assistance of the
Pacific Gas for PX30. This ship has been on the run for 20 years and will probably be on the run for
another 20 so it should not be a problem in future
2ab Biogeochemical:
Agreed activities not completed - A lab van required for Astrolabe was to be purchased and this was
delayed due to other work. The van purchase is in progress. The timing of cruises will ensure that
no data is lost.
21
2ac Continuous Plankton Recorders:
Additional activities undertaken - Tows from Brisbane to Fiji as part of a pilot project of Pacific
Islands GOOS (Global Ocean Observing System).
Agreed activities not completed – A second CPR route in conjunction with 02eBioacoustics onboard
a fishing vessel. The bioacoustics has been started in March 2012. By Sep 2012 we will have
sufficient information on its tracks to know whether the vessel would be appropriate to tow a CPR.
2d Research Vessels Real-Time Air-Sea Fluxes:
Additional activities undertaken - IMOS endorsed the recruitment of RV Tangaroa into the fleet and
the UTAS-BoM sub-contract was altered to provide funding to support the ongoing operation of the
Tangaroa as part of the sub-facility
2e Bio Acoustic:
Additional activities undertaken - A new instrument was installed on a tuna fishing vessel and 9
vessels now contributing with calibrated data. Several other vessels are being considered subject to
funding limitations.
5. Progress against 2011-12 Implementation Plan
2aa Expendable Bathythermograph:
Work Plan for 2011/12: Work continues on development of an auto-launcher for XBT probes. This
has progressed well with wireless networking already tested and working. A compact box with miniantennas has been designed and built that clamps on the railing of the ship. The next step will be
construction of a multi-launcher expandable array to allow automated deployment of more than one
XBT without intervention. We anticipate this will be fully operational in late 2011.
Actual progress in 2011-12: Wireless system working well but autolauncher still under
development. We plan further work on this in 2012/13.
2ab Biogeochemical:
Work Plan for 2011/12: Delayed mode QC’d data delivered routinely to eMII for Astrolabe, Aurora
Australis and Southern Surveyor.
Actual progress in 2011-12: Data from sixteen cruises for all three ships has been submitted. Some
data is still to be finalised due to delays in obtaining final ships thermosalinograph data from the
Marine National Facility Data centre (2 cruises) and the Australian Antarctic Division (one cruise).
Data was lost on one cruise of Southern Surveyor cruise due to a manufacturer firmware fault that
has been corrected. Bioptical data from Astrolabe has been submitted to eMII.
2ac Continuous Plankton Recorders:
Work Plan for 2011/12: We are working to establish a WA route. We are currently in active
discussion with Perkins Shipping in WA about a CPR route there. In 2011, we are hoping to tow
aboard the Spanish Research Vessel Malaspina, from Perth to Sydney to Auckland. Later in the year
we will be discussing an additional Tasman Sea route aboard a fishing vessel, in conjunction with
Rudy Kloser (leader of 2e BioAcoustic)
22
Actual progress in 2011-12: We towed aboard the RV Malaspina as planned and have counted the
samples; data are available through eMII. Perkins Shipping ceased operations along the route we
intended to use in WA and we have now collaborated with AIMS to tow the CPR. The additional
Tasman Sea route is currently being evaluated by the bioacoustics project for its suitability for their
work, and we will then be able to assess its appropriateness for towing a CPR.
2b Sensors on Tropical Research Vessels:
Work Plan for 2011/12: Ongoing work over 2011/12 will include the continued operation of the two
deployed systems on the maximum number of voyages, ongoing maintenance of the systems,
continued development of user guides and training for vessel crew and delivery of data to eMII. We
will continue to further develop automated QA/QC processes for the data along with manual quality
oversight. The delivery of data and metadata has been streamlined in the last year but this will be
worked on to deliver QC’d data to eMII. There has been an ongoing discussion regarding real-time
data transmission via satellite links; however, implementation will depend upon developing a costeffective solution regarding hardware, interactions with the AIMS network and transmission costs.
Actual progress in 2011-12: Currently operating on a routine basis. Action taken to make data
available sooner when vessels out of 3G phone range.
2c Sea Surface Temperature (SST) Sensors for Australian Vessels:
Work Plan for 2011/12:
• BoM: Investigate technical solutions for SST-only data transmission from non-AWS ships. Start:
Feb 2011. Finish: Jun 2011.
• BoM: Hull-contact temperature sensors that have been installed on vessels for > 12 months
recalibrated. Start: Mar 2011. Finish: Dec 2011.
• BoM: Purchase 4 extra hull-contact sensors for any additional AVOF-AWS and/or SOOP/XBT
vessels and for spares. Start: Jul 2011. Finish: Mar 2012.
• AIMS: Investigate the best solution for transmitting SST data within 24 hours to BoM from RV
Cape Ferguson and RV Solander. Start: Jul 2011. Finish: Dec 2011.
• BoM/CMAR/AIMS: Near real-time, QC’d SST available to GTS and Ocean Portal from 13 vessels (6
AVOF, 6 research vessels and Rottnest Ferry). Start: Jul 2011. Finish: Jun 2012.
• BoM: All new AVOF-AWS vessels or SOOP/XBT vessels (expect 2 to 4 max) installed with hullcontact sensors. Start: Jul 2011. Finish: Dec 2012.
• BoM: Near real-time, QC’d, SST from new ships available to GTS and Ocean Portal. Start: Jan
2013. Finish: Jun 2013.
Actual progress in 2011-12: All FY11/12 planned activities have been completed. BoM are also well
on track to complete installation of hull-contact SST sensors and logging/transmission systems on
MV Xutra Bhum and MV Wana Bhum by end of Sep 2012 and complete our FY12/13 activities.
2d Research Vessels Real-Time Air-Sea Fluxes:
Work Plan for 2011/12: Maintain the data-streams from Southern Surveyor, Aurora Australis and
Tangaroa, including routine instrument calibration, data QC and delivery and Metadata activities.
Actual progress matched the work plan for 2011/12
23
2e Bio Acoustic:
Work Plan for 2011/12: In line with the Bio-Acoustics project proposal, will install an additional
echosounder within the Tasman Sea region based in and around the main tuna fishery. Data will be
processed from 9 calibrated vessels based on priorities given by the node and specifically the Tasman
Sea and Southern Ocean regions. Multi-frequency methods will be used to convert acoustic data into
biomass units for various functional groups. An important aspect will be to ensure uptake of the data
into regional and global ecosystem models and to ensure the data is suitable to detect decadal
signals in basin scale marine ecosystems for mid-trophic organisms.
Actual progress in 2011-12 here: As outlined in the work plan an echosounder was installed and
calibrated in March 2012 on a tuna fishing vessel operating along the east coast of Australia. Data is
now being collected from 9 calibrated vessels with several other vessels being considered for
inclusion subject to funding constraints. The priority for processing has been the Tasman Sea
transects and the Southern Ocean. Significant advances have been made in incorporating multifrequency data into the IMOS data stream with templates for data structures and processing
methods for absorption, sound velocity, motion and calibration corrections completed. Progress
towards incorporation of the bioacoustic data into regional and global ecosystem models is
progressing (Handegard et al. 2012).
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Providing research infrastructure
Details of new infrastructure:
2aa Expendable Bathythermograph: Two hand launchers and two windows 7 tablets for the wireless
system.
2ab Biogeochemical: Parts for instrumentation and maintenance.
2ac Continuous Plankton Recorders: 3 new CPR units and 15 internals have been obtained.
2b Sensors on Tropical Research Vessels: Nil
2c Sea Surface Temperature (SST) Sensors for Australian Vessels: Approximate cost to instrument one
SOOP with hull temperature sensor and stand-along data logging and transmission system was ~$14,000
not including labour. Equipment purchased during FY11/12:
• SBE 48 hull contact sensors (x4)
• Sutron Xlite Datalogger (x3)
• DC UPS Power Supplies (x2)
• Stainless steel enclosures (x2)
• Garmin GPS Receivers (x2)
• Skywave IDP-690 IsatData Pro Satellite Terminal (x2)
• Digi Radio Modems (x12)
• Modem stainless steel enclosure boxes + electronics (x3)
• 2.4 GHz Omni Directional Antenna (x2)
• Cables + sundry mechanical components
24
2d Research Vessels Real-Time Air-Sea Fluxes: Nil
2e Bio Acoustic: One EK60 38 kHz echo sounder was installed on a tuna fishing vessel.
2f Sensors on Temperate Merchant Vessels
• Back-up industrial computer (used to integrate data streams) purchased in 2012 to allow rotation of
equipment, minimise downtime and provide capacity to develop in the laboratory.
• Proposal for 2012/13 financial year to upgrade system to real-time capacity approved and costed.
• Proposal for 2012/13 financial year to expand system with a (solid state) UV nitrate sensor approved
and costed.
Outline the continuity of one key time series of data to be assessed against an appropriate benchmark
for this facility.
2aa Expendable Bathythermograph – A good example of continuity is the Southern Ocean transects
carried out by l'Astrolabe from 1992 to the present, resulting in a 17 year data set from an area where
sampling is difficult. Over that time period, we have achieved 6 transects each summer with very few
gaps. We believe this time series to be virtually unique and an invaluable tool in studying the Southern
Ocean.
2ab Biogeochemical – A Surface Ocean Carbon Dioxide Atlas (SOCAT) is being assembled for all surface
ocean CO2 measurements. This contains data that has been quality controlled to rigorous standards and
is provided in a uniform format for all ocean basins. The first version of SOCAT was released in
September 2011. The next version of SOCAT is being worked on for release in mid 2013 and will contain
IMOS data from the Southern Ocean and Australian shelves that substantially improves coverage in the
region. These data will be invaluable for determining if long term trends are occurring in the ocean CO2
sinks around Australia, and for resolving carbon budgets for Australian and Southern Ocean waters.
2ac Continuous Plankton Recorder – The phytoplankton colour index from the CPR is a measure of
phytoplankton biomass and is measured on every CPR sample. We have unbroken coverage since June
2009 for east coast Australia and since September 2007 for SO-CPR tows. The best example is from the
Southern Ocean routes that have been operational for the past 20 years. This is a part of 30,000 data
records (150,000 nmiles) for 228 zooplankton and 83 protistan taxa .
2b Sensors on Tropical Research Vessels – Data is now being obtained from both vessels on a regular
basis. The Cape Ferguson is operating widely throughout the GBR and the Solander is operating
between Exmouth and Darwin. At this time, no detailed analysis of the larger data set has been
undertaken due to personnel constraints. Some tactical use of the Solander TSG was undertaken during
a cruise to the Kimberley coast in Jan-Feb 2011. BOM is downloading data on a regular basis for
validating satellite SST imagery. As a result of discussions with BOM, we are now planning to add
dedicated satellite/NextG communications to both vessels to download the data on a near-real-time
basis to facilitate these matchups.
2c Sea Surface Temperature (SST) Sensors for Australian Vessels – Sea surface temperatures have been
measured using buckets and mercury thermometers since the 1800's. Over the past few decades,
thermistors in engine intake water pipes have been more commonly used on the volunteer observing
fleet transmitting real-time observations to the GTS. Over the Australian region, comparing the ship SST
observations obtained via IMOS with those from the other AVOF vessels reporting to the GTS has
indicated that the IMOS ship SST observations have less than a quarter of the total uncertainty (bias plus
25
standard deviation) typically exhibited by non-IMOS ship SST data streams. The IMOS ship SST
observations have also been compared with drifting buoy SST observations reported to the GTS and
exhibit comparable errors. The IMOS ship SST observations cover regions of the ocean sparsely covered
by drifting buoy observations (eg. coastal, Indonesian waters and the Southern Ocean) and have been
available in real-time (within 24 hours of observation) for the last 4 years.
2d Research Vessels Real-Time Air-Sea Fluxes – The meteorological data from the RV Southern Surveyor
has been available in real-time since April 2008.
2e Bio-Acoustic – Return transits between New Zealand and Australia by the fishing vessel FV Rehua in
winter 2011 continued the time series of 38 kHz vessel acoustics that commenced in 2003. These
transits were complemented by a Southern Surveyor voyage in June 2011 which completed sampling
using vessel mounted acoustics, lowered multi-frequency acoustics and fine scale multiple openingclosing net system deployed to 1000 m. Associated with this transit simultaneous operation of the CPR
has been done.
Quality of research infrastructure
Benchmark against other similar overseas infrastructure
2aa Expendable Bathythermograph – The Australian (IMOS) XBT group participates within the GTSPP,
which coordinates international activity in XBT data collection. Our data quality control is the best in the
world and has set the world standard for scientific QC of XBT data.
2ab Biogeochemical – The RSV l’Astrolabe has the best coverage of any SOOP line in the Southern
Ocean for BGC measurements, and the RSV Aurora Australis complements these data by substantially
improving the spatial coverage for the Southern Ocean. The Southern Surveyor also provides the only
regular coverage in most Australian regional seas and shelves. The systems on all ships use equipment
and deliver QC data that conforms to the best practices available. Personnel involved with the IMOS
data collection have maintained a leadership role in the international community for the development
of a CO2 observing system. This includes serving on the steering committee of the Southern Ocean
Observing System and chairing the Surface Ocean Carbon Atlas group that oversees data QC of all
surface CO2 measurements for data collected south of 30°S.
2ac Continuous Plankton Recorder –The CPRs we deploy on the east coast are purchased from the Sir
Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science North Atlantic CPR survey ensuring comparability between
surveys. CPRs used in the Southern Ocean are built by the AAD to be more robust for Antarctic use and
are cloned from the SAHFOS CPR. AusCPR interacts and collaborates closely with the Southern Ocean
CPR Survey and with the SAHFOS survey. We have regular meetings with these sister surveys to adopt
best practice procedures. We attended and contributed to the GLOBEC CPR Workshop to address
QC/QA and global standardisation. We have sharpened our taxonomic skills through the organisation
and running of a Zooplankton Taxonomic Workshop in Australia in December 2009.
2b Sensors on Tropical Research Vessels – When QA/QC'd, the data will be equivalent to that collected
on other research vessels using equivalent instrumentation. At this time, no inter-vessel
intercalibrations have been undertaken as no other vessels have been nearby. Local validation sampling
against the shipboard CTD’s with similar sensors is ongoing.
26
2c Sea Surface Temperature (SST) Sensors for Australian Vessels – Before IMOS commenced placing
ship SST data in near real-time on the Global Telecommunications System (GTS), researchers and
operational agencies had access to minimal ship SST data over the Australian region compared to the
northern hemisphere oceans and these vessels only reported SST to the GTS every 6 hours if at all.
Through IMOS, 5 research vessels and 2 tourist ferries have reported SST every minute to the GTS and 8
commercial vessels have reported new, validation quality, SST data streams every hour to the GTS. Half
of these vessels report the data to a much higher resolution than previously available and 13 out of the
15 data streams are significantly more accurate (~1/4 the error) than non-IMOS ship SST reported to the
GTS in the Australian region.
2d Research Vessels Real-Time Air-Sea Fluxes – This sub-facility is modelled on SAMOS
(http://samos.coaps.fsu.edu/html/ ). We compare favourably to the best of the U.S. vessels such as the
Ronald Brown, and return a greater range of observations (including long-wave radiation and
precipitation).
2e Bio-Acoustic – The Australian bio-acoustic group is at world’s best practice and an active participant
to the ICES FAST working group where standards are developed and applied. There is no other
comparable facility at this time where many nations have similar ad hoc data collections (within
institutional boundaries) but no formal structure as developed within IMOS. In May 2012 an informal
group of Southern Ocean scientists decided to coordinate a program of bioacoustics. This will be
incorporated into a SCOR working group and contribute to the SOOS.
Fostering Collaborative development of infrastructure
Participation in international programs collecting similar data streams
2aa Expendable Bathythermograph – As part of this investment, we have participated in workshops to
assess the quality of the instrumentation and monitor changes through time. We also assist Scripps run
its high density XBT sections in the Southern Indian Ocean. As part of the Global Temperature and
Salinity Profile Program (GTSPP), we work with other groups to improve data quality and reporting.
Further, as part of Argo, we and others partner to provide a complementary data set to the XBT data.
Taken together, IMOS XBT and Argo are invaluable contributors to a number of modelling, prediction
and monitoring activities carried out both nationally and internationally.
2ab Biogeochemical – Data contribute to UNESCO/SCOR International Ocean Carbon Coordination
Program (IOCCP) to determine the upper ocean CO2 flux and variability. The IOCCP coordinate the
international effort on ocean CO2, including data collection, best practices and data delivery and
synthesis. The IMOS underway measurement program for CO2 contributed Ocean Obs’09 contributions
on the global surface ocean CO2 monitoring system (Monteiro et al, 2010) and is also working with the
international community on the development of the ocean observing system for biogeochemistry. This
includes working with collaborators in France, USA and Japan to enhance the observing system in the
Australian region and Southern Ocean. A collaborative effort is in progress with New Zealand
researchers at NIWA to instrument the RV Tangaroa and improve coverage in our region.
2ac Continuous Plankton Recorder – AusCPR survey is affiliated with other CPR surveys globally
(Southern Ocean CPR, SAHFOS). We frequently communicate and meet with members and Directors of
both surveys.
27
•
•
•
•
•
•
Collaboration with other CPR surveys globally (Southern Ocean CPR, SAHFOS, South Africa, Japan,
Brazil, Canada, New Zealand) through the Global Alliance of CPR Surveys (GACS) - see
http://www.globalcpr.org/ .
We were signatories to the initial GACS agreement in Plymouth in Sep 2011, and are active
participants in the next GACS meeting in Paris in Sep 2012. We frequently communicate and meet
with members and Directors of all surveys
We actively collaborate with AIMS in NW and NE Australia, and with the Marine National Facility, to
tow CPRs. The Marine National Facility wants to make the CPR one of its facilities available for
general use
Infrastructure, logistics, staffing and science collaboration with the Southern Ocean CPR survey (SOCPR)
The cross Tasman transect is a collaboration with the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric
Research (NIWA) in New Zealand
The Brisbane to Fiji pilot tow was a collaboration with the Pacific Islands Global Ocean Observing
System (PI-GOOS)
2c Sea Surface Temperature (SST) Sensors for Australian Vessels –
• SAMOS: Shawn Smith (Florida State University) runs SAMOS (Shipboard Automated Meteorological
and Oceanographic System, see http://samos.coaps.fsu.edu ). The Bureau is storing all IMOS met,
salinity and SST ship data in SAMOS format.
• GOSUD: Global Ocean Surface Underway Data Project based at IFREMER in France archives high
quality, QC’d salinity and SST data from thermosalinographs on ships. IMOS contributes SST and
salinity data from the Rottnest Ferry, Whitsunday Ferry, Southern Surveyor, Aurora Australis ,
Tangaroa, Pacific Celebes, Linnaeus, L’Astrolabe, Cape Ferguson and Solander to GOSUD. See
http://www.gosud.org .
• ICOADS: International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set -see http://icoads.noaa.gov/
IMOS ship SST contributes to ICOADS. All SOOP GTS data goes onto
http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/index.html
• The one-minute SST observations from RV Southern Surveyor, RSV Aurora Australis, RV L’Astrolabe,
RV Tangaroa, MV Pacific Celebes, RV Linnaeus, PV SeaFlyte and PV Fantasea One have been
appearing in near real-time on the Fisheries and Oceans Canada Integrated Science Data
Management website (see http://www.meds-sdmm.dfompo.gc.ca/MEDS/Databases/TrackOB/Trackob_e.htm ).
• WMO VOS Program: The IMOS ship SST observations contribute to the global Voluntary Observing
Ship (VOS) program through being posted in near real-time on the GTS.
2d Research Vessels Real-Time Air-Sea Fluxes – Contributing and collaborating with Shipboard
Automated Meteorological and Oceanographic System (SAMOS) (http://samos.coaps.fsu.edu/html/ ).
The observations from the Aurora Australis and Southern Surveyor are also put on the GTS as a
contribution to the World Meteorological Organisation, Volunteer Observing Ship program.
2e Bio-Acoustic – The Australian bio-acoustic group are active participants to the ICES working group
FAST that is developing and applying the method. Tim Ryan is leading a topic group from an
international panel to establish metadata standards. Rudy Kloser is also active within the IMBER
CLIOTOP MASS group, SCOR working group, participant to the CCAMLR ASAMS group, SPRFMO and the
newly formed SCOR working group that are developing observing systems where bioacoustics can be
incorporated.
28
Other collaborations
2aa Expendable Bathythermograph – work has begun on a new international data format for exchange
with participation by A. Thresher. This will significantly improve the data stream from other XBT
operators, feeding in to our own system through the international Data Acquisition Centres.
2ac Continuous Plankton Recorder –
• Phytoplankton research and taxonomic QA/QC with Prof. Gustaaf Hallegraeff (UTAS)
• Zooplankton research and taxonomic QA/QC with Dr Dave McKinnon (AIMS)
• The AAD is noted for its expertise in Southern Ocean phyto- and zooplankton taxonomy.
• Phytoplankton Atlas with Gustaaf Hallegraeff (UTAS)
• Zooplankton Atlas with Kerrie Swadling (UTAS) and Dave McKinnon (AIMS)
• Australian dust storm associated with potentially pathogenic Aspergillus sydowii fungal “bloom” in
coastal waters with Gustaaf Hallegraeff (UTAS)
• Climate change in Southeast Australia with Kerrie Swadling (UTAS)
• Climate-driven range expansion of the red-tide dinoflagellate Noctiluca scintillans into the Southern
Ocean with Gustaaf Hallegraeff (UTAS)
• Intersexes in tropical copepods with Felipe Gusmao (UQ)
• NSF project on forams in Southern Ocean and around Australia Aradhna Tripati (University
California)
• Global spread of Vibrios with climate change with Luigi Vezzulli (Università di Genova)
• The role of salps in marine food webs and organic carbon export with Natasha Henschke (UNSW)
• Relationships between plankton and mid-tropic levels with Rudy Kloser (CSIRO)
2c Sea Surface Temperature (SST) Sensors for Australian Vessels – GHRSST (Group for High Resolution
SST: http://www.ghrsst.org ): The Bureau contributes the IMOS ship SST data to GHRSST projects to
calibrate/validate satellite SST data. In particular, the GHRSST Tropical Warm Pool Diurnal Variability
Project and the NESDIS iQUAM satellite SST validation web site
(http://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/sod/sst/iquam/ ).
2d Research Vessels Real-Time Air-Sea Fluxes –
• Validating OAflux in the Southern Ocean (Dr Yu, WHOI)
• Training SST models for satellite products (Dr Castro, Colorado Uni., GHRSST)
2e Bio-Acoustic –
• Patrick Lehody France CRS
• Nils Handergard Norway IMR
• ICES FAST working group and active members in America, France, Norway, Netherlands, New
Zealand.
• Graham Patchel Sealord Fishing Company
• Andrew Constable/ Martin Cox AAD
• Richard O’Driscoll NIWA
2f Sensors on Temperate Merchant Vessels –
• Sept 2011: Coasts and Ports Conference 2011, Sept Perth refereed paper " Resolving environmental
dynamics in Port Phillip Bay, using high repeat sampling off the Spirit of Tasmania 1"
29
•
•
•
April 2012: Final Milestone report #9 on Port Phillip Bay Channel Deepening Project released, as part
of a series during the 2008-2011 study. IMOS SOOP TMV data augmented the commissioned
environmental program with daily 80km transects through the bay to track water quality conditions
relating to climatic (floods, droughts, algal blooms) and anthropogenic (dredging) events.
http://www.oem.vic.gov.au/Assets/1084/1/EPAWQMilestoneRep9_05Apr12_Final.pdf
May 2012: Journal of Ocean Dynamics paper published which includes the IMOS SOOP TMV data to
calibrate models of Port Phillip Bay and to highlight long-term drought related climate sensitivity.
(see link above)
IMOS SOOP TMV data used for ARC Snapper study in Port Phillip Bay by investigators from
Melbourne University to track environmental conditions for the 2008-2011 period of their study.
Other performance indicators
Please refer to Appendix C – Performance Indicators
Financial and co-investment information
Please refer to Appendix F – Financial Statements
30
Appendix A.3 – Australian Bluewater Observing System
Facility Leader:
Contact details:
3a
3b
3c
Tom Trull, UTAS/CSIRO
Phone: 03 6226 2988; email: tom.trull@utas.edu.au
Sub-Facility
Leader, Operator
Phone
Air-Sea Flux Stations (ASFS)
Southern Ocean Time
Series Observations (SOTS)
Deepwater Arrays (DA)
Eric Schulz, BoM
03 9669 4618
Tom
Trull, 03 6226 2988
UTAS/CSIRO
Bernadette
03 6232 5152
Sloyan, CSIRO
Email
e.schulz@bom.gov.au
tom.trull@utas.edu.au
bernadette.sloyan@csiro.au
1. Overview of status of Facility
Australian Bluewater Observing System Facility overview:
This is the first year in which the Facility is fully complete – all moored observatories are now in the
ocean. Durability of the moorings with surface buoys (Pulse and SOFS at the Southern Ocean Time
Series Sites) remains a significant challenge – no loss of gear or data was experienced, but
equipment showed significant wear raising the need for ongoing improvements to the platforms.
Placing the subsurface EAC moorings precisely to keep sensors just below the surface also proved
challenging with some moorings top-surfacing unexpectedly, although without any significant
concerns.
3a Air-Sea Flux Stations:
The duplicate SOFS mooring (SOFS-B) was constructed and delivered by WHOI in time for
deployment as SOFS-3. The timeline was tight due to delays in commencing construction caused by
extended procurement process. The build and delivery was achieved in 8 months – a testament to
the hard work of WHOI and ABOS. SOFS-2 was recovered after a successful 9-month deployment.
There were signs of heavy corrosion around split pins and shackles which was not observed for the
previous (SOFS-1) deployment. Efforts are currently under way to identify the reason for this and
apply remedial actions. SOFS-3 was deployed before SOFS-2 was recovered (due to logistical
constraints), therefore problems identified in SOFS-2 could not be corrected for SOFS-3.
All hardware used in SOFS-1 and SOFS-3 was provided by WHOI, while split pins used in SOFS-2
were sourced locally. If this is the cause of the corrosion, then SOFS-3 should not suffer the same
issues as SOFS-2. A set of glass ball flotation (8 balls) was lost on SOFS-2 due to implosion at depth.
The cause is unknown. It is possible that is occurred as a result of a float manufacturing problem
(as suspected from recent experiences by the ocean bottom seismometry community) – and we are
tracking float serial numbers to investigate this further.
We are taking steps to mitigate the effects of the flotation failure (by separating them further apart
so that one failure does not lead to sympathetic additional failures). It is not expected to be a
significant issue for the mooring performance, as mooring recovery is still possible, if less easy.
SOFS-3 was successfully deployed on the same voyage that SOFS-2 was recovered. This is the first
at-sea mooring exchange, allowing a continuous observation record to be maintained.
31
3b Southern Ocean Time Series Observations:
The Pulse-8 biogeochemistry mooring and the SAZ-14 sediment trap mooring were successfully
recovered after 11 months in the ocean, and replaced by Pulse-9 and SAZ-15. Wear on Pulse-8 was
greater than expected, with loss of one set of deep glass floats, and deep corrosion on several
shackles including failure of one. Loss of floats and shackle wear also occurred on the SOFS-2
meteorological mooring. The simplest way to address the float problem in the short term is to
separate the floats by chain lengths so that if one implodes this does not damage others. Notably it
is also not a catastrophic failure mode, as both moorings were recovered without loss despite float
implosion this year. For the shackles, we are looking at different types of split-pins and shackles,
including using insulated wire rather than bare metal pins. It is clear that this problem can be fixed
because it did not occur on the SOFS-1 mooring which was in the ocean for a full 12 months.
Key breakthroughs this year included:
• successful processing of the Pulse-7 oxygen sensor and total gas tension sensor signals to allow
the physical and biological contributions to mixed layer oxygen contents to be separated,
providing an hourly time series of net community production from October to March for use in
the evaluation of biogeochemical models.
• successful measurement of the consumption of nutrients (phosphate, nitrate and silicic acid)
consumption using the RAS automated collection of water samples to provide an estimate of
biological carbon pump magnitude .
3c Deepwater Arrays:
Australia’s ocean domain includes all five of the world’s ocean temperature zones – tropical,
subtropical, temperate, subpolar and polar. The deployment of the East Australia Current (EAC)
mooring array in April 2012 completed the Deepwater array of the Integrated Marine Observing
System’s (IMOS) Australian Bluewater Observing System (ABOS). The deep water arrays consist of
the Polynya mooring array on the Antarctic continental shelf, the Indonesian Throughflow array
(three moorings in the Timor Passage and Ombai Strait) and the EAC array on the Australian
continental slope near Brisbane. The installation of the full depth-ocean observing system provides
an exciting expansion of our ability to track multi-decadal climate change, and to improve our
understanding and prediction of both climate variability in the Australian region and global climate.
2. Activities undertaken to establish and operate the infrastructure
3a Air-Sea Flux Stations:
SOFS-2 was deployed 24 November 2011 (Southern Surveyor, SS2011_V07), and recovered 22 July
2012 (Southern Surveyor, SS2012_V03). A duplicate SOFS mooring was delivered by WHOI in early
June 2012 and deployed as SOFS-3 on 14 July 2012 (SS2012_V03).
3b Southern Ocean Time Series Observations:
As noted at item 1, the Pulse and SAZ moorings were deployed on voyage SS2011_V03 in August
2011 and recovered on voyage SS2012_V03 in July 2012.
3c Deepwater Arrays:
This year we deployed the final deep water mooring array – the EAC arrays off Brisbane. This was
the culmination of many months work including the mooring design based on analysis of the
BLUElink Model, acquisition of mooring instruments, build of the mooring and shipment to Brisbane
in time to join the RV Southern Surveyor. The moorings were successfully deployed from 20-28
32
April 2012. As reported to the IMOS Director, approximately 1 month after deployment the EAC-4
and EAC-3 recovery-assistance float surfaced and iridium signals were received. The alert that
recovery-assistance float had surfaced was raised due to constant monitoring of the EAC mooring
array by a web base reporting tool that monitors Iridium signals from all ABOS moorings. During
this period the Iridium signals from the EAC-3 and EAC-4 moorings were monitored and it was
determined that the reported positions were over the anchor position. The recovery-assistance
floats have re-submerged and no further Iridium signals have been received from the moorings.
Analysis by CSIRO scientists, mooring engineers (construction and design) has concluded that the
recovery-assistance float, on both moorings, surfaced due to low current speeds at the moorings
site. A low current flow over the moorings would result in the moorings standing completely
vertical with no ‘blow over’ of due to the EAC or tidal currents. This hypothesis is consistent with
the short duration of receipt of the Iridium signals and that the reported positions matched the
deployment positions. Therefore we concluded that the moorings are still attached to the anchors
and recording data.
The surfacing of the recovery-assistance float does not impact the structural integrity. It will not
cause the mooring to break due to additional stress. If the moorings again experience no current it
is likely that the surface-assistance float will resurface. Given this we have notified relevant
authorities, including a notice to mariners, of the intermittent surfacing of the upper float of the
moorings. The recovery-assistance float has a strobe light that is activated at night when the float is
on the ocean surface and the float is a high visibility lime green colour. The strobe light and float
colour will aid visual detection at all times.
The recovery-assistance floats are 20 m above the main mooring instruments and floatation.
Therefore, the irregular surfacing of the recovery-assistance float will not impact data collection or
structural integrity of the moorings.
NOTE: On 1st September 2012 CSIRO advised that EAC4 was no longer at the anchor location.
Mariners have been notified of a potential drifting hazard, likely impact on the datastream is being
assessed, and options for recovery (if we can get a firm position fix on the mooring). The Operator
is taking all reasonable steps to monitor the situation and consider options.
We completed an assessment of the ITF Timor Passage and Ombai Mooring and the Polynya
Mooring arrays. We began acquisitions of instrumentation and ordered consumables for these
mooring arrays. These moorings arrays are scheduled to be recovered and redeployed - ITF
September 25 to October 10; and Polynya January 2013.
We also successfully submitted two proposals for use of the RV Investigator in 2013-2014 - recovery
and redeployment of EAC moorings array; and recovery and redeployment of ITF mooring arrays.
We have been awarded 12 days and 14 days respectively for the ongoing maintenance of these
moorings arrays.
3. Progress against agreed Milestones
Please refer to Appendix E – Milestone Reports
33
3a Air-Sea Flux Stations: “Delayed-mode SOFS meteorological and current meter data streams
delivered to eMII to assist user access” has now been achieved with the delivery to eMII of SOFS-1
current meter data in July 2012.
4. Deviations from 2011-12 Annual Business Plan
3a Air-Sea Flux Stations:
Additional activities undertaken – We added a 4-frequency bio-acoustic water column profiler to the
SOFS-2 and SOFS-3 moorings to estimate zooplankton biomass variability – an important closure
term in biogeochemical models.
3b Southern Ocean Time Series Observations:
Additional activities undertaken –
• We added near-bottom CTDs to the SAZ-14 and SAZ-15 moorings to measure ocean heat
contents below depths that can be reached by the ARGO profiling float program, as part of an
expansion of the global OceanSITES program.
• We deployed a Continuous Plankton Recorder and carried out dropnet sampling in July 2012 on
voyage SS2012_V03 as an expansion of the SOOP CPR program.
Remedial action proposed, including timeframes - Ongoing continuous improvement program will
include mooring modifications as detailed in section 1.
5. Progress against 2011-12 Implementation Plan
3a Air-Sea Flux Stations:
Activity/Deployment/
Location
WHOI contract to
construct
duplicate
SOFS-B mooring
SOFS-A2 deployed
SOFS-A2
real-time
data
QC’d
and
provided to EMII
Delayed mode met &
ocean data from SOFSA1 to EMII
Responsible
Organisation(s)
BoM
Responsible
Person(s)
E. Schulz
Start
Finish
Progress during 2011-12
July
Aug2012
BoM
BoM
E. Schulz
Schulz & Verein
July
Aug
Aug
Aug
Completed.
SOFS-B
delivered in time for
deployment in July 2012
Completed.
Completed.
BoM
E. Schulz
Verein
July
April
Completed in July 2012
&
3b Southern Ocean Time Series Observations:
Activity/Deployment/
Location
Pulse-8 deployed
Responsible
Organisation(s)
CMAR-UTAS
Responsible
Person(s)
T.Trull, P.Jansen
Start
Finish
Progress during 2011-12
July
Aug
SAZ-13 recovered
CMAR-UTAS
T.Trull, S.Bray
July
Aug
SAZ-14 deployed
CMAR-UTAS
T.Trull, S.Bray
July
Aug
Completed: Pulse-8
deployed and replaced by
Pulse-9 in July 2012
SAZ-13 replaced by SAZ-14
in Aug 2011 and again by
SAZ-15 in July 2012
Completed, as above
34
Activity/Deployment/
Location
SAZ and Pulse delayed
mode data to EMII
Responsible
Organisation(s)
CMAR-UTAS
Responsible
Person(s)
Trull,Jansen,Bray
Start
Finish
Progress during 2011-12
July
June
Completed for Pulse-7 and
SAZ-13.
3c Deepwater Arrays:
Activity/Deployment/
Location
Acquisition of
EAC
mooring
instrumentation
Build and deploy EAC
mooring array
Reassessment
of
Polynya
and
ITF
moorings plans and
acquisition of needed
instruments
for
recovery/redeployment
of mooring arrays
Responsible
Organisation(s)
CMAR
Responsible
Person(s)
B. Sloyan
Start
Finish
Progress during 2011-12
July
Sept
completed
CMAR
B. Sloyan
Oct
April
completed
CMAR
B.
Sloyan,
S.Rintoul
March
June
Completed
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Providing research infrastructure
Details of new infrastructure:
3a Air-Sea Flux Stations: Duplicate SOFS mooring (SOFS-B) from WHOI, deployed for its first time as
SOFS-3.
3b Southern Ocean Time Series Observations: The primary expenditures were for mooring
refurbishment.
3c Deepwater Arrays: Mooring equipment for ITF and EAC
Outline the continuity of one key time series of data to be assessed against an appropriate benchmark
for this facility.
3a Air-Sea Flux Stations – real-time hourly averages of wind, telemetered every 4 hours since March
2010 – March 2011. Data recovery for the 12-month period was 89% for real-time and 100% for delayed
mode data.
3b Southern Ocean Time Series Observations – Surface mixed layer T,S,O2, PAR, FLNTUS delayed mode
data delivered from Pulse-7
3c Deepwater Arrays – velocity time series from mooring arrays – 18-24 months of data 6-month after
instrument recovery.
Quality of research infrastructure
Benchmark against other similar overseas infrastructure
35
3a Air-Sea Flux Stations – Compare to WHOI or PMEL/NOAA mooring programs.
3b Southern Ocean Time Series Observations –
• Pulse - comparison possible MBARI Monterey Bay moored observatory.
• SAZ sediment trap –SAZ subantarctic sediment trap program to be compared to NIWA Chatham Rise
sediment trap program
3c Deepwater Arrays –
• Polynya – monitoring of Scotland-Greenland overflow in North Atlantic
• Timor and Ombai Strait – potential monitoring of Lombok Strait by China.
• EAC – transport monitoring of Florida Strait and North Atlantic Gulf Stream.
Fostering Collaborative development of infrastructure
Participation in international programs collecting similar data streams
SOTS/ASFS is a member of the OceanSITES program which seeks to develop a network of global ocean
time series programs. This will allow inter-comparison of results and broader distribution of data.
The Deepwater moorings arrays will also be a member of the OceanSites program. IMOS and the
Deepwater array facility is engaging internationally to establish collaboration with Timor Leste. Two
Timor Leste observers will participate on the October 2012 recovery and redeployment mooring voyage.
Susan Wijffels is an active member of the CLIVAR ITF task team and attended the workshop in March
2012. We are working with Chinese scientists and engineers to provide advice regarding their mooring in
Lombok. A Chinese engineer will participate on the October 2012 recovery and redeployment mooring
voyage. EAC mooring array is a component of the CLIVAR SPICE program.
We have developed a collaborative relationship with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, one of the
two leading research agencies in the world engaged in sustained, long-term moorings in the deep ocean.
Polynya mooring array and SOTS/SOFS are components of Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS).
Other collaborations
• Simon Josey (NOCS), validation of NCEP using SOFS flux data.
• Kevin Speer (Florida State Uni.), validation of NCEP using SOFS flux data.
• Training SST models for satellite products (Dr Castro, Colorado Uni., GHRSST)
• Scott Nodder, NIWA-NZ, comparative studies of carbon cycling in the Subantarctic Zone.
The SOTs facility supported a successful bid to the Australian Antarctic Sciences program Project 4078
Grass of the Oceans: quantifying biodiversity, environmental and climatic connectivity from a decadelong capture of Southern Ocean diatoms.
Chief Investigator – Dr Leanne Armand, Macquarie University
Co-Investigator – Dr. Tom Trull, UTAS-CSIRO-ACECRC
Funded for operating and 3 years of postdoctoral salary (2012-2015) for Dr. Rigual Hernández to
examine the links between physical and biological variations in SOTS sediment trap samples.
36
Other performance indicators
Please refer to Appendix C – Performance Indicators
Financial and co-investment information
Please refer to Appendix F – Financial Statements
37
Appendix A.4 – Australian National Facility for Ocean Gliders
Facility Leader:
Contact details:
Chari Pattiaratchi, The University of Western Australia (UWA)
Phone: 08 6488 3179 Email: chari.pattiaratchi@uwa.edu.au
1. Overview of status of Facility
Highlights of the facility are:
• Extension of the glider deployments to the north-west region of Western Australia through coinvestment through the WA state government. Ocean glider (Slocum) deployments were
undertaken in the Kimberley and Pilbara lines.
• Successful deployments of Slocum Glider.
Difficulties of the facility are:
• Seaglider deployments were severely affected due mainly to communication problems. After 2
losses (one was subsequently recovered successfully off Tasmania) Seaglider deployments were
suspended in October 2011. They were re-started with new ARGOS tags in May 2012 but were
not successful. Tests undertaken in conjunction with the manufacturer are still progressing (see
below).
• A Slocum glider was lost in South Australia during recovery.
• Dr Mun Woo left the facility in January to pursue a different career path therefore an additional
position was created through WA State government co-investment. Both of these positions
were advertised in early in 2012 and 2 people were selected and offers were made. Dr Claire
Gourcoff as the data officer and David Stuart as technical officer. Dr Gourcoff started in mid-July
2012 and thus there is a backlog of QA/QC data onto the IMOS portal, however we expect to be
up to-date by end August 2012. David Stuart subsequently declined to take up the position.
The offers have been made to JC Khoo and John Langdon to fill this position. They will take up
duties in mid-August 2012.
2. Activities undertaken to establish and operate the infrastructure
There were no major issues with the deployment of Slocum gliders. A Slocum glider was lost in
South Australia during recovery through interaction with the recovery boat.
The Seaglider deployments were initially delayed due to delays in the delivery of refurbishment kits
(batteries & consumables) from supplier.
In 2011-2012 the facility experienced a series of Seaglider problems, which resulted in the loss of 2
gliders, and another 2 that we were fortunate to recover.
•
•
•
•
SG517 - communications failed following a change in dive depth from 200m to 500m
SG519 - communications deteriorated before failing. This glider was not recovered.
SG153 - communications deteriorated (almost to failure) however was miraculously recovered
SG521 - mechanical issues forced glider to be kept on surface awaiting recovery. Due to the
remote location in the Southern Ocean we were unable to recover for a further 8 weeks. After 6
weeks on the surface communications with the glider ceased. At the time it was blamed on an
38
•
•
iridium modem failure, however following recovery was found to be due to biological growth
causing the glider’s antenna to sink below the water surface.
SG520 - stuck underwater at a depth of 680m & was unable to be recovered.
Additionally, testing of SG516 & SG154 indicated a deterioration of iridium modem performance
As a result of the communications failures experienced and to prevent further loss of instruments,
Seaglider deployments were suspended from 12th October 2011, to be resumed once a cause and
solution was found to the communications problems and a backup positioning system (ARGOS tag)
had been implemented. We have been working with the manufacturer (iRobot) to find a solution.
Difficulties in reproducing the communication issues seen in the field during testing have made
troubleshooting problematic. We have so far been unable to find a conclusive solution to the
modem issue.
Deployments were resumed in May 2012 with ARGOS tags installed & two further failures occurred.
• SG540 iridium communications failed on depth change from 200m to 500m. Glider continued to
dive and was recovered using the position information received from the ARGOS tag.
• SG152 performed well however experienced issues with pitch control measurement & acoustic
transponder function (likely to be related) and had to be recovered.
We are currently installing and testing a new version of the iridium modem.
We have two types of Seagliders – those purchased from University of Washington (UW) and others
from iRobot – we have 4 of each at present.
• UW Seagliders now appear to work OK after tests late August 2012, and deployments will be
done in WA and Coral Sea, Qld in early September 2012.
• We still have not resolved the issue with the iRobot Seagliders – the communicationss are still
not to standard. iRobot also recognise this and we are working together to solve the issue. It
could be a hardware or software issue and perhaps more due to the latter. We are optimistinc
that these will be resolved in the next couple of weeks and get the deployments started at the
beginning of October. Similar problems have also been experienced with South African and
United Kingdom sea-gliders, so this is not just a problem with the Australian seagliders.
3. Progress against agreed Milestones
Please refer to Appendix E – Milestone Reports
4. Deviations from 2011-12 Annual Business Plan
Additional activities undertaken
Development of the Glider data analysis program: Gliderscope continued. In addition, a tutorial to
analyse ocean glider data is being prepared and tested by a UWA Physical Oceanography student
class.
Agreed activities not completed
The main deviation was in the deployment of Seagliders which were suspended in October 2011
(see above)
39
Remedial action proposed, including timeframes
See discussion above. The issues with Seagliders are still on-going.
5. Progress against 2011-12 Implementation Plan
See Attachment
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Providing research infrastructure
Details of new infrastructure
3 new Slocum Gliders were purchased during this period. These were to be used in the north-west of
Australia (2) and in Tasmania (1).
Outline the continuity of one key time series of data to be assessed against an appropriate benchmark
for this facility.
Two Rocks transect, Western Australia, > 75% coverage.
Quality of research infrastructure
Benchmark against other similar overseas infrastructure
The main ocean glider users are the Rutgers University, University of Washington (manufacture of
Seagliders), and French Glider laboratory. We have established contact with these operators and have
exchanged ideas, particularly on the development of a common data standard.
Rutgers University have provided software for the development of web-based visualisation of glider
data. It should be noted that ANFOG is the only facility globally which uses two different types of gliders
– others specialise in the use of a single type of a glider: i.e. either Slocum or Seaglider.
Currently ANFOG is one of the largest operators of ocean gliders globally using both shelf (Slocum) and
deep water (Seaglider) gliders.
Fostering Collaborative development of infrastructure
Participation in international programs collecting similar data streams
In June/July 2011, we hosted two students from Rutgers University as part of the collaboration.
In addition, we are now planning for global deployments of ocean gliders with ANFOG responsible for
the Indian Ocean sector.
Other collaborations
University of Victoria, Canada for the interpretation of Chlorophyll data from ocean gliders.
Collaboration with the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) has been initiated with the facility
NIOT staff visiting ANFOG in October 2011
40
Contact with the Everybodies Glider Observatories (EGO, formerly European Glider Observatory)
initiated and included in the European glider program.
Other performance indicators
Please refer to Appendix C – Performance Indicators
Financial and co-investment information
Please refer to Appendix F – Financial Statements
41
ATTACHMENT: Ocean Glider Progress against 2011-12 Implementation Plan
Slocum Glider Summary:
SAIMOS
TASIMOS
WAIMOS
NSWIMOS
WA-KIMB
WA-PILB
Planned
3
6
6
3
3
2
23
Deployed
3
5
8
5
3
2
26
Recovered
2
5
8
5
3
2
25
Completed
1
5
5
4
2
2
19
plan vs comp %
33.33%
83.33%
83.33%
133.33%
66.67%
100.00%
82.61%
deploy vs comp %
33.33%
100.00%
62.50%
80.00%
66.67%
100.00%
73.08%
Slocum Gliders:
IMOS ID
EIF11/12-01
EIF11/12-01[1]
Node
SAIMOS
SAIMOS
Planned
Sep-11
Sep-11
ANFOG Mission
SpencerGulf-05Oct11
SpencerGulf-11Nov11
Deployed
05-Oct-2011
11-Nov-2011
Recovered*
06-Oct-2011
06-Dec-2011
Duration
1
25
Completed
NO
NO
EIF11/12-02
EIF11/12-03
SAIMOS
SAIMOS
Feb-12
May-12
SpencerGulf-11Apr12
11-Apr-2012
01-May-2012
20
NO
YES
EIF11/12-04
EIF11/12-05
EIF11/12-06
EIF11/12-07
EIF11/12-08
EIF11/12-09
TASIMOS
TASIMOS
TASIMOS
TASIMOS
TASIMOS
TASIMOS
Jul-11
Sep-11
Nov-11
Jan-11
Mar-11
May-11
StormBay-05Aug11
StormBay-26Sep11
StormBay-04Nov11
05-Aug-2011
26-Sep-2011
04-Nov-2011
24-Aug-2011
18-Oct-2011
25-Nov-2011
19
22
21
StormBay-13Mar12
StormBay-08Jun12
13-Mar-2012
08-Jun-2012
04-Apr-2012
27-Jun-2012
22
19
Notes
Recovered due to leak
Glider hit by boat & lost on
recovery
***Glider not available
46
YES
YES
YES
NO
YES
YES
***CSIRO Issues…
103
EIF11/12-10
EIF11/12-10[1]
EIF11/12-11
EIF11/12-12
EIF11/12-13
EIF11/12-14
WAIMOS
WAIMOS
WAIMOS
WAIMOS
WAIMOS
WAIMOS
Jul-11
Jul-11
Sep-11
Nov-11
Feb-11
Apr-11
TwoRocks-05Aug11
TwoRocks-18Aug11
TwoRocks-13Sep11
TwoRocks-18Nov11
TwoRocks-23Feb12
TwoRocks-23Mar12
05-Aug-2011
18-Aug-2011
13-Sep-2011
18-Nov-2011
23-Feb-2012
23-Mar-2012
05-Aug-2011
08-Sep-2011
04-Oct-2011
16-Dec-2011
18-Mar-2012
23-Mar-2012
0
21
21
28
24
0
NO
YES
YES
YES
YES
NO
EIF11/12-14[1]
WAIMOS
Apr-11
TwoRocks-17May12
17-May-2012
31-May-2012
14
YES
Recovered due to leak
Issues during deployment & had
to be called off
42
IMOS ID
EIF11/12-15
EIF11/12-15[1]
Node
WAIMOS
WAIMOS
Planned
Jun-11
Jun-11
ANFOG Mission
TwoRocks-31May12
TwoRocks-02Aug12
Deployed
31-May-2012
02-Aug-2012
Recovered*
05-Jun-2012
Completed
NO
**
01-Sep-2011
29-Nov-2011
23-Apr-2012
Duration
5
13
126
22
17
5
EIF11/12-16
EIF11/12-17
EIF11/12-18
NSWIMOS
NSWIMOS
NSWIMOS
Aug-11
Oct-11
May-11
Coffs-10Aug11
Coffs-12Nov11
Yamba-18Apr12
10-Aug-2011
12-Nov-2011
18-Apr-2012
EIF11/12-18[1]
EIF11/12-**
NSWIMOS
NSWIMOS
May-11
EXTRA
Yamba-19Jun12
Yamba-14Jul12
20-Jun-2012
15-Jul-2012
12-Jul-2012
05-Aug-2012
22
21
YES
YES
WA11/12-01
WA11/12-03
WAIMOS
WAIMOS
Kimberly-21Nov11
Kimberly-27Feb12
21-Nov-2011
27-Feb-2012
13-Dec-2011
01-Mar-2012
22
3
YES
NO
WA11/12-03[1]
WA11/12-05
WAIMOS
WAIMOS
Kimberly-29May12
Kimberly-27Jul12
29-May-2012
27-Jul-2012
26-Jun-2012
28
19
YES
**
WA11/12-02
WA11/12-04
WAIMOS
WAIMOS
Pilbara-11Feb12
Pilbara-30Jun12
11-Feb-2012
29-Jun-2012
05-Mar-2012
23-Jul-2012
YES
YES
NO
Notes
Recovered due to leak
**Currently deployed
Recovered due to science bay
failure
87
Recovered due to faulty ballast
drive potentiometer
**Currently deployed
72
23
24
YES
YES
47
Seaglider Summary:
TASIMOS
QLDIMOS
SOTS
WAIMOS
NSWIMOS
SAIMOS
Planned
3
4
3
5
4
2
21
Deployed
0
2
1
2
1
0
6
Recovered
0
2
1
1
0
0
4
Completed
0
1
0
1
0
0
2
plan vs comp %
0.00%
25.00%
0.00%
20.00%
0.00%
0.00%
9.52%
deploy vs comp %
#DIV/0!
50.00%
0.00%
50.00%
0.00%
#DIV/0!
33.33%
Sea Gliders:
IMOS ID
EIF11/12-19
EIF11/12-20
Node
TASIMOS
TASIMOS
Planned
Apr-11
Sep-11
ANFOG Mission
Deployed
Recovered*
Duration
Completed
NO
NO
Notes
REFURB Delays
Called off - Comms Issues
43
IMOS ID
EIF11/12-21
Node
TASIMOS
Planned
Feb-12
ANFOG Mission
Deployed
Recovered*
Duration
EIF11/12-22
EIF11/12-23
EIF11/12-24
QLDIMOS
QLDIMOS
QLDIMOS
EIF11/12-25
Apr-11
Jul-11
Oct-11
CoralSea-23Jul11
24-Jul-2011
25-Oct-2011
93
QLDIMOS
Apr-12
CoralSea-17May12
17-May-2012
05-Jun-2012
19
NO
EIF11/12-26
EIF11/12-27
EIF11/12-28
SOTS
SOTS
SOTS
May-11
Jul-11
Nov-11
SOTS-05Aug11
05-Aug-2011
21-Jan-2012
169
NO
NO**
NO
EIF11/12-29
WAIMOS
May-11
Leeuwin-26Jun11
26-Jun-2011
25-Aug-2011
60
NO
EIF11/12-30
EIF11/12-31
EIF11/12-32
EIF11/12-33
WAIMOS
WAIMOS
WAIMOS
WAIMOS
Aug-11
Nov-11
Feb-11
May-11
36
NO
NO
NO
YES
EIF11/12-34
EIF11/12-35
EIF11/12-36
EIF11/12-37
NSWIMOS
NSWIMOS
NSWIMOS
NSWIMOS
May-11
Jun-11
Apr-12
May-12
EIF11/12-38
EIF11/12-39
SAIMOS
SAIMOS
Sep-11
Dec-11
Leeuwin-17May12
Dory-10Aug11
17-May-2012
10-Aug-2011
22-Jun-2012
23-Aug-2011
13
Completed
NO
Notes
Called off - Comms Issues
NO
YES
NO
REFURB Delays
Deployment called off due to
communications problems in fleet
Coms failed & was recovered.
Continued to sample for 19 days
Mass shifter failure
Called off - Comms Issues
Stuck underwater and unable to be
recovered
Called off - Comms Issues
Called off - Comms Issues
Called off - Comms Issues
Pitch potentiometer issues, recovered
early
NO
NO
NO
NO
REFURB Delays
Coms failure, not recovered
NO
NO
Called off - Comms Issues
NOT REQUIRED - Node unable to
deploy
44
Appendix A.5 – Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Facility
Facility Leader:
Contact details:
Stefan Williams, Sydney Institute of Marine Science (SIMS)
Phone: 02 9351 8152 Email: stefanw@acfr.usyd.edu.au
1. Overview of status of Facility
Our activities in 2011/12 have focused on revisiting of benthic reference sites in WA, Tasmania
and Queensland. A detailed cruise report has been prepared for each site, but some of the
important outcomes for each site are described below.
• Tropical WA – Scott Reef and Ningaloo (Heyward, Colqhoun): Trips to Scott Reef (in August
2011) and Ningaloo (in March 2012) allowed sites in these tropical areas to be revisited. This
work was supported through ship time provided by AIMS.
• SE Queensland – Moreton Island (Babcock): The objectives of the work in SE Queensland
(Nov. 2011) was to revisit dive sites inside and outside of a green zone offshore of Moreton
Island. There were a few issues associated with working on a small vessel and on the final
day of operations the AUV was lost in part due to the vessel not having sufficient fuel to stay
on station when the vehicle did not surface on the completion of its dive. An extensive
search was conducted over the following three days using Coast Guard vessels and aerial
search but the AUV was not located. Two weeks later the vehicle washed ashore some
100km to the North of the site where it was last seen. It had sustained relatively little
damage but this incident highlights the vulnerability of the Facility to the loss of its one
asset. An ARC LIEF proposal has been submitted to support the development of multiple,
smaller AUVs to help maintain the AUV Facility observing program.
• NSW – Bateman’s Bay and Port Stephens (Steinberg, Marzinelli): Surveys scheduled for
NSW had to be abandoned owing to the loss of the vehicle during the surveys in SE
Queensland. The vehicle was later recovered but there was insufficient time to conduct the
repeat surveys that had been scheduled for late November at Bateman’s Bay and Port
Stephens.
• Temperate WA – Rottnest Island, Jurien Bay and the Abrolhos (Kendrick): The temperate
WA dives (April 2012) were predominantly focused on revisiting sites along the WA coast
from Rottnest Island to the Abrolhos Islands. This is the third year of data collected at many
of these sites. WA Fisheries, CSIRO and the University of Western Australia supported this
work.
• Tasmania – Tasman Peninsula, Freycinet MPA and Governor’s Island (Barrett, Johnson):
Dives in Tasmania (June 2012) were focused on revisiting sites previously surveyed in 2010.
A number of sites around the Tasman peninsula were revisited. However, sites to the south
of Bruny Island could not be surveyed owing to poor weather during the scheduled survey
period. This work was supported by the University of Tasmania.
2. Activities undertaken to establish and operate the infrastructure
The AUV was deployed at numerous sites around the country. Despite the loss of the vehicle
(and its eventual recovery) we were able to complete the majority of surveys scheduled for the
2011/12 period.
3. Progress against agreed Milestones
Please refer to Appendix E – Milestone Reports
45
4. Deviations from 2011-12 Annual Business Plan
Agreed activities not completed: As outlined above, the 2011 NSW Surveys were not completed.
A decision was made to transition to a bi-annual mode of surveying as is the case in Tasmania.
Surveys will be conducted at Port Stephens and Batemans Bay every other year and additional
sites will be established at the Solitary Islands offshore of Coffs Harbour. This work is supported
in part by NERP funding.
Remedial action proposed, including timeframes: In order to minimize the risk of future loss of
the AUV systems, operating procedures have been refined and an additional Iridium based
tracking system has been added to the vehicle.
5. Progress against 2011-12 Implementation Plan
Activity/Deployment/
Location
WA – April 2011
Responsible
Organisation(s)
SIMS and UWA
Responsible
Person(s)
Stefan B. Williams,
Gary Kendrick and
Michael Jakuba
Stefan B. Williams
and Oscar Pizarro
Stefan B. Williams
and Neville Barrett
Start
Finish
Progress during 2011-12
April 11
April 11
June 11
Oct 11
June 11
June 11
SIMS and AIMS
Stefan B. Williams
and Peter Doherty
July 11
Jul 11
Scott Reef – Aug 2011
SIMS and AIMS
Stefan B. Williams,
Oscar Pizarro and
Andrew Heyward
Aug 11
Aug 11
New Camera System
SIMS
Stefan B. Williams
and Oscar Pizarro
July 11
SIMS and CSIRO
Stefan B. Williams
and
Russell
Babcock
Stefan B. Williams
and
Peter
Steinberg
Stefan B. Williams,
Oscar Pizarro and
Andrew Heyward
Sept 11
Nov 11
The temperate Western
Australian
sites
were
revisited during April 2011
Upgrade of vehicle battery
systems completed.
AUV deployed off the East
Coast of Tasmania in early
June.
Objectives
were
establishing reference sites
in the GBR lagoon and on
the outer reef at Myrmidon
Reef.
Trip
to
Scott
Reef
successfully allowed all
survey sites from 2009 site
to be revisited
Upgrade
of
camera
systems to GigE connection
and cabling of vehicle to
accommodate new imaging
configuration. Testing of
forward-looking cameras
to determine appropriate
mounting location is ongoing.
AUV was lost Nov11 and
recovered 2 weeks later
Battery Upgrade
SIMS
Tas – June 2011
SIMS and UTAS
GBR – July/Aug 2011
Nov 11
Abandoned
March
12
March 12
SE
Queensland
Sept/Oct 2011
–
NSW – Nov/Dec 2011
SIMS and UNSW
WA – March 2012
SIMS and AIMS
Abandoned due to delay by
loss/recovery
of
AUV
Nov11
Trip to Ningaloo allowed
sites from 2007 to be
revisited and for new
benthic reference sites to
be established.
46
Activity/Deployment/
Location
WA – April 2012
Responsible
Organisation(s)
SIMS and UWA
Responsible
Person(s)
Oscar
Pizarro,
Stefan B. Williams
and Gary Kendrick
Start
Finish
Progress during 2011-12
April 12
April 12
Tas – June 2012
SIMS and UTAS
Oscar Pizarro and
Neville Barrett
June 12
June 12
Trips to temperate WA
sites from Rottnest to the
Abrolhos Islands allowed
sites along the WA coast to
be revisited for the third
consecutive year.
Dives in Tasmania (June
2012) were focused on
revisiting sites previously
surveyed in 2010
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Providing research infrastructure
Details of new infrastructure
During the year 2011-12 new equipment purchases for the AUV Facility were:
• Additional batteries and battery controllers were acquired as part of the battery upgrade
• Addition of an Iridium GPS beacon. This self-powered beacon reports the vehicle’s position
at 10-minute intervals and is independent of the vehicle’s power and navigation systems.
This sensor was added in response to the loss of the vehicle and would have provided a
means of tracking the vehicle even when the acoustic tracking systems had failed.
• Spares and consumables to replace damaged or worn out equipment
Outline the continuity of one key time series of data to be assessed against an appropriate
benchmark for this facility.
The first deployments undertaken as part of the establishment of the IMOS AUV facility benthic
reference site program were completed off the coast of Western Australia during April, 2010.
Surveys were conducted off Rottnest Island, Jurien Bay, and the Abrolhos Islands. Six sites were
surveyed at each location spanning three depths (15 m, 25 m, 40 m), both inside and outside MPAs,
with three 25m x 25m full-coverage imaging surveys devoted to each site. Site locations targeted
kelp beds and were provided by the science party as shape files overlaid on local bathymetric
geotiffs. These areas varied in extent between 50m on a side at the smallest up to a few hundred
meters on a side. The locations of individual 25m x 25m full coverage grids were designed in
consultation with the science party to sample rugose areas within the survey boxes, with a spacing
of up to 100 m between grids, or in the absence of detailed bathymetry (Abrolhos Coral Patches
sites) to span depth gradients within the survey box.
In several cases, kelp coverage was patchier than expected. This resulted in a few 25m x 25m
quadrats at Jurien Bay and the Abrolhos that were dominated by seagrass, coral, or sand, with little
or no kelp. At Jurien Bay, mobile sand may have resulted in the burial of previously kelp-covered
reefs. At the Abrolhos, limited bathymetric information resulted in relatively large target areas with
little detailed information concerning bottom structure. Within these areas, the locations of cray
pots provided some guidance on the location of small patch reefs but also posed an entanglement
danger to the vehicle.
The temperate Western Australian sites were revisited during April, 2011 and again in 2012. The
majority of sites were resurveyed although a number of dive locations that did not feature the
expected habitat type were omitted and additional dense surveys were therefore established over
the course of the cruise. Preliminary analysis of the data suggests that there were significant
47
changes in some of the habitats, particularly those in the north of the survey region. Observations of
coral bleaching and distressed kelp correlate closely with a marked increase in water temperatures
measured in these areas.
Quality of research infrastructure
Benchmark against other similar overseas infrastructure
While the quality of the imagery collected by the IMOS AUV Facility is comparable or superior to that
of other world-class infrastructure overseas, our high-resolution stereo imagery and threedimensional reconstructions are unparalleled in terms of size (area covered), geo-referencing
accuracy, consistency and quality of the imagery and maturity of the data processing pipeline.
Our ability to process the large volumes of data while at sea provides the scientific party with
immediate feedback with which to plan further dives. Examples of vehicles overseas that are also
designed to collect imagery of the seafloor and that routinely participate in scientific expeditions
include: WHOI SeaBED vehicle – the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution continue to operate
their SeaBED vehicles from which the Sirius AUV is derived. They operate a pair of vehicles capable
of diving to in excess of 4500m and have deployed these in support of various oceanographic
expeditions, including searching for hydrothermal vents in the Arctic and on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
and in Puerto Rico documenting deep-water coral communities. They operate on the order of the
same number of deployments per year as is currently being achieved by the IMOS AUV Facility.
AUV Sentry – The WHOI AUV Sentry operates in conjunction with the National Deep Submergence
Facility (NDSF) at WHOI. They are intended primarily for deep bathymetric mapping off the
continental shelf but are also capable of generating seafloor photomosaics. The optical imaging
expertise of IMOS AUV facility leaders has been recognised by their inclusion in a NASA ASTEP
program with researchers from the NDSF that will require enhancements to the imaging systems of
these vehicles. Sentry is substantially larger and requires significantly more logistical support to
deploy.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) also operates a benthic imaging AUV. This
torpedo shaped AUV is typically programmed to fly at an altitude of 3m above the seafloor,
collecting imagery similar to that collected by the IMOS AUV Facility vehicle. This is not stereo
imagery and the vehicle is typically operated over relatively flat terrain as it is flying at twice the
speed (approximately 1 m/s) and the torpedo shape means it is less manoeuvrable over rough
terrain.
Fostering Collaborative development of infrastructure
Participation in international programs collecting similar data streams
(Below is what was reported last year – please update as applicable)
• Drs Williams, Pizarro, and Johnson-Roberson are Guest Investigators at the Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Astrobiology
Science and Technology for Exploring Planets (ASTEP) program “Autonomous Exploration,
Discovery, and Sampling of Life in Extreme Deep Sea Environments:” Drs. Williams, Pizarro, and
Jakuba are formal collaborators on this program administered by WHOI. Dr. Pizarro participated
in a month-long cruise with the Sentry AUV to the Santa Barbara Basin methane seep sites in
support of this program in September 2011.
• Dr. Michael Jakuba, who was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Sydney from 2009-2011,
has accepted a position as a Research Engineer at WHOI. He took up this position in Sept. 2011.
48
•
•
•
•
This will provide additional opportunities to work closely with WHOI personnel and contribute to
their research and development efforts related to deep-sea survey work using AUVs.
Dr. Bertrand Douillard, Mr. Lachlan Toohey, Mr. Donald Dansereau, Mr. Daniel Bongiorno and
Mr. Michael Belwey participated in the deployment of various deep sea imaging and excavation
assets in July-Sept. 2011 and July-Aug 2012 in support of the discovery and archaeological
excavation of Roman era shipwrecks in the Mediterranean. This work was completed in
collaboration with the Institute for Exploration and the University of Rhode Island. The data
processing pipeline being used to generate high resolution three dimension seafloor models for
IMOS has been adapted to yield similar models of ancient shipwrecks and hydrothermal vents
using data collected by the URI Remotely Operated Vehicles. Feedback on the quality and
efficiency of processing these datasets has been extremely positive.
Dr. Ryan Eustice at the University of Michigan leads a group working on the development of
seafloor imaging capability using the Iver2 platform. We are collaborating with Dr. Eustice and
his group on the development of the software systems required to operate these vehicles.
Dr. Oscar Pizarro, Dr. Stefan Williams, Dr. Matthew Johnson-Roberson, Mr. Christian Lees and
Mr. Andrew Durrant were involved in archaeological survey work in Sicily through collaboration
with Dr. John Henderson from the University of Nottingham. In June 2012, Dr. Henderson
organized to facilitate the use of the Sirius AUV to survey the site of a naval battle from the end
of the first Punic war in 241 BC in collaboration with the RPM Nautical Society. The AUV was
used to survey known wreck sites in waters approximately 100m in depth off the Sicilian coast.
Funding has been secured through the Australian National Data Service (ANDS) and the National
eResearch Collaboration Tools and Resources to develop systems for the Collaborative and
Automated Tools for Analysis of Marine Imagery and video. These programs are bringing
together AUV imagery with Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUVs), Remotely Operated
Vehicle (ROV) and Underwater Towed Video (UTV) data and associated annotations to provide
access to archives of scored imagery. This will facilitate a more national approach to the analysis
of marine imagery and video data.
Other performance indicators
Please refer to Appendix C – Performance Indicators
Financial and co-investment information
Please refer to Appendix F – Financial Statements
OTHER INFORMATION
Risk Assessment – The loss of the AUV and subsequent recovery in November 2011 has been
documented earlier in this report, along with remedial actions undertaken.
49
Appendix A.6 – Australian National Mooring Network
Facility Leader:
Contact details:
Tim Lynch, CSIRO
Phone: 03 6232 5239; email: tim.lynch@csiro.au
No. Sub-Facility
Leader, Operator
Phone
Email
6a
Craig Steinberg, AIMS
07 4753 4345
c.steinberg@aims.gov.au
Moninya Roughan, SIMS
John Middleton, SARDI
Ming Feng, CSIRO
Rob McCauley, Curtin
University
Tim Lynch, CSIRO
Bronte Tilbrook, CSIRO
02 9385 7067
08 8207 5449
08 9333 6512
08 9266 5219
mroughan@unsw.edu.au
john.middleton@sa.gov.au
ming.feng@csiro.au
r.mccauley@cmst.curtin.ed
u.au
tim.lynch@csiro.au
bronte.tilbrook@csiro.au
6b
6c
6d
6e
Queensland and Northern
Australia Moorings
New South Wales Moorings
Southern Australia Moorings
Western Australia Moorings
Acoustic Observations
6f
6g
National Reference Stations
Acidification Moorings
03 6232 5239
03 6232 5273
1. Overview of status of Facility
Australian National Mooring Network Facility overview:
The major highlight for the facility was the achievement of design density with the last of the
proposed 77 moorings deployed and entering service in March 2012.
Number of moorings in service
ANMN - moorings in service
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
One difficulty for the facility – and probably across some others (ANFOG, ABOS) - is the use,
understanding and quality control of the FLNTU data stream as a proxy for Chlorophyll a. Unlike
simpler data streams such as temperature, bio-optical data is dependent on a strong scientific
understanding of local or regional algal communities. This inherent complexity has been
compounded by technical issues with the instruments, such as the discovery that the original
factory calibration method for the FLNTU is bogus, leading to inter-instrument imprecision.
Hence both sampling at wide ranging sites and development of time series pose strong scientific
and technical difficulties. Our continental scale time-series of FLNTU measures, while a world
first, is therefore a very ambitious project. Although, within IMOS are good skills with bio-optics
50
this expertise is thinly spread across the regional sub-facilities. Considering this, a re-structuring
of this data stream’s management from a distributed to a centralised system may be a solution.
The major breakthrough has been improved functionality and implementation of quality control
procedures for the Matlab toolbox. Data uptake this year from the scientific community has also
improved. This was illustrated at the recent Australian Marine Science Association – New
Zealand Marine Science Societies (AMSA-NZMSS) 2012 conference where numerous talks (Ling
2012; Thomson, 2012; Feng 2012; Babcock 2012; Everett 2012; Clementson 2012.. etc) used
ANMN data.
6a Queensland and Northern Australia Moorings:
The Q-IMOS GBR moorings are now a mature operating array of 8 moorings being serviced at 6
monthly intervals since September 2007.
The Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) shelf moorings were deployed late June 2010 and have been
regularly serviced at 6 monthly intervals.
WA state government funding for The Kimberley and Pilbara was announced in May 2011 and
the gear was purchased and deployed in January and February 2012. The first recovery, service
and redeployments will occur in August 2012. Two new staff were recruited to assist with the
moorings expansion and commenced in late June 2012.
Early uptake and integration with several shorter term process based studies (ARC, AIMS, UWA
and US Naval Research Laboratory) utilised the Pilbara and Ningaloo NRS arrays as a backbone.
Unfavourable weather has on occasion caused some of the GBR cruises to have outstanding
moorings to turnaround. In each case either an extra mop up cruise on the AIMS vessel or
charter was organised.
The Flat Top Banks mooring on the ITF line has gone missing and was not recovered at the start
of the Kimberley cruise in August 2012.
6b New South Wales Moorings:
NSWIMOS network is now a mature operating array of 8 moorings, CH070 CH100, SYD 100,
SYD140, ORS065, PH 100, BMP 090 and BMP 110. The CH and BMP moorings are serviced every
6-8 weeks, weather permitting. The SYD/PH moorings are serviced every 3 months, and the ORS
monthly.
The NSW-IMOS moorings team has continued to develop their skills and now manage and
deploy both the Narooma (since April 2011) and Coffs Harbour (since Dec 2011) mooring arrays.
We suffered some data loss at BMP due to a mooring strike by a trawler, but received the
majority of the instruments back intact. We lost 3 months of data at the NRS (PH100) MarchMay 2012. The mooring was discovered missing during the May servicing period. Otherwise
data retrieval has been fairly successful the past year.
6c Southern Australia Moorings:
The SAIMOS facility has been producing data streams since February 2008 and we have
maintained 3 moorings continuously (NRSKAI, SAM5CB and SAM8SG) and up to five moorings
during summer. In addition, the CTD and biogeochemical sampling at the NRS and other
moorings has proceeded and all has been analysed into data streams.
51
The CTD and biogeochemical sampling are the most extensive undertaken by any of the mooring
sub-facilities. The location of the moorings provides an across shelf array, SAM7DS (600m),
SAM3MS (200 m), NRSKAI(110 m) for detecting thermocline variations, the cross-shelf structure
of CTW and ENSO signals and deep cross shelf exchange. The moorings SAMCB (100 m), SAM8SG
(50 m) and NRSKAI (110 m) allow the along shelf variability and source (Bight or Spencer Gulf) to
be resolved.
In the March 2011 deployment we had poor data quality from our top NXIC CTD at NRSKAI. This
appears to have been due to a loose battery connection. On the December 2011 NRSKAI
deployment the bottom NXIC CTD flooded due to pinched O-ring
Mooring cables instrumented with Aqualoggers also became twisted and we lost data. We
suspect drag on the Aqualoggers was higher than anticipated and we now use two swivels and
have not had a reoccurrence of the problem.
We had 3 battery failures on RDI ADCPs deployed at SAM5CB and SAM8SG. Teledyne suggested
testing the batteries under load before deployment so we are implementing a new testing
procedure. It is also possible that the batch of batteries had been poorly stored prior to the
deployment.
6d Western Australia Moorings:
The Rottnest NRS sub-surface WQM mooring was serviced in October 2011, January 2012, and
May 2012, the ADCP mooring has been serviced in October 2011, February 2012, and May 2012.
Monthly samplings have been carried out regularly. The Esperance NRS WQM and ADCP
mooring has been serviced in November 2011, March 2012, and June 2012. Quarterly sampling
has been carried out at both Esperance and Ningaloo NRS sites.
The Perth Canyon 200 m mooring has been serviced twice in October 2011 and May 2012, and
the 500 m mooring has been serviced once in January 2012.
The 5 Two Rocks moorings have been serviced regularly. A sediment trap mooring has been
deployed at 200 m on the Two Rocks line in May 2012, for Dr Peter Thompson. The deployment
was funded independently of IMOS.
We started the data QC process during the financial year. Half way through the QC process, we
were informed by eMII that we were missing one pre-QC step. Right now all the data are being
re-processed. It is important to keep informed on future changes to the IMOS mooring toolbox.
A few of our ADCP instruments have lost battery power during the deployments, resulting in
data loss. The flat battery issue is being investigated and will be rectified for the next
deployments.
IMOS mooring data have been used in AMOS and AMSA conference presentations to describe
the evolution of the 2011 marine heat wave off the west coast of Australia.
6e Acoustic Observatories:
Field work for all three passive acoustic observatories was carried out as scheduled. Gear is in
the water at Portland and NSW and we are in the middle of re-deploying the Perth Canyon
moorings, with the 2011-2012 data sets recovered on 14-Jul-2012 and the next scheduled for
the first week of Aug-2012.
52
The data sets returned were excellent. Of interest on the east coast we still have not detected
migrating pygmy blue whales, unlike the west coast, but have detected Antarctic blue whales
moving along the east coast and recorded distant, year round signals from a sub species of blue
whale occurring in New Zealand waters.
We have had our usual logistical difficulties, which started with the Portland vessel not being
available in Dec-2011 due to fishing commitments, which pushed the eventual Portland redeployment into Feb-2012. A similar event happened in NSW where family issues delayed the
vessel availability.
Two papers were published in 2011-2012 using the IMOS passive acoustic data sets, several
more are in progress, a Future Fellow was awarded to Joy Tripovich (UNSW) to work on the
IMOS passive acoustic data and an honours student, Edward Emanuel has started at Curtin and
will use the IMOS data to look for sperm whales.
6f National Reference Stations:
The National Reference Station Network is now well established with all infrastructures and
sampling in place (Fig NRS1).
Fig NRS 1. The National Reference Station Network.
Esperance, Rottnest, Maria and North Stradbroke Island NRS have all returned data in a regular
and routine manner. The Maria stations sub-surface mooring broke free, due to an inferior
quality shackle, but was quickly detected due to the telemetry and recovered almost
immediately through use of the acoustic releases as homing beacons.
Both Maria and North Stradbroke have had near continuous telemetry. This small, relatively
cheap telemetry system is now mature and has been implemented across numerous IMOS and
other programs. A stock of components has been manufactured, which means that the
telemetry systems can be hot swapped at each turn around.
53
Darwin NRS quarterly biogeochemical sampling is working well. We have had problems with real
time transmission of the bottom frame currents partly due to leaks caused and acknowledged by
the manufacturer. Extreme weather from wind events and strong currents have also caused
problems. This component has been re-designed to be more robust with an August 2012
upgrade and roll-out scheduled.
Yongala NRS is routinely logging currents and water quality data. A set back has been the delay
in refurbishing the Isolated Danger Mark (IDM) to re-establish real time communications.
We received replacement mooring cables in January 2012 and were on the verge of recovering
the IDM in April/May 2012. The delay was mainly due to the lack of availability of a suitable
vessel with a big enough A frame and lifting capacity. Then in early April 2012 in the wake of
weather associated with the Townsville tornado, the buoy itself was reported missing and we
have not been able to locate it since. The entire buoy therefore needs replacement and this is
currently on order. We expect full capability to be restored in January 2013.
Ningaloo NRS continues to work well and is integrated into other regional and process based
studies. Quarterly biogeochemical sampling is done by CSIRO and in cooperation with AIMS
when the mooring is serviced every 6 months.
Monthly sampling is running smoothly at the Port Hacking NRS. See note above regarding the
loss of the mooring in May 2012.
Central processing laboratories are working smoothly and are returning processed data to eMII.
Annual training this year included both field courses and also training from Professor Gustaaf
Hallegraeff and Dr Kerrie Swadling.
Technical interchange has also occurred between CSIRO and SARDI for collection of BGC data
streams at the Kangaroo Island station.
As the workload has increased with the deployment of the SEQ moorings, as well as rollout of
associated coastal moorings such as the acidification buoys and others, a new mooring
technician was employed.
A QC team was established to assess data from NRSMAI, NRSNSI and SEQ and to develop
techniques and documentation.
6g Acidification Moorings:
An acidification mooring with a CO 2 sensor was first deployed at Maria Island in Apr 2011 with
turnarounds in October 2011 and April 2012. Data are transmitted daily from the mooring and
are sent to eMii. A pH sensor was deployed on the mooring in April 2012. The pH sensor is
internally logging and the performance of this sensor will be evaluated when the mooring is next
turned around in October 2012.
Another acidification mooring was deployed ahead of schedule in February 2012 at the
Kangaroo Island NRS. The site is subjected to frequent high seas, strong winds and variable
currents. The mooring used is a tsunami warning buoy and has withstood all storms with data
transmitted daily. Rough seas prevented the mooring being retrieved and checked for wear in
June 2012, and a repeat trip was made in July 2012 with SAIMOS on the RV Ngerin. There were
no obvious problems with wear on the mooring. It will be turned around in November 2012 and
then at approximately six month intervals.
54
Instruments were deployed on the large IMOS mooring at the Yongala NRS in late 2010. This is a
different buoy than the one used at other sites. The instruments were damaged by Cyclone Yasi,
shortly after deployment. The equipment has been ready to redeploy and is waiting for the
Yongala mooring to be replaced (see Yongala, 6f National Reference Stations).
2. Activities undertaken to establish and operate the infrastructure
6a Queensland and Northern Australia Moorings:
Strong winds were a feature of the last wet season on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). In October
2011 extra time was allocated during the northern GBR service rescuing a seaglider in the Coral
Sea with intermittent communications. The Lizard Shelf (LSH) mooring did not release a
recovery buoy properly so a follow up charter was arranged out of Cairns to complete the
Northern moorings servicing.
For the southern GBR, strong winds meant one of the moorings could not be serviced on the
March 2012 cruise and so a follow up cruise was scheduled the following week on the RV Cape
Ferguson to redeploy the Capricorn Channel Mooring in the Southern GBR.
The ITF line is working well with the exception of FTB that was reported missing on the July 2012
recovery. Kimberley and Pilbara lines are still on their maiden deployment and will be recovered
in August 2012. The RV Solander experienced maintenance delays of a couple of weeks after its
first 5 year slipping. This slid the WAIMOS moorings back a few weeks but the team have
adapted to the timelines.
6b New South Wales Moorings:
We have suffered two mooring losses (NRS PH100 and BMP 090) due to suspected (PH) and
known (BMP) strikes by fishing trawlers. The equipment from the BMP mooring was returned to
us by the fisherman, however despite numerous enquiries, we have not been able to contact
anyone in the fishing industry who knows anything about the PH mooring.
An insurance claim has been submitted to cover the PH loss, as well as the CH loss reported last
year. We are still waiting the outcome of this. We do not have any further back up
instruments and data gaps are occurring for FLNTU and DO and will continue if these claims are
not progressed quickly.
Over the past 12 months, the NSW IMOS moorings team contributed significantly to the
development of the moorings tool box as well as the QC and processing of data.
Two of our team members resigned in early 2012, and we are presently training new technical
staff.
6c Southern Australia Moorings:
A total of 9 moorings have been deployed since July 2011. There have also been 9 recoveries
and currently there are 5 moorings in the water. During the July 2011 recovery of the Reference
Station, the 65m cable became entangled with the ground line however we were able to lift the
anchor on board and recover all the instruments without further incident. Use of swivels with
cable seems to have alleviated this problem.
55
6d Western Australia Moorings:
To improve communication regarding data QC, we are currently hosting key eMII members at
our WA lab to have detailed discussion on the QC procedures.
6e Acoustic Observatories:
In Jul-2011 the Perth Canyon mooring was recovered and re-deployed. In Jan-2012 an attempt
was made by workers based in Portland to recover the four Portland moorings but only three
were recovered. A Curtin staff member recovered the fourth mooring in Feb-2012 and redeployed two more which will next be serviced in Nov-2012 and replaced by four which will run
until mid-2013. The NSW mooring recovery was delayed due to an illness in the vessel
operator’s family, but was carried out in Jun-2012. The Perth Canyon moorings were recovered
on 14-Jul and are awaiting re-deployment.
6f National Reference Stations:
The Darwin NRS has undergone a redesign in order to improve its robustness. Darwin Port Corp
wish to replace the buoy we currently have instrumented and so modifications are being made.
A new more stable bottom mounted tripod with a new pop up buoy system will also be
manufactured. We expect to roll the new system out in late August 2012. This will form the basis
of the planned Beagle Gulf and Yongala designs.
The Yongala will transition from a cabled inductive modem data transmission to acoustic
modems in keeping with the other NRS. The Isolated Danger Mark that was lost in April 2012 will
be replaced in early 2013.
The two SEQ shelf moorings have been deployed and are on their first rotation.
A manual and code to allow for processing of the profiling CTD data has been written and placed
onto the IMOS website.
A new multi-point calibration method for the FLNTU has been implemented at the CSIRO
calibration laboratory. Laboratory tests demonstrated that this new method dramatically
improves the inter-comparable precision between instruments. A second method, using a solid
standard cap for checking pre-deployment functionality in the field and fine scale investigations
of individual sensor drift over deployments has been developed. Following new calibrations,
instruments are returned to operators with the cap.
6g Acidification Moorings:
Test and calibration facilities have been built for instrumentation in order to ensure high quality
data returns. This is the only facility of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and allows checks on
sensor responses over a broad range of temperature, pCO 2 , dissolved oxygen and pH levels. It
has been important for pre and post deployment checks of instrumentation, and to diagnose
problems with instruments. For example, the facility was used to test instrumentation and fix a
problem that occurred due to a failure of solenoids to activate at temperatures below 15C. The
fault was due to the manufacturing of the solenoid magnets and could have caused a loss of
winter data for the Maria Island and Kangaroo Island sites. As another example, the Yongala
mooring uses a large surface buoy rather than the purpose built buoys at Kangaroo Island and
Maria Island. The unusual motion on Yongala buoy meant the CO 2 equilibration setup for
mooring had to be redesigned. Extensive testing of the sensor response and changes were
required to give good data.
An iridium rudics server has been setup and software written to receive mooring data.
56
SAIMOS liaised with the acidification sub-facility and CSIRO Ocean Sensor Deployment coastal
team to provide them local contacts for consumables such as train wheels. One of SARDI
Oceanography’s technicians, Paul Malthouse, has been participating on mooring swap-out
cruises and the facility has been using SARDI’s research vessel Ngerin for mooring work at
reduced rates due to the involvement of the SARDI personnel.
3. Progress against agreed Milestones
Please refer to Appendix E – Milestone Reports
The passive acoustic mooring recoveries were delayed slightly due to the preferred vessels not
being available when required, for different reasons. Given the complexities of aligning weather,
currents (recoveries cannot be made in more than 1 knot current), staff availability and vessel
availability then delays can be expected in gear turn-around.
The eco-triplet B deployment across four NRS sites was delayed due to problems with delivery
from the manufacture. The instruments have since arrived and are now being deployed on sites
in line with rotations.
Telemetry and some data streams (CO 2 ) have been intermittent at the NRSYON and NRSDAR
sites due to cyclone damage. New equipment is being purchased and deployed.
Moorings have been lost at NRSPH100, Coffs Harbour and Flat Top Banks. Insurance claims are
underway.
4. Deviations from 2011-12 Annual Business Plan
6a Queensland and Northern Australia Moorings:
Additional activities undertaken – Some additional GBR cruises needed to be planned on the
east coast to ensure all the moorings were able to be serviced on the 6 months time frame. This
was due to weather and to help retrieve other IMOS infrastructure.
The Kimberley and Pilbara moorings arrays were quickly rolled out in January/February 2012 in
anticipation of the contract after WA state government funding was announced in the budget in
May 2011. Two new staff were also recruited to assist with the expanded array.
Agreed activities not completed - The Flat Top Banks mooring from the ITF line was reported
missing in July 2012 on a routine service cruise.
Remedial action proposed, including timeframes - The Flat Top Banks mooring from the ITF line
was able to be replaced as we had purchased enough spares for such an event. An insurance
claim will be submitted.
6b New South Wales Moorings:
Additional activities undertaken - In conjunction with Oceanographic Field Services and Sydney
Water Corporation, we are working towards real time data transmission at the ORS. If this is
successful it will be introduced at Port Hacking too. We are working with eMII to advance the
QC and processing of profiling CTD data which to date has not been included in the eMII archive.
57
Remedial action proposed, including timeframes – After the loss of the PH 100 mooring, the tstring was replaced immediately. 3 weeks later an ADCP was deployed. We have not yet
redeployed a WQM for FLNTU and DO data streams due to a shortage of instrumentation.
6c Southern Australia Moorings:
Agreed activities not completed - Only 5 moorings may now be deployed at any one time due to
the lack of CTDs. This has been reported over the last two years.
6d Western Australia Moorings:
Agreed activities not completed - Data QC
Remedial action proposed, including timeframes - It is expected that the re-process of mooring
data QC will be finalised by December 2012.
6e Acoustic Observatories:
Additional activities undertaken – Temperature logger time series data is now routinely
recovered from all moorings from at least seven locations, four on the seabed and three 30-50 m
above the seabed. This is not budgeted for in our agreement. Currently the raw data is provided
to the relevant node leaders as we do not have the staff time to formally submit this data to
eMII.
6f National Reference Stations:
Additional activities undertaken – Redesign of Darwin and Yongala NRS to improve robustness
and reliability. Replace the Yongala IDM with a temporary buoy in May 2012. Replace the Darwin
channel marker in collaboration with Darwin Port Corp.
Agreed activities not completed - The Yongala NRS was expected to have been repaired and the
real time data stream back on-line however due to difficulties in securing a suitable vessel, long
delivery times with obtaining replacement mooring lines and another extreme weather event
the IDM went missing in early April 2012.
The eco-triplet B deployment across four NRS sites was delayed due to problems with delivery
from the manufacture.
Remedial action proposed, including timeframes – Our revised timeline for the real time
communication from the Yongala NRS is late 2012 and a new IDM is on order. A delayed mode
subsurface mooring has however been collecting the critical current meter and water quality
data since TC Yasi meaning there will be no significant gap in the continuity of the data streams.
The Eco-triplet instruments have arrived and are now being deployed on sites in line with their
service rotations.
6g Acidification Moorings:
Additional activities undertaken - Redesign of instrumentation to work on the Yongala NRS
mooring.
Agreed activities not completed - Yongala sensors are waiting for the Yongala NRS to be
redeployed (see National Reference Stations).
58
Remedial action proposed, including timeframes - See 6f National Reference stations. If the
Yongala mooring cannot be redeployed in a suitable time, a mooring like those used at Maria
Island could be deployed, provided a suitable ship is available.
5. Progress against 2011-12 Implementation Plan
6a Queensland and Northern Australia Moorings:
Activity/Deployment/
Location
Service GBROOS
Southern array
Service Yongala NRS
Service GBROOS
Northern array
Service ITF shelf array
Service Ningaloo and
Darwin NRS
Submit QA Q-IMOS
GBROOS data to eMII
Submit QA Northern
Australian data to eMII
Service GBROOS
Southern array
Service Yongala NRS
Service GBROOS
Northern array
Deploy Kimberley
array
Deploy Pilbara array
Service ITF shelf array
Service Ningaloo and
Darwin NRS
Submit QA Q-IMOS
GBROOS data to eMII
Submit QA Northern
Australian data to eMII
Responsible
Organisation(s)
AIMS
Responsible
Person(s)
Steinberg
Start
Finish
Progress during 2011-12
1/7/2011
30/12/2011
Completed 8/2011
AIMS
AIMS
Steinberg
Steinberg
1/7/2011
1/7/2011
30/12/2011
30/12/2011
Completed 10/2011
Completed 10/2011
AIMS
AIMS
Steinberg
Steinberg
1/3/2011
1/3/2011
30/9/2011
30/9/2011
Completed 5/2011
Completed 5/2011
AIMS
Steinberg
1/3/2011
30/9/2011
Completed
AIMS
Steinberg
1/7/2011
30/12/2011
Completed
AIMS
Steinberg
1/1/2012
30/6/2012
Completed 03/2012
AIMS
AIMS
Steinberg
Steinberg
1/1/2012
1/1/2012
30/6/2012
30/6/2012
Completed 05/2012
Completed 05/2012
AIMS
Steinberg
AIMS
AIMS
AIMS
Steinberg
Steinberg
Steinberg
1/9/2012
1/9/2012
30/3/2013
30/3/2013
Completed 02/2012
Completed 06/2012
Planned 08/2012
AIMS
Steinberg
1/9/2012
30/3/2013
Planned
AIMS
Steinberg
1/1/2012
30/6/2012
Planned
Completed 02/2012
6b New South Wales Moorings:
Work Plan for 2011/12: We now have 6 moorings online and delivering high quality data (2 x
CH, 3 x SYD, 1 x PH1). SIMS is continuing to develop capability in mooring deployment. We are
in the process of appointing an electronic engineer with mechanical capabilities. Together with
our existing technical staff we will be responsible for the deployment of the 2 south coast
moorings. A visit was made to Narooma in January 2011 for site selection. Major equipment has
been purchased and we are starting to take delivery of it. Mooring design is underway.
Actual progress in 2011-12: The Narooma moorings (as identified above) were deployed over
12 months ago and are returning temperature data reliably. We now have a full 8 moorings
online. We are further developing our capabilities in mooring deployment and expanding the
team.
6c Southern Australia Moorings:
Activity/Deployment/
Location
Responsible
Organisation(s)
Responsible
Person(s)
Start
Finish
Progress during 2011-12
59
Activity/Deployment/
Location
600 m isobath S.E.
Kangaroo Is
200 m isobath S.E.
Kangaroo Is
110 m isobath east of
Kangaroo Is
50 m isobath mouth
Spencer Gulf
100 m isobath south
of the Eyre Peninsula
100 m isobath south
of Coffin Bay
Responsible
Organisation(s)
SARDI
Responsible
Person(s)
Middleton
Start
Finish
Progress during 2011-12
Oct 2011
July 2012
Completed
SARDI
Middleton
Oct 2011
July 2012
Completed
SARDI
Middleton
July 1 2011
June 2012
Completed
SARDI
Middleton
July 1 2011
June 2012
Completed
SARDI
Middleton
April 2011
July 2011
Completed
SARDI
Middleton
July 1 2011
June 2012
Completed
Responsible
Organisation(s)
06DWA
Responsible
Person(s)
Ming Feng
Start
Finish
Progress during 2011-12
22Jan10
20Jul10
Completed
06DWA
Ming Feng
01Jul11
01Jun13
Completed
06DWA
Ming Feng
04Apr11
06DWA
Ming Feng
30Dec11
30Jan12
Completed
Responsible
Person(s)
R McCauley
R McCauley
R McCauley
R McCauley
Start
Finish
Progress during 2011-12
June 11
Nov 11
Feb 12
June 12
Aug 11
Dec 11
Mar 12
July 12
Completed
Completed
Completed
Gear recovered, awaiting
re-deployment in Aug2012
6d Western Australia Moorings:
Activity/Deployment/
Location
Variation - Removal of
PC500N-high risk of
loss
Continue to maintain
WA mooring array
Deploy ROT and ESP
ADCP moorings
Deploy enhancements
to the Two Rocks
Transect
Completed
6e Acoustic Observatories:
Activity/Deployment/
Location
turnaround WA array
turnaround SA array
turnaround NSW array
turnaround WA array
Responsible
Organisation(s)
Curtin Uni
Curtin Uni
Curtin Uni
Curtin Uni
6f National Reference Stations:
Work Plan for 2011/12:
• Maintain the 9 stations with mooring turnarounds at rates appropriate for each of the
locations and BGC sampling at monthly to quarterly rates. ADCPs are currently deployed at
YON, PH100, KAI, NIN and an ADCP will be placed onto NRS MAR. ADCPs will be placed on
other NRS, as planned, through to March 2012. The NSW sub-facility is currently in the
process of adding additional sensors to PH100 (ADCP / real time telemetry / ecopuk and
WQM to bottom waters).
• The development of the Matlab toolbox will recommence this year with the appointment of
a full time officer. This will allow, in part, for better QC of sensor data. The outcomes of the
BGC audit will be implemented. The electronic field sheets will be loaded onto eMII and sent
to data collectors. The NRS Scientific Rationale will be developed into a manuscript for
publication in a peer reviewed journal.
60
•
•
Guidance is sought from the IMOS Office regarding which QC standard is best suited to the
NRS and ANMN sensor data in relation to other IMOS facilities. This will be identified in the
draft QC procedures for the WQMs and implemented.
Maintain the Maria Island and Yongala acidification mooring and instrumentation with six
monthly turnaround and deliver data to IMOS. The Yongala instruments will be operational
pending the repairs of the mooring after Cyclone Yasi damage.
Actual progress in 2011-12:
• All 9 NRS now are instrumented with ADCP. The NSW NRS PH100 was instrumented, lost –
probably due to interaction with a fishing trawler – and re-instrumented. An insurance
claim in currently in process and monies have been set aside from the contingency fund to
cover a 50% excess.
• Large advances have been made with the Matlab toolbox. With many ANMN facility staff
working closely with the eMII facility the toolbox is now stable and regularly updated with
improved functionality. Special thanks are due to Mr Guillaume Galibert from eMII who has
provided excellent input to this project.
• The BGC audit recommendations were implemented. These included regular monthly
meeting with eMII to assess data delivery and the development of a distributed network for
data upload by each individual lab or sampler to ARCs. Data sheets are now electronic
rather than scanned handwritten documents and other advances have been the transfer of
knowledge through training and visiting technicians.
• The NRS scientific rationale and implementation plan has been published as a report on the
IMOS website. A draft manuscript has been drafted and is currently with co-authors for
consideration.
• A summit was held to discuss QC issues across the facility and to address priorities. From
the proceedings of this summit various quality control procedures have been implemented.
These include a system of 9 tests (Morello et al 2011) that can be parameterised within the
Matlab toolbox for QC of data stream, the development of a manual and code for profiling
CTDs, experimental studies into the new calibration method and characterisation of FLNTU
data streams and development of ADCP data QC. This will be a yearly event and the next
QC Summit is planned to occur 29-30th August.
• The Maria Island acidification mooring has been maintained.
6g Acidification Moorings:
Activity/Deployment/
Location
Assess cyclone
damage to Yongala
instrumentation and
redeploy with
modifications to
reduce the risk of
future cyclone damage
and carry out 6 month
turnarounds
Maintain Maria Island
moorings and
instrumentation with
six monthly
turnarounds
Responsible
Organisation(s)
CSIRO
Responsible
Person(s)
Tilbrook
Start
Finish
Progress during 2011-12
July 2011
June 2012
Instrumentation repaired
and new equilibration
system designed and
tested. The equipment is
ready for redeployment
and is awaiting the
delivery of a replacement
NRS surface mooring buoy
CSIRO
Tilbrook
July 2011
June 2012
Completed
61
Activity/Deployment/
Location
Prepare Kangaroo
Island mooring,
finalise deployment
plans and location
with SAIMOS
Deploy the Kangaroo
Island mooring with
SAIMOS
Deliver data to eMII
from active
CO2/acidification
mooring deployments
at Yongala, Maria
Island and Kangaroo
Island
Responsible
Organisation(s)
CSIRO
Responsible
Person(s)
Tilbrook
Start
Finish
Progress during 2011-12
July 2011
Nov 2011
Completed
CSIRO
Tilbrook
March 2012
June 2012
Completed
CSIRO
Tilbrook
July 2011
June 2012
Completed for Maria and
Kangaroo Island sites.
Yongala site awaits
mooring redeployment by
NRS.
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Providing research infrastructure
Details of new infrastructure
6a Queensland and Northern Australia Moorings: We purchased 4 new moorings for the Kimberley
line and 3 new moorings for the Pilbara line as per the annual business plan.
6b New South Wales Moorings: No new infrastructure was purchased. We will soon be ordering
replacement equipment for the PH 100 mooring when the outcome of the insurance claim is known.
6c Southern Australia Moorings: No new infrastructure was purchased.
6d Western Australia Moorings: Various buoys, releasers, and other equipment were purchased for
mooring maintenance.
6e Acoustic Observatories: The NW WA moorings are completed and we are awaiting access to
AIMS ship time to deploy these (WA State Government IMOS funding). Portland, NSW and Perth
Canyon infrastructure remains the same.
6f National Reference Stations:
• New Darwin bottom tripod manufactured and buoy modifications made.
• Some replacement sensors purchased.
• PH100 mooring lost and replaced.
• All NRS now instrumented with ADCPs
• We purchased and deployed two new shelf moorings for SEQ.
6g Acidification Moorings: We purchased parts for instrumentation and mooring maintenance for
the Kangaroo Island mooring, which was subsequently deployed.
62
Outline the continuity of one key time series of data to be assessed against an appropriate
benchmark for this facility.
6a Queensland and Northern Australia Moorings
• All moorings currently deployed represent the start of a continuous record of CTD and currents
expected to be continued at each location throughout IMOS and beyond. There will be an
expansion of the array to Kimberley and Pilbara in early 2012.
• GBR moorings have been delivering data since 2007.
• The ITF moorings have been delivering data since June 2010. However, the recent loss of Flat
Top Banks mooring in July 2012 on the ITF line will result in a 6 month gap. Two moorings either
side mean some interpolation may be possible.
• Kimberley and Pilbara maiden deployment in February 2012 and will be serviced in August 2012.
6b New South Wales Moorings - The data coverage returned for each sensor at the Sydney Mooring
from June 2008-June 2012. CH070, CH100, ORS, SYD 100, SYD 140, PH100, BMP090, BMP 120
Velocity and Temperature and BGC data from the WQMs at SYD100 and PH100. Gaps in the data
record are from unavoidable instrument failings or loss. Note also the phased implementation of
the programme.
Figure NSW IMOS Data coverage since commencement of the program.
6c Southern Australia Moorings - Current meter and CTD data from the reference station mooring
extends for 4 years and Aqualogger thermister data for 2 years. Current meter and CTD data from
the Coffin Bay mooring (SAM5CB) extends for 3.5 years. Current meter and CTD data from the
Spencer Gulf mooring (SAM8SG) extends for 2.5 years.
6d Western Australia Moorings - CTD, DO, FLNTU and expanded BGC sampling data from the
Rottnest and Esperance NRS now extends for more than 3 years. The Two Rock shelf moorings have
more than 2 years of record with some interruptions due to mooring maintenance. Ningaloo BGC
physical sampling started in February 2011.
6e Acoustic Observatories – Perth Canyon data runs from early 2008, with a gap mid 2008 until early
2009, and then runs continually. NSW records run continuously from early 2010 and Portland from
early 2009.
6f National Reference Stations - CTD, DO, FLNTU and expanded BGC data from the Maria Island
reference station now extends for 4.5 years (54 months) and real time data, which includes sea
surface temperature, wave height and meteorological measures, now extends for 40 months. CTD,
DO and FLNTU data from the North Stradbroke Island NRS mooring now extends for 21 months and
the real time data now extends for 21 months.
63
6g Acidification CO 2 Moorings - Maria Island has been reporting 2-hourly data since April 2011 with
Kangaroo Island data reporting since February 2012. This is the first high frequency CO 2 or time
series data reported on southern temperate shelves.
Quality of research infrastructure
Benchmark against other similar overseas infrastructure
6a Queensland and Northern Australia Moorings - We have experienced a loss of one mooring per
100 deployments in the remote tropical north of Australia that experience extreme tropical cyclone
activity, macro-tides and internal waves and significant off-shore industrial activity (in WA). Not
aware of a comparable system to benchmark against.
6d Western Australian sub-facility – One of the similar overseas observing systems is the Coastal
Observatory in Liverpool Bay, UK. However, the comparison should be made at the WA Node level.
At the sub-facility level, we are maintaining more coastal moorings than the Liverpool Bay
Observatory with good efficiency. We lack the shelf modelling component to better integrate our
mooring data. More integration with other facilities should be done at the Node level, so that we
have a solid scientific community to support and utilise the IMOS data streams.
6e Acoustic Observatories - No comparative infrastructure exists for the passive acoustic listening
station. The preparatory commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization
maintains a series of hydro-acoustic listening stations for monitoring clandestine underwater nuclear
explosions which has been utilised for whale monitoring. However, data from those stations are
limited in frequency range and Australian spatial coverage compared with the IMOS data streams,
and they are not freely available for the international research community.
6f National Reference Stations - The facility leader was invited to the Ocean Observing Initiative’s
(OOI) quality control workshop in Maine USA. This program, due to its scale, may provide a
benchmark against the entire facility, with the addition of components from other facilities such as
ABOS and ANFOG. Besides scale other major differences included the progress of the OOI, which is
similar to IMOS in 2007, and the focus onto new delivery platforms, most noticeably profiling
moorings.
OOI quality control is, like IMOS, based on automatic QC systems. However, a large component OOI
QC is to cross reference sensor data to specifically collected BGC data from water samples. A
stronger focus on cross referencing between NRS sensor and BGC data would benchmark against
this system.
At a regional scale, a close benchmark for the moored infrastructure side of the NRS at least, is
NOAA's Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System (CBIBS). The system is approximately the same
infrastructure size having recently deployed their ninth WatchKeeper™ buoy. This monitoring
platform includes wind, air temperature, barometric pressure, a current profiler and a TRIAXYS™
Directional wave sensor. Like the NRS it also includes a Wetlabs Water Quality Monitor (WQM)
sensor that transmits data via a Wireless Fibre (WFS) modem to the buoy. The WatchMan500™
controller then collects all data inputs and sends it to the CBIBS website using a Verizon CDMA
cellular network. A tenth buoy has been delivered to NOAA in October 2010. For benchmarking
purposes telemetered data is available at http://chesapeakebay.noaa.gov/cbibs . This telemetered
data stream and the wide range of users has been identified by the project as instrumental in the
64
continuation of funding. Two interesting applications are available for CBIBS. These are a facebook
page and an iPhone app.
The CBIBS has also moved into profiling moorings, having deployed a Wetlabs profiler with CTD and
FLNTU as an experimental deployment in 2010-11 and reporting good data returns at Oceans 2011
IEEE (Wilson 2011).
6g Acidification CO2 Moorings - - The moorings are benchmark for sustained acidification/CO 2
monitoring. The mooring used at Maria Island and Kangaroo Island is based on a NOAA tsunami
warning buoy. This design has been shown to deliver high quality data under a range of conditions
from the tropics to high latitudes. The CO 2 sensors are the only moored sensors available that
provide air and standard measurements to maintain reliable, accurate, long-term data. The work is
linked with similar moorings deployed by NOAA in the USA. New pH sensors developed at Scripps
Institution of Oceanography are also being tested at Maria Island. The calibration and maintenance
facilities established to support the work are not available anywhere else. For example, the
calibration procedures for oxygen sensors are the most advanced procedures available, with a
number of key overseas labs in the USA and EU now working with CSIRO to improve their data
quality.
Fostering Collaborative development of infrastructure
Participation in international programs collecting similar data streams
6a Queensland and Northern Australia Moorings - International Network of Coral Reef Ecosystem
Observing Systems (I-CREOS); CLIVAR SPICE will complement observing strategies in the Coral Sea
basin. We have been invited to participate in South Pacific Ocean Time-series (SPOT) by Ganachaud
& Aucan, Institut de Recherche pour le Development. Steinberg attended 10ICSHMO and presented
a Q-IMOS talk in the SPICE session.
The ITF shelf line is extended by the IMOS ABOS ITF deepwater moorings. Indonesia, Timor and PNG
were actively engaged through the ATSEF ATSEA structure. Susan Wijffels presented to the CLIVAR
ITF-Task Team Workshop Developing an Effective Monitoring Program of the Indonesian
Throughflow. Jakarta, 12-14 March 2012
The Pilbara line and Ningaloo NRS formed the backbone of an experiment to observe the effect of
internal waves on glider observations by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory ADAPTER experiment.
This was done in collaboration with UWA and AIMS from November 2011 – April 2012.
6b New South Wales Moorings Schaeffer attended 10ICSHMO in Noumea, and presented a NSW-IMOS talk. Roughan, Schaeffer,
Macdonald and Rossi attended Ocean Sciences 2012 in Salt Lake City, Utah USA. Wood attended
EGU in Vienna. IMOS work was presented at each of these international conferences.
6d Western Australian sub-facility - WA IMOS shelf mooring data have been used to detect and
quantify the “marine heat wave” impacts off the WA coast during February-March 2011 at the wake
of the 2010/2011 La Nina event. The data were presented at the “marine heat wave” symposium
organised by Department of Fisheries and CSIRO and in a Department of Fisheries technical report.
Some results have presented at AMOS and AMSA conferences. Three journal papers have been
submitted or being prepared from these results.
We have been invited to discussions on the Indian Ocean Global Ocean Observing System forum.
65
6e Acoustic Observatories - While there is no international program to collect ocean noise data sets
there is considerable international interest in obtaining long term sea noise records to link with
various physical, biological, man-made and climate driven processes. With the IMOS passive acoustic
data streams Australia will be well placed in this research. An example is a new initiative on
understanding underwater ship noise production and implications, for which the IMOS observatories
offer an extremely powerful platform for comparing regions with different shipping densities
6f National Reference Stations – The facility leader was an invited participant to the Ocean
Observing Initiatives (OOI) quality control workshop and is a co-author on the workshop report. The
workshop provided considerable insight into developing an integrated quality control system. NASA
was also a co-host of the workshop and showed strong interest in the FLNTU data streams for
calibration of coastal ocean colour products from satellite observations.
With Ian Walsh from WetLabs and Doug Wilson from CBIBS the facility leader co-hosted a workshop
on use of the WetLabs WQM at IEEE Oceans 2011 Hawaii.
A regular 6 monthly meetings is now held with Seabird and Wetlabs to discuss products and support.
Seabird has offered the use of two next generation WQMs for testing by the facility.
6g Acidification CO2 Moorings - The group is closely involved in the development of an international
network of ocean acidification monitoring sites for shelf and offshore waters in collaboration with
the International Ocean Carbon Coordination project and NOAA. The need for the network has been
documented in an Ocean Obs 09 white paper and in numerous other documents including the
UNESCO Oceans policy for the Rio 20+ conference. The sub facility leader has been involved as a
steering committee member for groups like the Southern Ocean Observing System and the Surface
Ocean Carbon Atlas that will utilise the moored data. Workshops have been held (Seattle, June
2012) or are planned (NOAA, Ft Lauderdale, August 2012; Bermuda, November 2012) to develop
the network and monitoring standards. Numerous national and international groups including those
involved in the setup of a South Pacific time series off New Caledonia and Indian Ocean Time Series
sites have contacted the sub facility to develop collaborations.
Other collaborations
6a Queensland and Northern Australia Moorings - ACORN data validation through ARC grants have
resulted in publications by Jaffres (waves) and Mantovanelli (currents).
CSIRO wealth from oceans will co-invest with AIMS and IMOS to upgrade the Palm Passage mooring
to real time in 2012-13. The mooring will be built by CSIRO OSD and is similar to the CSIRO designed
NRSMAI and NRSNSI telemetry moorings. This will provide data to eReefs whole of GBR
hydrodynamic model to improve the near real time modelling results.
Students from JCU and UQ engaged with Q-IMOS moorings data streams.
6b New South Wales Moorings - Collaborations with Sydney Water over data streams from the
Ocean Reference Station (ORS), who are providing data as an in-kind contribution to NSW IMOS.
NSW IMOS are working collaboratively with our industry partner Oceanographic Field Services to
develop real time data delivery capabilities at the ORS. NSW State government (Office of Science
and Medical Research Science Leveraging Fund) support the moorings team with 2 x 0.5 FTE for
research and operations.
66
UNSW made a significant contribution to the new Sydney Institute of Marine Science Masters of
Marine Science and Management programme through the development of a new module to
investigate IMOS data. An entire module of the course was focussed on research questions around
the NSW mooring array. A data visualisation tool was developed to assist the students in the
interpretation of the data.
6c Southern Australian Moorings - - Collaborations are underway with the Marine Operations
Division of DSTO (Adelaide) on use of gliders and enhancement of SAIMOS moorings.
a) A/Prof Charles Lemckert (Griffith University) on the role of double diffusion in mixing at the
mouth of Spencer Gulf
b) Dr Luciana Moller (Flinders) on the genetic variability of bottle nosed dolphins and the physical
environment.
6d Western Australian sub-facility –
CSIRO Wealth from Ocean flagship has provided a top up scholarship for Olga Bondarenko (UWA) to
work on the IMOS mooring and surface Radar datasets.
UWA has supported Florence Kaempf to work on the internal wave dynamics from the mooring data.
Thisara Welhena, a PhD student of UWA and CSIRO, is going to use mooring data to work on the
dense water cascade off WA coast.
6e Acoustic Observatories - University of New South Wales - data is being analysed by Honours,
Masters and PhD students and a Post Doc for whale presence. A Future Fellowship has been
awarded to Joy Tripovich, UNSW to analyse IMOS passive acoustic data. This begins in Sep-2012.
Curtin has used IMOS passive acoustic data in two journal publications in 2011, has several papers in
progress using IMOS data and has one Honours student starting work on locating sperm whales in
the IMOS data sets. Funding has been received to analyse the Portland IMOS data sets for whale
presence and we are close to securing industry funding to analyse Australia wide patterns in blue
whale movements. This work is underway.
6f National Reference Stations – With the National Algal collection and the CSIRO calibration facility
the NRS sub-facility leader undertook – on behalf of the bio-optics working group – a series of
experiments on multiple FLNTU. These results were presented at AMSA-NZMSS – 2012 (Lynch et al
2012). The laboratory work provided a model for how the FLNTU data stream could be improved.
With Dr Kerrie Swadling from UTAS a student, Ms Anne Ford, is investigating results from the
profiling CTD and FLNTU and comparing them to the insitu sensor array at Maria Island NRS. This
project may be expanded in 2013 to include other sites.
Darwin NRS continues to benefit from a collaboration with the Darwin Port Corp and the NT
Government. Negotiations for another real time buoy in Beagle Gulf are being completed with a
significant co-investment from them in 2012-13.
Ningaloo NRS mooring is integrated into the AIMS and UWA ARC research project.
Other performance indicators
Please refer to Appendix C – Performance Indicators
Financial and co-investment information
Please refer to Appendix F – Financial Statements
67
Appendix A.7 – Australian Coastal Ocean Radar Network
Facility Leader:
Contact details:
Lucy Wyatt, James Cook University (JCU)
Phone: 07 4781 4981
Email: lucy.wyatt@jcu.edu.au
1. Overview of status of Facility
Highlights:
• Coffs Harbour radars installed in March 2012.
• New Director appointed November 2011.
• Radar data now included in Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) OceanCurrent
website.
Difficulties:
• Coffs Harbour. In mid 2011, JCU was advised by the Land and Property Management
Authority (LPMA) that they were not a ‘public authority’ in terms of the Act to receive and
hold the ‘Licence to Occupy Crown Land’ in New South Wales (NSW). At this point, the
installation could not go ahead. JCU entered into an agreement with the University of New
South Wales (UNSW) on advice that they were a ‘public authority’ in these terms and this
agreement was eventually signed by both parties in January 2012. LPMA then sought a
determination from their legal services team with respect to whether the UNSW is a public
authority and therefore entitled to rely on the Infrastructure State Environmental Planning
Policy (SEPP) to undertake the development. The favourable ruling finally came through on
14th February 2012.
• The main problem we have is technician-power. The previous ACORN Director carried out a
bench-marking exercise which, amongst other things, indicates that technical staffing levels
within the ACORN are roughly the same as those for the Monterey Bay HF radar system and
other similar setups in the United States of America (USA). However, the geographical
locations of the ACORN systems (thousands rather than tens of miles apart) and the use of
two different technologies, points to a higher staff resource requirement than we currently
have. Our two field technicians spend much more time away from the office and their
homes than would be typical in the USA and this has led to some tensions.
• The insecurity associated with the current end date of IMOS is also an issue that is likely to
lead to loss of our second technican in the next year to take up a PhD scholarship elsewhere.
He will be very difficult to replace given the short tenure but we are hoping to bridge the gap
by using him in a freelance manner subject to this not unduly interfering with his PhD work.
He has already agreed this with his likely supervisors. If we get longer term funding we will
need to replace him.
• Most of the radar systems operate in extreme environments and are proving to be not as
robust as we would like. Large distances have to be travelled more frequently than was
expected to repair and maintain. This is a subject of ongoing discussions with the
manufacturers.
2. Activities undertaken to establish and operate the infrastructure
Our aim is to maintain the data stream in quality and quantity and improve quality and
accessibility for users. We now have in place automatic monitoring systems which allow us to
quickly identify and solve problems both at our radar sites and with our local computer systems.
During this year the Coffs Harbour radar was finally installed. This had been delayed due to the
requirements of NSW Crown Lands whose property we are occupying. These hurdles were finally
68
overcome in Feb 2012 with the radars being installed in March and delivering data to the archive
within the first month of operation.
To address the staffing issues highlighted above, we are reconsidering the model of one central
hub that has been adopted to date. There are clear advantages in organising the data
processing, oversight of quality and training of technical staff in a central hub but distributed
technical support would help in timeliness of response to problems. One of our technicians was
going to leave the ACORN due to personal problems the constant travel was causing. Thanks to
the support of Professor Chari Pattriatchi at the University of Western Australia (UWA), IMOS
and James Cook University (JCU), we have been able to relocate him to Perth where he will be
responsible for our Western Australia (WA) systems with occasional travel to South Australia
(SA). I think we need to make better use of local support by training them to do the routine
maintenance. This will allow the ACORN technical staff to reduce their travel time and allow
them to focus on improving the reliability and quality of the data. A successful trial has been
carried out using technical staff from the Lincoln Marine Science Centre at Port Lincoln to service
the Cape Wiles installation and we are working with an excellent technician from the National
Marine Science Centre at Coffs Harbour who is also helping with support for the Queensland
radar. I am also discussing the possibility of additional support in South Australia with the radar
research group at the University of Adelaide.
3. Progress against agreed Milestones
Please refer to Appendix E – Milestone Reports
ACORN has 1 EIF milestone “Maintain and operate 6 radar sites. Provide near real-time, raw and
delayed mode data to eMII to enable eMII to deliver radar data and products to the Nodes.” We
are achieving this with occasional disruptions to the data flow due to equipment failures of
various sorts. Our approach in these circumstances is to identify the problem as far as possible
via our remote monitoring capability, where appropriate, asking for support from our local
caretakers who can sometimes sort the problem out for us. If the problems cannot be resolved
in this way, one of our technical staff goes to the site as soon as possible in order to minimise
down time. Since the technical staff are already busy with regular maintenance at our sites and
also have personal responsibilities, this is sometimes difficult to arrange at short notice. With
limited staffing resources there is nothing that we can do about this situation immediately but
we are discussing system reliability with the manufacturers and, where appropriate, providing
additional training for our caretakers.
4. Deviations from 2011-12 Annual Business Plan
Additional activities undertaken:
• Significantly improved monitoring procedures covering all radar and computer systems
• New computer systems commissioned to improve the efficiency of reprocessing of the onsite archived data collected during maintenance visits to provide quality control (QC) data to
Australian Research Collaboration Services (ARCS)/Queensland Cyber Infrastructure
Foundation (QCIF).
• Improved web presence on IMOS site and at JCU.
• Trials of wave and wind direction software have begun with wind direction product being
tested at the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM).
• Workshop held 14-15th June 2012 to: provide an opportunity to discuss the data streams
available and the requirements/expectations of users; provide a forum for data users to
present their radar related research; publicise the existence of the ACORN and of the data
69
•
•
we provide with a view to extending the user base. Result was a number of demonstrations
of the value of radar data and lots of useful feedback on data formats to be followed up with
the eMarine Information Infrastructure (eMII).
Due to poor data quality and the concerns of a local resident, the transmit antennae at
Cervantes was moved in late 2011. Unfortunately, this did not resolve either problem and a
more substantial move is planned for 2012.
Ongoing efforts to understand some of the data quality issues that we have either noted or
have had reported to us, including issues with the poor quality of the WA SeaSonde current
data.
5. Progress against 2011-12 Implementation Plan
Activity/Deployment/
Location
Direction and
Leadership
Administration &
Financial Oversight
Responsible
Organisation(s)
JCU
Responsible
Person(s)
Lucy Wyatt
Start
Finish
Progress during 2011-12
1/7/11
30/6/12
JCU
Robyn Nickalls
1/7/11
30/6/12
Data Management and
QC
JCU
Arnstein Prytz
1/7/11
30/6/12
Radar Station
Maintenance &
Operation (6 stations)
JCU
Dan Atwater;
Sven Rehder
1/7/11
30/6/12
Lucy Wyatt took over from
Mal Heron during this year
Support from the JCU
finance team has improved
in recent months and
significant
effort
was
needed to finalise the
accounts to July 2012.
On the administration side
we have concentrated on
getting all our contracts and
licenses in order and the
information about these
centralised. These include
caretaker agreements, site
licenses
and
rental
agreements, radio licenses
etc. This work is not yet
completed.
All realtime data are now
being delivered to the data
portal as soon as they are
received at JCU. There are
sometimes delays due to
communications failures at
our sites. QC data is made
available as soon as possible
after the data disks arrive
back from the radar sites.
The Coffs Harbour radar
system was installed. All
sites have been visited as
part of regular maintenance
schedules
and
several
trouble shooting visits have
also been required. We now
have
a
much
more
comprehensive electronic
web
based
monitoring
process to support this
work.
70
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Providing research infrastructure
Details of new infrastructure - some replacement of parts as part of regular maintenance of the
radars.
Outline the continuity of one key time series of data to be assessed against an appropriate
benchmark for this facility.
The benchmark for ACORN is the fraction of time each system is running compared with the time
since installation (or the beginning of the period). This encompasses equipment reliability and
maintenance as well as environmental factors like power supply, storm damage, environmental
influence (e.g. animals), and vandalism. It also includes scheduled downtime for maintenance. The
ACORN goal is 90%.
We are in a transition from ad-hoc data availability reporting (figures below taken from last year’s
annual report) to reporting by calendar year (as shown for 2011). The July 2010 figures include part
of the data in the 2011 column. These figures measure the fraction of time each system is running
and delivering radial current data to the ARCS/QCIF archive. The below 90% returns cases are
attributable to inadequate systems monitoring so full disk drives, lack of fuel (in the case of Cape
Wiles (CWI)) and equipment failures were not noticed in a timely fashion. Our monitoring
procedures have been completely overhauled during 2011-12.
Site
% data 2011
TAN
LEI
CSP
CWI
FRE
GUI
SBRD
CRVT
NOCR
BFCV
98.1
85.7
89.8
87.6
99.0
93.8
89.3
93.9
95.9
96.5
Jul 2010 1 year
in most cases
99.7
78.5
92.6
94.1
93.3
91.8
91.5
96.3
91.8
96.2
mean
median
93
93.9
92.6
93
Quality of research infrastructure
Benchmark against other similar overseas infrastructure
The bench-marking exercise indicated that technical staffing levels within the ACORN are
comparable to those for the Monterey Bay HF radar system and other similar operations in the USA.
However, the geographical locations of the ACORN systems (thousands rather than tens of miles
apart) and the use of two different technologies, SeaSonde and WERA, points to a higher staff
resource requirement than we currently have. The ACORN data delivery figures in the section above
are similar to those reported by operators in the USA during the bench-marking exercise.
71
Fostering Collaborative development of infrastructure
Participation in international programs collecting similar data streams
• Professor Wyatt participated as Co-Chair in the Inaugural Meeting of the GEO Global High
Frequency (HF) Radar task held in London in March 2012 organised by the National
Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and is Co-Chair for ongoing efforts.
• Professor Wyatt provides advice to WERA users and potential users in many parts of the world.
• Professors Wyatt and Heron both participated in the first Ocean Radar Conference Asia held in
Korea in May 2012. This was an opportunity for us to obtain information about a number of HF
radar networks in Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China and the planned systems elsewhere in SE Asia and
to share our own experiences.
Other collaborations
• Sven Rehder is moving to Perth and will be located in Professor Chari Pattriatchi’s laboratory at
UWA. This is an opportunity for Sven to acquire new skills to potentially provide technical
support for the IMOS glider work and for Chari’s team to learn new skills to provide technical
support for the radars. Having multi-skilled units located closer to IMOS instruments will
improve efficiency, response rates and thus data availability and will also, hopefully, reduce
costs in the longer term.
• Beginning a new collaboration with the South Australia Research and Development Institute
(SARDI) and BOM on wind direction measurement.
• Collaborating with Professor Ian Suthers, NSW, and others on potential new NSW radar systems.
• Ongoing collaboration with Dr Diane Di Massa at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, USA , on a
research project on the Great Barrier Reef using IMOS data.
Other performance indicators
Please refer to Appendix C – Performance Indicators
Financial and co-investment information
Please refer to Appendix F – Financial Statements
The cash and in-kind co-investments referred to in the IMOS-JCU contract of 15 Nov 2011 had not
been agreed with the co-investors. We have been endeavouring to finalise these arrangements
during 2012. Discussions with SARDI are almost completed but Flinders University is progressing very
slowly.
Due to poor data quality and the concerns of a local resident we are planning to move the radar
currently located at Cervantes. It is likely that the best location, both in terms of radio operations
and likelihood of permissions, is too far from the partner radar station at SeaBird so that too will
need to be relocated. The costs for these moves are being collated at the moment and we may need
additional funding to cover them.
We have indicated an interest in and work to provide wind and wave data. This can be accomplished
with historical data. We have costed the bandwidth requirement for real time delivery of these data.
The costs will increase from ~$1Kpa to ~$10Kpa per dual radar site and will need to be accounted for
in future budgeting if this is deemed a priority.
72
OTHER INFORMATION
Risk Assessment
• Equipment wear and tear and replacement will become more of an issue as time goes by. Until
recently we had a good stock of spares but renewal of some components will need to be built
into forward planning beyond June 2013. Planning to deal with the current spares position is in
progress.
• There are a number of risks associated with the operation of radar sites in public and/or remote
locations that have been identified in previous risk reports (vandalism, environmental damage,
power and phone outages, equipment faults and failures) and are ongoing. Formalising current
arrangements and building networks of more technically competent local support will help to
alleviate some of these. The improved monitoring already implemented and being further
developed is essential.
• There are also occasional problems with computers, power and network outages at JCU which
can delay data delivery and sometimes prevent access to the monitoring of sites. We are
working with JCU to develop more robust and sustainable computer systems.
73
Appendix A.8 – Australian Animal Tagging and Monitoring System
Facility Leader:
Contact details:
Rob Harcourt, Sydney Institute of Marine Science (SIMS)
Phone: 02 9850 7970
Email: rharcour@mq.edu.au
1. Overview of status of Facility
Highlights:
1) Deployment of conductivity, temperature and depth (CTD) tags on seven Australian sea lions
to collect cross-shelf transects with 4000+ vertical CTD profiles with high resolution and
broad temporal and spatial coverage.
2) Deployment of conductivity, temperature and depth (CTD) tags on 54 southern elephant
seals with 12000+ vertical CTD profiles with high resolution. Profiles collected with broad
temporal and spatial coverage of the Eastern Antarctica region of the southern ocean to
depths of 2300m.
3) Redeployment of geolocator loggers on petrels and shearwaters as part of MAPSO
4) Deployment of Rowley shoals and Scott reef arrays. Deployment of the first TASIMOS line
Maria island line. Deployment of the Narooma line.
5) Servicing of acoustic arrays as per the scheduling plan and data delivery to eMII. (Recovery
and re-deployment of Heron, One Tree, and Orpheus islands, Ningaloo acoustic arrays,
Bondi and Coffs Harbour lines.)
6) Launch of the AATAMS data base and workshop run for new users
Difficulties:
1) No deployment of GLS tags on penguins due to concerns about refinding instrumented birds
and reduced deployment on petrels due to logistic difficulties at some colonies
2) Second Tasmanian lines (OTN) still in progress due to problems with resourcing by the coinvestment partner
3) Delay in the Bondi line service due to vessel availability and severe east coast weather.
4) Loss of 30 vr2w units by freight company en route to Rowley Shoals deployment: insurance
claim currently underway.
5) Delays in uploading CTD data from biologgers into eMII
Breakthroughs
1) Acoustic tag data became accessible to research community through eMII portal and
database achieved functionality
2. Activities undertaken to establish and operate the infrastructure
At part 5 below the progress against the agreed Implementation Plan is detailed. That
information adequately records the activities undertaken by AATAMS in 2011-12.
3. Progress against agreed Milestones
Please refer to Appendix E – Milestone Reports
Re Infrastructure, delays in deployment of the second TASIMOS line (Flinders Island) have
occurred due to a resourcing problem with the Co-investment Partners, ie they underestimated
the time they would need to build and deploy the moorings. Assistance is being provided.
74
Re Datastreams. CTD data from biologgers has not been imported into eMII this year. The
Biologger Stream Leader, Prof Mark Hindell is working with eMII to ensure that the data grab
occurs. The data is however publically available and has been input directly to the GTS.
4. Deviations from 2011-12 Annual Business Plan
Agreed activities not completed
Deployment of the Flinders island line in Tasmania delayed due to logistics and staff at IMAS.
Remedial action proposed, including timeframes
Discussions regarding under-resourcing by co-investment partner are in progress to ensure
deployment occurs by October 2012
5. Progress against 2011-12 Implementation Plan
Activity/Deployment/
Location
Servicing
and
downloading NRETA
receivers,
Ningaloo
WA
Servicing
and
downloading Glenelg
line, South Australia
Servicing
and
downloading
OTN
Perth line, Western
Australia
Servicing
and
downloading
East
Coast lines, Sydney &
Coffs Harbour NSW
Deployment New East
Coast line Batemans
Bay, NSW
Servicing
and
downloading
North
Queensland lines
Responsible
Organisation(s)
AATAMS(SIMS)/ AIMS
Responsible
Person(s)
Peter
Doherty/
Russ
Babcock/
Andrew Boomer
Start
Finish
Progress during 2011-12
April /
Oct
2011
June
2012
Service planned for August
th
15
AATAMS(SIMS)/ /SARDI
Andrew Boomer
/Charlie
Huveneers
Andrew Boomer
/Rory McAuley
March/
Nov
2011
Dec
2010
/Oct
2011
March
/Sep
June
2012
completed
June
2012
Currently underway
June
2012
completed
June
2011
Feb
2012
completed
April
2011
bimont
hly
June
2012
completed
Deployment
TasIMOS Line
AATAMS(SIMS)/
TAFI/CSIRO
Nov
2011
Oct
2012
Partially completed Maria
island deployed
March
2011
March
2012
completed
July
2011
June
2012
completed
OTN
AATAMS(SIMS)/
Fisheries
/WA
AATAMS(SIMS)/ /SIMS
Andrew Boomer /
Phil McDowall
AATAMS(SIMS)/
/UNSW/DECCW
Andrew Boomer/
Phil McDowall/
Matt Taylor
Michelle Heupel/
Colin
Simpfendorfer/
Andrew Boomer /
Phil McDowall/
Peter Doherty
Jasyon
Semmens/Andre
w Boomer
Rob Harcourt /
AATAMS Scientific
Committee
Rob
Harcourt/Mark
Hindell/MA
Lea/Iain
Field/Colin
Southwell/Barbra
Wienecke/Louise
Emmerson
AATAMS(SIMS)/
/AIMS/JCU
Receiver pool Mobile
AATAMS(SIMS)
Biologging
deployments
Southern
Ocean
MAPSO deployments
AATAMS(SIMS)/AAD/U
TAS/Macquarie
75
Activity/Deployment/
Location
Biologging
deployments South
Australia
Responsible
Organisation(s)
AATAMS(SIMS)/SARDI
Responsible
Person(s)
Simon
Goldsworthy/Rob
Harcourt
Start
Finish
Progress during 2011-12
Oct
2011
March
2012
completed
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Providing research infrastructure
Details of new infrastructure
• Narooma line deployed in NSW Batemans Bay Marine Park.
• Biologgers for 2012-13 purchased (CTD and geolocator)
Outline the continuity of one key time series of data to be assessed against an appropriate
benchmark for this facility.
AATAMS dataset will be assessed against an equivalent (in mechanics not in scale) dataset - that held
by The Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking project (POST) with caveat that POST is an order of magnitude
larger and has been in existence for many more years. POST data has now been imported into the
Ocean Tracking Network (OTN) data base and that will be the benchmark. OTN is using our
database to refine their system
Oceanographic Data from the CTD tags is directly uploaded to the GTS- eMII grabs still need to be
automated
Quality of research infrastructure
Benchmark against other similar overseas infrastructure
The Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking project (POST) was created to monitor the movement of marine
animals through an array of acoustic receivers set along the west coast of North America similar to
the arrays proposed in Australia through AATAMS. As noted above, POST data has now been
imported into the Ocean Tracking Network (OTN) data base. AATAMS is collaborating with OTN to
ensure the creation of an international database compatible with the eMII portal. AATAMS has been
leading the charge for OTN, a CA$168-million conservation project that is conducting the world’s
most comprehensive examination of marine life and ocean conditions. With AATAMS/IMOS we have
integrated tracking of marine animals with oceanographic partners in a way that OTN acknowledges
sets the standard for elsewhere, we now have an operating data portal that has worked through
many issues. The rest of OTN are now contemplating using as a model that we presented at the OTN
Global Coordination Meeting in Dalhousie, Canada, Nov 2011.
Fostering Collaborative development of infrastructure
Participation in international programs collecting similar data streams
AATAMS is a leading part of OTN which is co-investing $1.25 million by providing acoustic receivers
and releases to AATAMS. AATAMS is collaborating with NIWA (New Zealand) to establish data
exchange mechanisms for the Oceania region as well as coordinating national partners working in
locations such as Palau.
AATAMS biologging stream is a partner in Marine Mammals Exploring Pole to Pole (MEOP) and also
a formation partner in Global Tracking of Pelagic Predators (GTOPP). We are working closely with the
French, UK, Norwegian, German and American partners for data stream continuity and exchange.
76
Other performance indicators
Please refer to Appendix C – Performance Indicators
Financial and co-investment information
Please refer to Appendix F – Financial Statements
OTHER INFORMATION
Risk Assessment
AAD approval for continuance of MAPSO was not received (notification Aug 3 2012). Emperor
penguin deployments will continue from the Australian Antarctic Territories. Re seal deployments,
contingency plans will proceed- CTD deployments will continue on southern elephants seals through
international partnerships with NIWA (New Zealand) and the French Antarctic program and seabird
deployments (loggers) will continue for Antarctic inhabiting birds that breed in Australian territories
(shear waters) from Tasmania, Victoria and NSW.
77
Appendix A.9 – Facility for Automated Intelligent Monitoring of Marine Systems
Facility Leader:
Contact details:
Scott Bainbridge, Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS)
Phone: 07 4753 4377
Email: s.bainbridge@aims.gov.au
1. Overview of status of Facility
This year was one of consolidation with the last of the cyclone ‘Yasi’ remediation work
completed and the focus moving to operating the infrastructure with all sites serviced during the
year. An additional above water camera was added at Lizard Island along with surface salinity
and turbidity sensors at Orpheus Island in anticipation of wet season run-off.
At each island research station dedicated data kiosks were developed and deployed, this gives
immediate access to the real time data for the previous month giving on site researchers
important information about the current conditions and allowing them to use the data in their
day to day activities. The kiosks also include alerts for events such as coral bleaching and
upwelling. The kiosks include links back to the eMII Portal for full data access including historical
data.
The sensors at Orpheus Island recorded conditions that lead to a bleaching event in early 2012,
this was predicted by the in-situ sensor data and this data is now being analysed to understand
the role of the observed high temperatures, light and low salinity (fresh water run-off) on the
observed bleaching. As a result of the systems being in place we now have a very comprehensive
data set to match to the bleaching observations.
A highlight has been the start of the ARC Linkage Grant between the Facility (via AIMS), the
University of Queensland, NOAA and GBRMPA. The work will includes integrating the real time
data from the Facility into the project research systems and the addition of a number of new
sensors, including novel coral light system sensors, into the FAIMMS network. The data from
these will be made available via eMII with the Facility providing expertise in integrating the new
sensors into the system and delivering real time data to the project. The first new sensors and
resulting data streams are due in late 2012.
The focus moving forward is to undertake refurbishment of the physical infrastructure (moorings
and structures) at each site which has now been in the water for four years. This gives an
opportunity to upgrade each site to the latest generation of equipment with the goal that at the
end of 2012/13 each site will be in prime condition at the end of the current funding.
2. Activities undertaken to establish and operate the infrastructure
The following field work was undertaken to service the network and to complete the cyclone
remediation work:
• September 2011: Heron and One Tree Islands – regular service
• November 2011: Orpheus Island – Complete cyclone damage work
• December 2011: Davies / Rib / Myrmidon Reefs – cyclone work and regular servicing
• January 2012: Orpheus Island – sensor install for wet season
• February 2012: Lizard Island – service and installation of above water camera and data kiosk
• March 2012: Heron and One Tree Island – service and installation of data kiosk
• May 2012: Davies / Rib / Myrmidon Reefs – refurbishment of moorings, instrument service
• May 2012: Lizard Island – repairs to wireless network
78
Development work to support the deployments included:
• Development of high bandwidth video-capable 802.11 TDMA network equipment
• Testing of on-water 802.11n wireless to support mobile on-reef platforms
• Development of smaller user-deployable equipment to supplement the larger fixed
infrastructure
• Development of a real time Vemco receiver including buoy design and data back-ends
• Development of simpler more-robust moorings to allow for easier maintenance of
equipment.
Unlike 2010-11 when Cyclone Yasi impacted much of the equipment this year has seen more of a
simple progression in developing the latest generation of equipment, routine servicing of the
infrastructure and engagement with the science community.
3. Progress against agreed Milestones
Please refer to Appendix E – Milestone Reports
4. Deviations from 2011-12 Annual Business Plan
Additional activities undertaken:
The Facility is a partner in an ARC Linkage Grant with the University of Queensland, NOAA and
GBRMPA to look at climate change research at Heron Island. The Facility has worked with the
project partners to integrate the real time data into their research systems. This will continue
with the project using the FAIMMS networks to deploy additional sensors (the data from which
will go to eMII) including novel coral light-system sensors to measure responses in coral
physiology to changes in environmental conditions.
The Facility provided expertise (technology transfer) and a small amount of equipment to the
Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) to set up an
observatory at Raine Island, in the far north, to monitor conditions related to turtle breeding.
The station will provide real time data from the far north as well as give important information
about the current lack of breeding success of the green turtles on the island. All data will flow
into eMII delivering important new data streams for a modest time commitment.
The facility has developed real-time capability for the Vemco receivers in conjunction with
Vemco. This allows key receivers to be made real time with detections being logged in real time.
The Facility is working with Vemco to develop software to integrate the logged and real time
data, currently the Facility is using its data infrastructure to deal with the real time data.
Agreed activities not completed:
The Heron Island refurbishment has been delayed to August 2012 to align the design and data
streams to the other work being done at the site and so to increase the usefulness and uptake of
the data. Feedback has been obtained from the Heron users on what data streams they want
and this will be used to optimise the design of the refurbished infrastructure. The design focuses
on delivering infrastructure for the researchers to use directly and so maintains the existing data
streams but looks to make it easier for other projects to add their own sensors and to utilise the
network. The main focus is to support the ARC Linkage Grant project and the CSIRO Ocean
Acidification work being under taken at Heron Island. This support will result in a number of new
non-IMOS data streams coming into eMII along with new opportunities for real time science in
this region.
79
Remedial action proposed, including timeframes:
Field trips to complete the refurbishment have been booked from the 16th to the 26th of August
and from the 1st to the 10th of September.
5. Progress against 2011-12 Implementation Plan
Activity/Deployment/
Location
Repair and restoration
of cyclone damaged
sites / data streams
Servicing and upgrade
to Lizard Island Sensor
Network
Responsible
Organisation(s)
AIMS
Responsible
Person(s)
Scott Bainbridge
Start
Finish
Progress during 2011-12
Mar-11
Dec-11
AIMS / Aust Museum
Scott Bainbridge
Aug-11
Aug-11
Servicing
and
upgrading of Heron
Island Sensor Network
Servicing and summer
preparation for Davies
and Rib Reef Sensor
Networks
Servicing and summer
preparation
for
Orpheus Island Sensor
Network
Service of Heron
Island and One Tree
Island
Sensor
Networks
AIMS / UQ
Scott Bainbridge
Sep-11
Jan-12
All work completed prior
to the end of 2011 in time
for the summer season.
Completed in February
2012, slightly delayed due
to the need to prioritise
the cyclone remediation
work.
Completed
AIMS
Scott Bainbridge
Nov-11
Nov-11
Completed.
AIMS / JCU
Scott Bainbridge
Dec-11
Dec-11
Completed
AIMS / UQ / Uni Syd
Scott Bainbridge
Mar-12
May-12
One
Tree
Island
completed, Heron Island
delayed until August 2012.
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Providing research infrastructure
Details of new infrastructure
During the year 2011-12 new equipment purchases for the FAIMMS Facility were:
• A number of touch screen computers to deliver real time data kiosks to the research stations;
• Wireless network equipment to provide on-water 802.11n networks at Lizard and Heron Islands,
purchase of 802.11 TDMA equipment for high-speed video transmission;
• Purchase of a number of replacement sensors including CTD, Turbidity sensors, light sensors,
etc;
• Purchase of equipment (buoys, steel work, comms equipment and sensors) under insurance to
replace that damaged by the cyclone;
• Purchase of video equipment to provide above and under-water video / image data;
• Purchase of equipment to support the real time Vemco receivers.
80
Outline the continuity of one key time series of data to be assessed against an appropriate
benchmark for this facility.
Data recovery rates were similar to previous years, the reference points of Heron Island and One
Tree Island had recovery rates of 97% and 96% respectively with the target being 95%. These are
slightly below previous years and reflects the diversion of effort away from servicing into completing
the cyclone remediation work over the last 12 months. The damage caused by Yasi in February 2011
also meant that, for the impacted sites, data recovery rates were much lower with some sites not
being fully restored until December 2011; effectively a break of ten months. Note that the data
capture rate is the rate of data returned, as the systems are far off-shore with intermittent
communications some real time capture rates are much lower, but the design ensures that when
communications are restored the data flows back.
The results show that the data architecture is very robust and continues to perform as expected.
Quality of research infrastructure
Benchmark against other similar overseas infrastructure
The international coral reef sensor networks still revolve around those identified previously - the
National Oceans and Atmospheres Administration (NOAA) sites in the Caribbean via its Integrated
Coral Observing Network (ICON) stations, the International Long-term Ecological Research (ILTER)
project at Moorea, the Taiwanese network at Kenting Marine Park and FAIMMS. Of these only
Moorea and FAIMMS are using localised wireless sensor networks, the Kenting work is all cabled and
the ICON stations are each single moorings and so there is no local network as such. There has been
no real work on the Moorea site apart from making the existing systems more robust; the same is
true for the ICON network.
The FAIMMS network remains the most sophisticated, largest and most complex coral reef sensor
network in the world and so the project has continued to lead this area. Recent work to expand the
NOAA ICON stations will use the FAIMMS designs as a template reflecting our leadership and
expertise in this area. There have been a number of external agencies interested in utilising our
systems including sites in Thailand (in place), Hawaii and in the Caribbean.
The move to on-water Wi-Fi will further increase the utility of the network and facilitate uptake and
use of the infrastructure as evidenced by the ARC Linkage Grant and other work being conducted at
Heron Island. The designs have been successfully transferred to other users such as the Raine Island
work.
There is a lot of work being done about low-cost sensors and controllers, the project is a partner in a
number of these (via NOAA and Cal-IT) and is developing its own capacity but this is an area where
we are falling behind and so we will need to ensure that we focus efforts via our partners to ensure
we are able to take advantage of any developments.
Fostering Collaborative development of infrastructure
Participation in international programs collecting similar data streams
The Facility is a member of an 8 million dollar ARC Linkage Grant Project, with the University of
Queensland, NOAA and GBRMPA, that will see data from the sensor networks being utilised to
ground truth satellite data and to parameterise climate change work. The project will also deploy
new sensors into the FAIMMS network infrastructure, these will stream their data back to eMII
effectively extending the IMOS funded data streams. Some of these will be novel data from in-situ
81
coral physiology monitoring sensors and so will provide new data streams for the general research
community.
The work with DERM at Raine Island is also an example of the use and development of the FAIMMS
infrastructure. The project has installed a real time observational system for the local green turtle
hatchery which has been in decline for a number of years. It is hoped that the observational data,
that includes cameras and video, will give an understanding to the cause of this decline in what is
the world’s largest remaining green turtle nesting area. The Facility has provided not only the
expertise and some equipment but access to the data infrastructure ensuring that the collected data
will flow back to eMII as IMOS compliant data streams when it goes to real-time mode in August
2012.
Work is also underway to integrate a range of work being done at Heron Island including pCO 2
monitoring by CSIRO, thermal water column transfer work being done by NOAA and satellite remote
sensing validation work. The Facility will also facilitate the deployment of real time ocean
acidification work, as part of the AIMS research program, to allow for monitoring of small parts of
the reef flat in real time. This work will help understand the part that various parts of the reef
system play in overall carbon chemistry of the reef.
The Facility has developed real-time Vemco acoustic receivers that allow for detections to be logged
and displayed in real time. These will be installed using the FAIMMS network at Heron and One Tree
Islands to provide real time information from key locations.
Finally the FAIMMS Facility is part of an international collaborative group, the Coral Reef
Environmental Observatory Network (CREON) and is working on a project to deliver equivalent data
streams from a number of sites across the tropics including the Great Barrier Reef. Work in this
group has included a meeting in Santa Barbra, USA, upgrades to the site at Racha Island, provision of
background expertise and support for an increase in funding for the Thailand work and work with a
number of agencies in developing cheaper systems for developing countries.
Other collaborations
The Facility, via AIMS, is involved in work with marine agencies in Taiwan to develop a series of joint
projects including coastal monitoring using sensor systems.
FAIMMS has also been involved in a EU-US-Australia marine data group, facilitated by eMII, to look
at marine data standards. The group met at the EGU conference in Vienna this year.
Other performance indicators
Please refer to Appendix C – Performance Indicators
Financial and co-investment information
Please refer to Appendix F – Financial Statements
82
Appendix A.10 – electronic Marine Information Infrastructure (eMII, AODN)
Facility Leader:
Contact details:
Roger Proctor, University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Phone: 03 6226 1977
Email: roger.proctor@utas.edu.au
1. Overview of status of Facility
July 2011 saw the start of the newly organised eMII to service both IMOS and AODN
requirements. The structure is now an Executive (Director, Executive Officer, Data Services team
leader, Information Infrastructure team leader), a Data Services team (led by Sebastien Mancini)
and an Information Infrastructure team (led by Peter Blain). eMII at June 2012 had a
complement of 21 (20.6 FTE). This reorganisation has resulted in improved efficiency and better
integration of expertise. eMII also co-funds three people (equating to 1.15FTE) outside Hobart,
at AIMS (QLD), SARDI (SA) and iVEC (WA).
The most significant event of the year has been the upgrading of both the IMOS and the AODN
portals (in April and May respectively). The architecture has been completely rewritten, moving
away from a ZK java framework to a more flexible structure based on Grails and extJS. The need
to do this became apparent at the end of last year as the AODN began to grow, revealing some
limitations in the framework. It is now much easier to add new features and to increase the
membership of the AODN. Both portals have the same underlying infrastructure and the user
now has more powerful search and download capabilities. Portal capability has increased with
the addition of the OceanCurrent section, delivering real-time Australia-wide data (reported on
separately).
Engagement with the National Plan for Environmental Information (NPEI) has resulted in
collaborative work with BoM and software company Geometry in the NPEI Pathfinder pilot
project to deliver a subset of IMOS moorings data to a prototype National Environmental
Information Infrastructure.
The year has seen continued growth in available IMOS data, in June 2012 there were 2408
metadata records describing IMOS data and Facilities, of those 89% are data metadata records
all with data attached. The AODN has also seen a significant increase in the number of metadata
records describing data holdings, now 10941 metadata records, 51% with data or data products
attached.
New tools to support the uptake and use of IMOS data have included the AUV viewer, the
AATAMS data upload and discovery browser, and the continued development of the Moorings
Timeseries Toolbox to include quality control indicators.
The AODN has also gone international. Following the inter-government agreement in December
2011 to improve country‐to‐country collaboration on marine research, observations and data
management between New Zealand and Australia, eMII and the National Institute for Water and
Atmospheric Research (NIWA) in New Zealand have worked towards making NIWA a node of the
AODN, with the first NZ data appearing end of June 2012. Other international activities included
eMII co-chairing the session on Environment and Climate at the 2nd Australian-EU Research
Infrastructure workshop; contributing to the successful EU Framework 7 proposal Ocean Data
Interoperability Platform (ODIP) which brings US, EU and Australian partners together to
improve data interoperability internationally; and continued membership of the US-IOOC Data
Management and Communications Steering Team.
83
eMII was involved in successful proposals to the RDSI to host a node in Tasmania with a focus on
marine and climate data, in the NeCTAR proposal to establish an ‘early initiative’ Marine Virtual
Laboratory (MARVL) and the ANDS proposal to establish an information system to complement
MARVL, known as MARVLIS. These projects will provide a platform for greater integration of
observed and modelled data.
The cessation of ARCS in June 2011 and the uncertainty over the future of the Data Fabric, the
distributed ‘cloud’ storage network across AARNET, has been the biggest issue faced by eMII.
Continuation of the Data Fabric by AERO during 2011-12 had its problems and resulted in some
unreliable access. It is hoped that, with RDSI now taking responsibility for the Data Fabric from
July 2012, some longer term stability can be expected, but we will be monitoring this closely, as
reliability of data access is of paramount importance to IMOS and the AODN.
Integration into the portal of the SRS AODAAC feature was delayed due to staffing problems in
both eMII and SRS, with work on this starting late in the year, now with an expected completion
in spring 2012.
2. Activities undertaken to establish and operate the infrastructure
As mentioned above, both IMOS and AODN portals have been completely rewritten to improve
flexibility, make new developments easier, and offer better scalability. Creating clone portals
(e.g. the WA AODN portal) is now a much simpler task.
A new version of Geonetwork (2.8) was installed in May 2012. The planned release by the
international core group was planned for December 2011 but delayed to May 2012, with the
consequence that the AODN portal development was slowed. The new portal has more powerful
search capabilities; with improved metadata records a user can now search by Date Range,
Bounding Box, Keyword, Parameter, Organisation, as well as free text searching. We’ve also
added a fine-grained spatial search for finding only layers with features in the target area. There
is better integration between search results and the map - map layers found via the search are
treated the same as the same layers added via the layer chooser, and metadata
information/links are now shown for layers on the map page. A shopping cart option is now
available for adding downloads found by searching.
A result of the Data Audit in August 2011 (to summarise NCRIS investment) was the
development of workflow schemas for all of the Facilities. These describe the flow of data from
sensor to portal and make tracking of data status much easier. Work on refining these schemas
is ongoing.
Collaborative work between AIMS and eMII through the co-funded position (Andre de Jager) is
developing a generic timeseries plotting service which will be completed in 2012. Collaborative
work between the IMOS Office and eMII has produced the Publications Database, making report
generation a much easier and efficient process.
Recruiting has again figured strongly this year, with a staff turnover of 50%. The last 12 months
saw the departures of three staff and one long term maternity leave. Our Information
Architecture team was strengthened with five new staff and our Data Services team by four new
staff. For the first time the eMII team can be considered at full strength. We also welcomed Kim
Finney, Data Manager of the Australian Antarctic Division, who joined us in February for 2 days a
week to sharpen our AODN focus on vocabulary usage.
84
Four roadshows/data user workshops were conducted during the year in Tasmania, New South
Wales, Western Australia and South Australia. The format of the roadshows has been revamped
with the focus on tutorial-guided discovery and use of the data, with many tutorial assignments
constructed from feedback on interests requested from attendees prior to the workshop. eMII
also contributed to the new SIMS Topics in Marine Science Masters course run February-May
2012.
3. Progress against agreed Milestones
Please refer to Appendix E – Milestone Reports
All eMII-only milestones to June 2012 were achieved, or in the case of the 3D visualisation tool
deleted (as eMII is no longer the lead agent in this). The implementations of Ramadda and SOS
harvesting have been under-utilised, but we expect renewed use of these tools in 2012-13. The
remaining Bluenet records (82% have been completed) are mostly waiting on agreements from
data providers to make their data public. We have experienced some delays in rolling out the
regional views, primarily due to the delay in the new portal releases (originally planned for
December 2011 but achieved in April/May 2012), but also due in part to unexpected effort
needed to support metadata record construction/improvement for the WA AODN (the launch
did take place on 7 August).
eMII also shares some milestones with the Satellite Remote Sensing (SRS) facility centred on the
integration of the AODAAC capability into the portals. These were delayed due to staff shortages
at critical times in both eMII and SRS. The good news is that significant progress was been made
between April-June and new milestones for integration in the latter part of 2012 are realistic.
4. Deviations from 2011-12 Annual Business Plan
Additional activities undertaken
• Development of MARVL, MARVLIS and RDSI proposals; organising and co-chairing the 2nd
Aus-EU Research Infrastructure workshop
• Start up of MARVL and MARVLIS in 2nd half of the year.
• Development of a specific timeseries database to allow rapid visualisation of data
Agreed activities not completed
Implementation of a generic graphing service has not yet been completed. This is partly due to
the delay in new portal release, but also because we have revised the objective. AIMS are
working with eMII to deliver a generic plotting service from netCDF files, eMII are developing a
timeseries database linked to a versatile timeseries plotting service for rapid interrogation of
data.
Remedial action proposed, including timeframes
It should be noted that information infrastructure technology is a rapidly advancing area,
exploiting the ever changing IT hardware and software. eMII always looks to capitalise on the
best latest developments while ensuring that only ‘tried and tested’ components are integrated
into the infrastructure. This means that objectives and plans put forward at the beginning of the
year may be superseded by the emergence of new technology.
85
5. Progress against 2011-12 Implementation Plan
eMII 2011-12 Implementation Plan
Activity/Deployment/Location
Enhancements
to
the
information infrastructure
Fully integrated RAMADDA
Start
July
2011
July
2011
Finish
June
2012
Dec
2011
Developing integration links
with the modeling community
July
2011
June
2012
Development of dynamical
interactive data exploration
capability
Multi-disciplinary data streams
and data products
Jan 2012
June
2012
July
2011
June
2012
Data user workshops
July
2011
July
2011
July
2011
June
2012
Sept
2011
Dec
2011
Re-organisation of eMII
Development of a 3D desktop
visualization tool, v1
Actual progress in 2011-12
New infrastructure completed and implemented
Ramadda was implemented but then took a low priority due to
developments of other parts of the infrastructure. This will be
re-invigorated in July-Dec 2012
Development of the MARVL and MARVLIS proposals and their
implementation from March 2012.
Co-organiser of the ACOMO workshop (which will take place in
October 2012)
Conducted through MARVL and MARVLIS
It is now possible to access physical, biogeochemical, biological,
bio-acoustic and imagery data streams through the portal.
Progress has been made in creating data products such as
aggregations of Argo floats, ship of opportunity XBTs, and HF
radar (monthly files).
Four data workshops were conducted
Completed
No longer eMII project, now the responsibility of CMAR with a
small contribution from eMII, which has not yet been required.
AODN 2011-13 Implementation Plan
Activity
Generic Information Infrastructure
• Integration of advanced
searching into the portal
The ability to discover data
in a space-time window
and by parameter.
Integration of content
management system.
• A data aggregation service
The ability to composite
specific datasets (.zip)
• Visualisation of data
through a generic
consistent graphing service
and improved animation
Additional
Parties
Duration
(months)
Start
Finish
Actual progress in 2011-12
6
July
2011
Dec 2011
Achieved, but delayed to portal
release in May 2012.
9
Oct
2011
June
2012
The new portal has a download cart
to aggregate datasets and download
as a zipped file
Generic graphing service progress,
but not yet deployed.
A new animation service, to improve
upon ncWMS, has been
implemented
86
Activity
•
Duration
(months)
Start
Finish
Actual progress in 2011-12
2
Aug
2011
Sept
2011
Achieved
Enhanced products (SST,
CHLa)
7
Sep
2011
Mar
2012
Delayed to July 2012
Improved sea-level analysis
4
Mar
2012
June
2012
Achieved
12
July
2011
June
2012
Progress made but still ongoing
9
Oct
2011
June
2012
Achieved, looking to improve and
automate where possible
CMAR, BoM
12
July
2011
June
2012
WA
6
ongoing
TAS
QLD
Jan
2012
Feb
2012
Delayed/not available
Achieved
Achieved, but looking for more
Delayed to 7 August 2012
ongoing
ongoing
Ongoing
Ongoing
VIC, NSW,
SA …
Mar
2012
ongoing
Ongoing
OceanCurrent
IMOS website public
Data Services (AODN)
• Continued pursuance of
‘Priority’ datasets (see
Appendix 3)
• Establishing monthly data
reports
•
•
•
Publication of model data
o BLUElink/OceanMaps
o CARS
o Regional models
Establishment of ‘regional’
views of AODN data for
WA-AODN, TAS (through
NeCTAR VL?), QLD
(through TERN/AODN);
other regional views will
be developed, i.e. for VIC,
NSW, SA
Communication Activities
National
• Engage with Modelling
Community
• AODN Roadshows (6)
Additional
Parties
eMII, CMAR
AODCJF,
National
Programs
CMAR,
others
12
12
•
AODN Roadshows (6)
12
•
AODN Newsletters (4)
12
International
• Aus-EU RI
New regional views will be
implemented as data availability
improves and regional communities
are ready to embrace them
July
2011
July
11
June
2012
June
12
July
12
July
11
June
13
June
12
Through MARVL and ACOMO
Four achieved, linked into the IMOS
Data Workshops – the need for
these is now linked to targeted
activity
The need for these will be assessed
as the year progresses.
Achieved (3)
EU, IMOS
87
Activity
o
o
o
o
•
•
Additional
Parties
A common sensorML
metadata repository
Alignment of
vocabulary services
Data Citation
Start
Finish
Actual progress in 2011-12
July
2011
July
2011
May
2012
Apr
2012
10
July
2011
May
2012
6
Oct
2011
Mar
2012
Lack of effort to do this (Aus and EU),
but included as a component of ODIP
Visit of Roy Lowry (BODC) from EU
developer of the Seadatanet
Vocabulary Server progressed this
Investigated but no common
development (except in visualisation
- ncWMS and alternatives) –
postponed to ODIP
Postponed to ODIP
4
Sep
2011
Jan
2012
Oct
2011
Dec
2011
June
2012
Mar
2012
9
Development of
common metadata
tools and visualisation
tools
Interoperability
exercise
Aus-NZ
o Collaboration
workshop
o Program of work
Duration
(months)
10
NZ, IMOS
6
SCOR, ANDS
6
Achieved
Achieved, first data from NZ in AODN
portal
Took part in ANDS pilot project,
more developments in 2012-2013.
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Providing research infrastructure
Details of new infrastructure
Release of the new IMOS and AODN portals
Upgrade of Geonetwork (2.8)
Implementation of Geoserver
Quality of research infrastructure
Benchmark against other similar overseas infrastructure
• The Director of eMII is associated with European observing systems and data management
through his former position at Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory, UK (now National
Oceanography Centre, UK) which hosts the British Oceanographic Data Centre. These
connections can significantly aid the benchmarking process.
• IMOS/eMII is a partner in the FP7 Ocean Data Interoperability Platform project due to start late
2012.
• Closer association with EU marine data management infrastructure has been progressed
through the Australian-EU Research Infrastructure collaborative activity.
• eMII Director is a member of the US-IOOC Data Management and Communications Steering
Team which enables US-Australian benchmarking, and contributed to a US-IOOS Summit white
paper.
• eMII Director is also Advisory Group member to two EU marine information infrastructure
projects (Geoseas and Jerico) and takes part in project evaluation.
88
Fostering Collaborative development of infrastructure
Participation in international programs collecting similar data streams
• IMOS contributes to the international Argo program. eMII has adopted the same data
management strategy. In addition, Argo, SOOP, ANFOG, and tagged sea mammals data are
contributed to the Global Telecommunications System (GTS) used by the WMO.
• The Australian-NZ agreement for closer collaboration in marine research, observations and data
management has resulted in development of infrastructure – NZ’s NIWA is now a node of the
AODN.
• The Australian-EU Research Infrastructure collaborative activity will also lead to collaborative
development of infrastructure, and has led the EU-US-Australian project ODIP (Ocean Data
Interoperability Platform).
Other collaborations
NeCTAR project MARVL and ANDS project MARVLIS involve collaborative activity with CMAR and the
Derwent Estuary science (INFORMD) and public (Derwent Estuary Program) communities.
Other performance indicators
Please refer to Appendix C – Performance Indicators
Financial and co-investment information
Please refer to Appendix F – Financial Statements
89
Appendix A.10c – OceanCurrent
Facility Leader:
Contact details:
David Griffin, CSIRO
Phone: 03 62325244
Email: david.griffin@csiro.au
1. Overview of status of Facility
We are very pleased that OceanCurrent (http://oceancurrent.imos.org.au/ ) is proving to be very
popular with a wide range of users both inside and outside of the research community. A
highlight of the year was the central importance of the OceanCurrent facility in the awarding of
the AMSA Jubilee award to the Facility leader, on the basis of testimonials by academic, industry
sector and Government agency representatives, of the usefulness of the Facility. Behind the
scenes, a technical breakthrough was achieved in Dec 2011 when we became the first group in
the world to include data from the ESA Cryosat mission in our near-real-time processing system,
earning us a mention in the ESA newsletter. The importance of this accomplishment was
underscored shortly after when both Jason-1 and Envisat ceased to provide data, which would
have otherwise left us with an insufficient number of input data streams to make a sufficiently
data-rich analysis. It is also very exciting, and rewarding for the respective data-providing
facilities, to see the ACORN radar and SRS Chlorophyll-a imagery being visualized in near-realtime on the OceanCurrent website.
2. Activities undertaken to establish and operate the infrastructure
The infrastructure of this facility is composed exclusively of computing software. The three main
activities are:
1) ingestion from international providers of satellite altimetry data (from as many missions as
possible) in order to produce a value-added product (maps of sea level anomaly and inferred
surface currents) that is easy for non-specialists to use,
2) simultaneous visualisation of as many streams of IMOS data as possible, to give as complete
a picture as possible of the state of the ocean, and
3) teaching users about the dynamics of the ocean and how IMOS datasets can be used most
effectively to understand what changes are happening, on a daily basis.
3. Progress against agreed Milestones
Please refer to Appendix E – Milestone Reports
The March milestone was achieved a few months late because of the delayed availability of
MODIS chlor-a imagery. The finalisation of some aspects of the new sea level mapping system is
slightly delayed but work on that will be completed soon. In total, we are essentially on
schedule.
4. Deviations from 2011-12 Annual Business Plan
Additional activities undertaken
None, apart from spending more time than anticipated feeding back information to eMII and the
other facilities about inconsistencies on the metadata standards, data file format, content,
accuracy and documentation, and reliability issues with the Data Fabric. eMII have been very
grateful for this feedback and have several improvements to the data base and processing
systems as a result.
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PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Providing research infrastructure
Outline the continuity of one key time series of data to be assessed against an appropriate
benchmark for this facility.
The number of satellites used is the key determinant of the quality of a sea level and surface current
analysis. We are unaware of any groups in the world who are as vigilant about this as we are, as
discussed above. We are also the only group in the world, to our knowledge, who improve the
quality of the maps by including tide gauges. We are also, until recently, the only group in the world
to update our maps daily (rather than just twice a week, for example). The archive of analysed sea
level maps is essentially (97%) complete, since any gaps that arise in real-time, which are mostly due
to factors beyond our control (internet or power outages) are back-filled within a few days when the
supply of incoming data, or power, is restored, as is the case.
Quality of research infrastructure
Benchmark against other similar overseas infrastructure
There are a few similar facilities around the world although all have a slightly different emphasis,
target audience, or domain of coverage. Some have a more modern ‘look’ than OceanCurrent and
offer an interactive interface, and the ability to download data. OceanCurrent provides neither
function because that would be duplicating the eMII Ocean Portal. We have instead focussed on
showing a wide range of pre-prepared graphics and animations, because we know these are very
popular with users. Within that scope, we have been told that our site is as good as any other site in
the world. In recognition of this, we have been asked to provide the cover art for a special issue of
Ocean Geodesy, focussed on synergistic use of altimetry and other data.
For reference, some similar websites include: http://www.aviso.oceanobs.com/ ;
http://www.oscar.noaa.gov/ ; http://oceantoday.noaa.gov/ ; http://www.ioos.gov/ ;
http://www.thecoolroom.org/
Fostering Collaborative development of infrastructure
Participation in international programs collecting similar data streams
We are regular contributing members of the Ocean Surface Topography Science Team and routinely
give presentations at the meetings, in both the scientific and Outreach sessions.
Other collaborations
We have a particularly close relationship with the NOAA altimetry group, who clearly value the
feedback that we provide on problems that occasionally occur with the data they distribute to the
international community.
Other performance indicators
Please refer to Appendix C – Performance Indicators
Financial and co-investment information
Please refer to Appendix F – Financial Statements
91
Appendix A.11 – Satellite Remote Sensing
Facility Leader:
Contact details:
Edward King, CSIRO
Phone: 03 6232 5334; email: edward.king@csiro.au
No.
Sub-Facility
Leader
Phone
Email
11a
Australian Satellite SST
L2P Products
Australian Oceans
Data Access and
Archive Centre
Upgrade of Townsville
Ground Station
Satellite Ocean Colour
Helen Beggs, BoM
03 9669 4394
h.beggs@bom.gov.au
Edward King,
CSIRO
03 6246 5894
edward.king@csiro.au
Craig Steinberg,
AIMS
Vittorio Brando,
CSIRO
Christopher
Watson, UTAS
07 4753 4444
c.steinberg@aims.gov.au
02 6246 5716
vittorio.brando@csiro.au
03 6226 2489
christopher.watson@utas.edu.au
11b
11c
11d
11e
Satellite Altimetry
Calibration and
Validation
1. Overview of status of Facility
Satellite Remote Sensing Facility overview:
New time series data sets of satellite SST and Ocean Colour (Chlorophyll-a) produced by the
facility this year are complemented by in-situ cal/val measurement streams that are achieving
international recognition by organisations such as the Ocean Surface Topography Science Team
(OSTST), the Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST), and space agencies
including ESA and NASA. All these streams, both satellite and in-situ, result from the efforts of
staff across all sub-facilities and multiple institutions. Specific highlights contributing to IMOS
objectives include:
• The value of the satellite altimetry cal/val time series, as evidenced by its acceptance
internationally and the growth in international collaborations, and development of new
techniques for bias-drift calibration of satellite altimetery;
• The successful deployment of the first radiometer to collect underway observations of
downwelling irradiance and above water leaving radiance from a ship in the Southern
Ocean;
• Appearance of the first bio-optical data sets in the IMOS portal, and acceptance of these
data into NASA and ESA global calibration databases.
• Release of high quality multi-satellite composite SST data (L3S) for the Australian region
and hourly L3U data since June 2006.
• The progressive development of improved methods of calibrating and providing QA to
data from the older NOAA/AVHRR sensors as the IMOS time series is pushed back into
the mid 1990s.
Less obvious ongoing successes for IMOS include the ongoing provision of near real time data
from the Townsville reception station and the development of data serving capability in the
AODAAC.
The delivery of the shipboard radiometer data stream, the development of the bias-drift
calibration, and the high quality processing of the historical SST data all represent breakthroughs
where IMOS is providing cutting edge data sets.
92
The most concerning difficulty facing the facility at the end of 2011/12 is the ongoing delay in
regaining access to the Lucinda Jetty (LJCO) cal/val site due to slower than expected progress
with the engineering remediation. This location is an important long-term time series and
represents a significant commitment in support by both IMOS and CSIRO and the reestablishment of the observatory, now anticipated in September 2012, is a key milestone. All
subfacilities have experienced some difficulty during the year, including:
• Intermittent problems with one of the GPS receivers used in the altimetry cal/val
program;
• More difficult ingest and QA/QC processing for the Bio-Optical database ;
• Issues with stability and access to large national data processing and storage facilities;
• The impact of weather on land and ship based data acquisition systems;
• Ensuring that adequate staffing is available to overcome unforeseen issues.
In all cases the sub-facilities have either overcome these issues, or put in place strategies to
overcome them in 2012/13. Of particular note, the quick appointment of a replacement staff
member following the departure of a key member of the Bureau SST team, minimised the
potentially very serious impact in this sub-facility. A lengthy delay in the delivery of the AODAAC
data search and access system, arising out of a dependency on IMOS Portal developments, now
also appears to be coming to a successful resolution to enable delivery of a fully operating
system later in 2012.
In summary, the sub-facilities have shown tenacity and flexibility in working towards delivering
the infrastructure and data streams expected by IMOS. The extensive outreach efforts of
participants on behalf of IMOS are evident in the large number of conference presentations
delivered by the facility staff. Given the progress and experience gained in the past year, there is
every reason to expect that this will continue through 2012/13.
11a Australian Satellite SST L2P Products:
The reprocessed and real-time single swath GHRSST L2P and L3U (back to 1998), multi-swath
L3C (back to 2008) and multi-sensor L3S files (back to 2002) have been released. The subfacility
is now producing multi-sensor L3S files from NOAA-15, NOAA-17, NOAA-18 and NOAA-19
satellites for 1, 3 and 6 day periods comprising day-only and night-only skin SST data over the
Australian region. The new L3S files are being evaluated through comparison with the CSIRO 3day composite AVHRR SST maps and the Bureau’s Legacy 14-day Mosaic AVHRR SST maps.
Reprocessed MTSAT-1R skin SST hourly L3U files over the full disk back to June 2006 have also
been released during 2011/12.
The IMOS-supported Scientific Programmer, George Paltoglou, left the project team in April
2012. Although his replacement, Christopher Griffin, was quickly recruited and had a two week
overlap with George, the changeover of personnel delayed the reprocessing effort by ~3
months. David Griffiin from CMAR has identified several L3U SST images that appear to exhibit
navigation jumps of several km’s. Both CSIRO and the Bureau teams are working to diagnose
and resolve this issue. CSIRO is independently working to make the navigation system which
currently, for technical reasons, can only be run inside CSIRO, portable so that it can be run at
the Bureau. This will make it possible to produce SST timeseries of consistently high quality
navigation, both historically and with contemporary data
The key processing scripts have been rewritten by Christopher Griffin to ensure that there are no
longer any missed orbit files or data gaps in the real-time or reprocessed archive of L2P, L3U, L3C
or L3S files. A novel calibration and processing method has been developed for AVHRR SST data
from NOAA-15 that enables relatively accurate SSTs to be derived from this early generation
93
AVHRR sensor. For example: standard deviation (NOAA-15 SST – drifting buoy SST) = 0.41°C for
quality_level 5 day+night AVHRR data for period 1 Jan 1999 to 1 Jan 2011 compared with similar
standard deviation estimates for NOAA-17, 18 and 19 of ~0.3°C.
11b Australian Oceans Data Access and Archive Centre:
The V1 AODAAC data indexing and access system has been maintained by CSIRO on eMII
hardware throughout the year in readiness for interfacing to the IMOS portal. eMII have now
completed the prototype interface in their development portal; a key milestone on the path to
moving to a production system.
In parallel, CSIRO has continued development of the enhanced V2 system with improved
geolocation support and a more flexible data aggregation design. All components of this system
are in either final development or testing phases and integration testing is under way. The V2
system is designed as a drop-in replacement for the V1 system so is expected to be a relatively
straightforward upgrade to the functionality currently being built into the IMOS portal in the V1
system.
The management and distribution of IMOS-supported long time series of National SST (11a) and
ocean colour (11d) from storage systems located in the ACT at both CSIRO and the NCI
continues, and has undergone upgrades during the year to both storage systems and data
services.
11c Upgrade of Townsville Ground Station:
The Dual L and X band station was upgraded in the first operating year of IMOS and has been
providing operational data since. The data streams now flow to BoM, CSIRO, NOAA, NASA and
ESA CLS. They contribute to both the IMOS SST and Ocean Colour time series. The L-band
station continues to operate after further mechanical refurbishment and acts as a backup for
NOAA AVHRR passes when clashes occur.
11d Satellite Ocean Colour:
All four components of this subfacility have seen substantial activity during the year, with several
new data streams or data sets becoming available:
• Once the formats for the BioOptical Datasets were agreed with NASA and ESA, biooptical data from several data sources have been contributed and are appearing in the
IMOS portal. The number and type of observations has grown throughout the year.
Although most data so far has come from CSIRO, negotiations with other data provider
agencies are continuing.
• A DALEC spectroradiometer was installed on the Southern Surveyor early in the year and
acquired data during 4 research voyages in FY 11/12. This is a new data stream and has
required careful processing and analysis to get the data QA/QC procedures in place.
These data will be uploaded to the IMOS portal in FY 12/13. Based on the successful
experience with the first DALEC instrument, and following discussion with AIMS relating
to support, a second unit was purchased in June 2012 for installation on an AIMS vessel
to extend the spatial coverage in northern waters.
• The post-cyclone Yasi rebuilding of LJCO infrastructure and instrument housing was
carried out during FY11/12 in anticipation of a return to the site in March. The remedial
engineering works undertaken by the jetty owners have, however, taken longer than
expected and have delayed reinstallation of the equipment. This work is now expected
to be underway in September 2012.
• The production of National ocean colour products from MODIS at the NCI has
consolidated through the year, with regular production of Chlorophyll-A using the OC3
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algorithm from August 2011. Data storage and services have been upgraded in
partnership with the NCI and AODAAC. The complete MODIS historical archive, and the
publicly available SeaWiFS archive, for Australia are now compiled at the NCI and will be
processed to ocean colour products as soon as installation of the latest SeaDAS
processing package is completed.
11e Satellite Altimetry Calibration and Validation:
The 2011/12 year represented the second year of operations for this sub facility. The year
progressed as expected with all components of the EIF 2011/12 Annual Business Plan
completed. The primary role of the sub-facility is to provide an Australian contribution to the
calibration and validation of international satellite altimetry missions TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason-1
and OSTM/Jason-2. To achieve this, the sub-facility aims to regularly provide ‘absolute bias’ and
‘bias drift’ data streams to the international (NASA/CNES/NOAA/EUMETSAT) Ocean Surface
Topography Science Team (OSTST), the peak scientific body behind the precision ‘Jason-class’
satellite altimeters.
The sub facility has settled well into a process of regular GPS buoy deployments and
service/rotation visits to coastal oceanographic mooring arrays located at our Bass Strait and
Storm Bay validation sites. A highlight in 2011/12 was the dissemination of our data stream to
the OSTST in San Diego, United States (October 2011) and final publication of our most recent
update to methods, results and analysis in international peer reviewed literature (Watson et al.,
2011, published in Marine Geodesy). The level of international collaboration has also increased,
with a number of invitations to join collaborative proposals and contribute to significant plenary
addresses at international conferences.
A significant breakthrough in the provision of our bias-drift data stream was the development
and testing of our algorithms and approach to bias-drift determination using the global tide
gauge network. The sub-facility is now at the point where it is able to release the data stream
that spans the now 20-year satellite altimeter record of sea level data at the forthcoming OSTST
meeting in Venice, Italy (September 2012). This represents an important milestone to the subfacility and we look forward to seeing the developments submitted into the international peer
review literature as we progress into the 2012/13 year of operations, and the launch of Jason-3
(the next in the series of precision altimeter missions) in late 2014.
Difficulties in 2011/12 included the transition of the GPS buoy technician staff member following
the return of Reed Burgette to the United States. Jack Beardsley now joins the team and is
performing well in the role. Some technical challenges persist with one of the GPS receivers used
in our buoy system, however these issues are minor and close to resolution without significant
impact to the sub-facility. We have yet to obtain a time series of sufficient duration from our
Storm Bay validation site to make meaningful progress elucidating sea-state bias effects on the
absolute bias. We anticipate being closer to this point following the next mooring service visit
(August 2012).
A key component to this sub-facility are the GPS buoys deployed periodically over our moored
oceanographic sensors. In 2011-12 we have suffered a repeated failure of one GPS receiver in
one of the two buoys regularly deployed. Given the redundant deployment strategy, this failure
has had limited impact on the resultant data stream. We are currently working with the
manufacturer to fully resolve this issue and expect resolution early in the 2012/13 FY.
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2. Activities undertaken to establish and operate the infrastructure
11a Australian Satellite SST L2P Products:
During the second half of 2011, NOAA-15 SST data was calibrated and added to the reprocessed
IMOS data set. Many issues were found with the NOAA-15 SST data which make it difficult to
incorporate with the more stable and accurate SSTs from NOAA-17, 18 and 19 satellites into
multi-sensor “L3S” composite products. The solution was to only include SST into L3S files
where the “file_quality” index is “3” (no known sensor problems). In the first half of 2012,
efforts concentrated on porting the CSIRO stitching code to a Bureau operational computer and
rewriting the GHRSST product generation scripts to be more robust/operational. The 1-day L3S
files were reprocessed back to 2002 and supplied to the ReefTemp project. One year (2007) of
ASDA data from Casey and Davis has been stitched together.
A test Antarctic L3U file has been produced from stitched Casey and Davis Antarctic HRPT AVHRR
raw ASDA data. It is now possible for Casey and Davis ASDA data to be stitched on a Bureau
machine in Melbourne.
11b Australian Oceans Data Access and Archive Centre:
The main development activity in the sub-facility focussed on the implementation, as the basis
of the V2 system, of the enhanced geolocation model that was designed in 2010/11. The new
scheme supports a wider range of in-file specification of geolocation, and enables the indexing
and use of swath (satellite projection) data, grids in a range of analytic projects, as well as more
general rectangular projections. The metadata harvester was upgraded to support these
changes. A change in the design of the web query service to better modularise and distribute
computational load within the system was implemented and tested. Finally the aggregator
module was extended to support a more general and flexible model. This work will enable a
transition of the V2 system into operations during 2012/13.
The team also worked with the ocean colour and SST sub-facilities to improve the organisation
of time series and stability of the data services providing public access to these data sets. This
infrastructure has been upgraded as appropriate in response to being exercised by users,
particularly the analysis system behind the IMOS OceanCurrent web site.
11c Upgrade of Townsville Ground Station:
Water ingress to the electronics has occurred on occasions during recent monsoons and tropical
cyclones and so a radome was ordered in April 2011. Expected installation by late 2011 was
delayed due to the building of new labs on site at AIMS. This provided the opportunity of a far
more sound foundation for the receiving antenna and radome. The move and radome
installation is now scheduled for August 2012.
11d Satellite Ocean Colour:
As the first instrument of its type, the commissioning of the DALEC radiometer entailed a
significant development effort. Engineering was undertaken in order to install the radiometer
on a deployable boom on the Southern Surveyor (SS) foremast and to integrate its control and
data acquisition with the ship’s underway systems. After the initial deployment in August and
September 2011 the instrument housing proved to be not ready for the weather conditions
experienced on the SS, so it was re-engineered by the manufacturer in October 2011. Access to
the SS was only regained in December 2011 to re-install the DALEC on board. Since then the
instrument has performed to expectations. A new suite of software to ingest and apply new
QA/QC procedures was developed. Now that these components are all in place, the data from
2011/12 will be uploaded to the IMOS Portal in 2012/13. Negotiations were undertaken to
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enable the installation of a second system on an AIMS vessel. The second unit was purchased in
June 2012.
The rebuild, together with some redesign, of the LJCO infrastructure was carried out. As soon as
access to the jetty is granted by the owners, upon completion of the Cyclone Yasi remediation
work, installation will proceed.
The satellite ocean colour time series production work focussed on stabilising the operation of
the MODIS Aqua stream for Case 1 waters. This included improving the robustness of the near
real time ephemeris usage, migration to a new platform at the NCI, and investigation of a range
of possible remapping methods to produce the most useful output formats.
11e Satellite Altimetry Calibration and Validation:
Moving into the second year of operations for this sub-facility has seen the regular
rotation/servicing of coastal mooring equipment at Bass Strait and Storm Bay validation sites, as
planned. GPS equipped buoys have been regularly deployed at the two validation sites, enabling
the provision of our primary absolute bias data stream. The processes required to generate this
data stream are now established within an annual repeat cycle, as planned.
The provision of our other major data stream (bias drift) has required the establishment of a
workflow that includes the regular download of high rate data from the global tide gauge
network (some 150 tide gauges). Our process includes a number of global tide and mean sea
surface models for comparative purposes. We have estimated rates of vertical land motion at a
sub-set of global tide gauge sites, and have established a collaboration with an international
leader in the field, Prof Matt King (University of Newcastle, UK, soon to take up an appointment
at University of Tasmania). Our bias drift estimation process therefore ingests a range of vertical
rates of land motion at tide gauge sites, including those from models of Glacial Isostatic
Adjustment (GIA) published in the international literature. We determine bias drift from the
complete 20-year altimeter record that spans the TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason-1 and Jason-2
missions, using a range of variant altimeter treatments. These variants importantly, allow for the
assessment of differences incurred through the use of different products from the various
altimeter sub-systems (e.g. orbits, radiometer corrections, sea state bias effects etc).
3. Progress against agreed Milestones
Please refer to Appendix E – Milestone Reports
For the operation of the Townsville reception stations and the satellite altimetry cal/val
subfacilities, no major difficulties were encountered in achieving milestones.
11a Australian Satellite SST L2P Products: The loss of a key team member, George Paltoglou,
from the Bureau in April 2012, although a replacement was quickly recruited, resulted in delays
to data production. Time had to be spent ensuring essential documentation was in place and in
bringing Christopher Griffin up to speed. This transition has now been successfully effected and
full production has resumed.
11b Australian Oceans Data Access and Archive Centre: The operational deployment of the
AODAAC V1 system has been delayed by its dependence on the eMII implementation team who
have been committed for most of 2011 to the critical redevelopment of the IMOS Portal. Since
the new portal was released in April 2012, effort has been directed towards the AODAAC system
and the first of the implementation milestones, a prototype interface working in the eMII
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development portal system, has been achieved. A timeline has now been agreed between the
sub-facility and eMII to deliver the production V1 system, including all documentation
milestones, by December 2012.
11d Satellite Ocean Colour: The outstanding obstacle has been the ongoing delay in clearance
for a return to the LJCO site, caused by engineering delays in the remediation of TC Yasi damage
to the jetty. Most of the preparatory reconstruction work that can be done off-site has been
completed and everything is now in readiness for a rapid installation once site access is
regained. This is now expected in September 2012. Elsewhere in the sub-facility, the production
of ocean colour and development of the matchup data base have not progressed as quickly as
planned due to staff availability issues in both CSIRO and Geoscience Australia. These have been
addressed in planning for the 2012/13 year and good progress is now being made. The
commissioning of the DALEC radiometer stream has encountered minor difficulties, all of which
have been addressed. Some additional effort is being invested to continue to streamline the QA
and ingest of data into the BioOptical database.
4. Deviations from 2011-12 Annual Business Plan
11a Australian Satellite SST L2P Products:
Additional activities undertaken - New MTSAT SST processing code was ported to Bureau
systems in March 2012 by Jon Mittaz (NOAA/CICS) and Leon Majewski (Bureau). Leon Majewski
has been testing this code and intends to reprocess existing MTSAT-1R and MTSAT-2 SST data
and implement it operationally for real-time generation of MTSAT-2 L3U files by end of 2012.
Agreed activities not completed - AVHRR L2P and L3U files were reprocessed back to 1998 not
1992 as specified in the NCRIS June 2011 milestone.
Remedial action proposed, including timeframes - All L2P, L3U, L3C and L3S products will be
reprocessed (incorporating the data from Casey and Davis stations) starting with NOAA-11 and
NOAA-12 in 1992. Scripts will be parallelised (run on multiple computer nodes) to speed up the
reprocessing in order to meet the EIF June 2013 milestone.
11b Australian Oceans Data Access and Archive Centre:
Additional activities undertaken - The upgrade of the Web Query Service component to support
the new geolocation model provided an opportunity to improve the overall system design to
provide better modularity and computational load balancing. These changes were implemented
and tested in the first half of 2012.
Agreed activities not completed - The commissioning of the V1 production system, which was
deployed by CSIRO on eMII systems in 2010/11, initially could not progress due to unavailability
of eMII staff who were committed to the IMOS portal redevelopment. Since the documentation
for this system is critically dependent on the actual implementation, work on this has been held
over.
Remedial action proposed, including timeframes - In May 2012, this work commenced with the
first milestone, making the V1 system available in the eMII development portal, completed in
June 2012. eMII and CSIRO have agreed a prioritised workplan for this activity in the second half
of 2012, with completion now expected by December.
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11c Upgrade of Townsville Ground Station:
Additional activities undertaken - TIP data from AVHRR passes is being automatically extracted.
Automated transfer of the data is being provided to ESA CLS. A protective radome was
purchased with a view to improving reliability in extreme weather (wind and rain).
Agreed activities not completed - Delay to radome installation due to a better site on a new
building being built.
Remedial action proposed, including timeframes - Radome scheduled to be completed in August
2012 as new building is completed.
11d Satellite Ocean Colour:
Agreed activities not completed - The re-establishment of LJCO has been delayed to FY 12/13.
The rebuilding of LJCO infrastructure and instrument housing was carried out during FY11/12,
but the installation on site is currently planned for early September, pending the finalization by
QSL of the repairs work. The production of ocean colour data sets and match up databases has
not progressed as quickly as expected, due to a security compromise and instability in storage
systems at the NCI, and staffing availability in CSIRO and GA.
Remedial action proposed, including timeframes - The NCI issues are all now resolved and
allocation of additional staff, particularly by GA, should ensure recovery over 2012/13.
5. Progress against 2011-12 Implementation Plan
Activity/ Deployment/ Location
11a Australian Satellite SST L2P
Products
Commissioning - Casey and Davis
archived raw data processed to
GHRSST-L2P skin SST files using
new IMOS SST processing code
back to 2007 (when Davis data
commenced). Antarctic SST
combined with other Australian
HRPT AVHRR L2P SST to produce
trial day/night L3C skin SST files
over the Southern Ocean domain.
Provisioning - New IMOS AVHRR
SST processing code ported to
Casey and Davis stations in order
to produce real-time, GHRSST
format, L2P data files (minus the
ancillary fields which will be added
in Melbourne).
Responsible
Organisation(s)
Responsible
Person(s)
Start
Finish
Progress during
2011-12
BoM
George
Paltoglou
1/4/2011
31/12/201
1
BoM
George
Paltoglou/
Leon
Majewski
1/7/2011
30/6/2012
Trial L2P and L3U
files have been
produced from a
stitched Casey and
Davis ASDA file.
Expect to produce a
trial Antarctic L3C file
over the Antarctic
domain by end of
July 2012 before
reprocessing all
archived Antarctic
data to L2P, L3U and
L3C formats back to
1997.
L3U processing code
has been copied to
the Casey computer.
Testing underway.
Investigating options
of compressed L3U
or compressed raw
ASDA files being
transferred in RT
from Antarctica to
Melbourne.
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Activity/ Deployment/ Location
Responsible
Organisation(s)
Responsible
Person(s)
Start
Finish
Progress during
2011-12
CSIRO
King/ Suber
1/7/2011
31/3/2012
Provisioning - Completion of V1
AODAAC operations manual and
management tools
CSIRO
Smith/ King/
Suber
1/7/2011
31/10/201
1
Commissioning - Transition to
operations of V2 AODAAC system
with eMII
CSIRO
King/ Suber
1/11/201
1
30/6/2012
In progress. System
integration is
completed and a trial
deployment will be
undertaken in August
2012.
In progress. Cannot
be completed until
system integrated by
eMII into IMOS
Portal. Now planned
for completion by
Dec 2012.
Delayed - Dependent
on completion of
integration of V1
system. Now
expected to
commence
immediately upon
completion of V1
deployment.
AIMS
Craig
Steinberg
1/7/2011
31/6/2012
Completed.
CSIRO
King/
Schroeder
1/7/2011
09/2011
Achieved
CSIRO
Schroeder/
Brando
1/7/2011
12/2011
In progress
CSIRO
Brando/
Schroeder/
Cherukur
1/10/201
1
03/2012
In progress – pending
staff availability in
2012/13.
CSIRO
Schroeder/
Brando
1/1/2012
06/2012
Delayed
CSIRO
Clementson/
Brando
Brando/Dani
el/ Keen
Brando/Dani
el/ Keen
03/2011
2013
Achieved
07/2011
09/2011
Achieved
03/2011
03/2012
In progress
11b AODAAC
Provisioning - Testing and trial
deployment of V2 AODAAC System
11c Upgrade of Townsville Ground
Station
Commissioning - Sustain data
acquisitions on an operational
basis at Townsville
11d Satellite Ocean Colour
Provisioning - SeaWiFS L1A data
Archives from CMAR and AIMS to
ARCS infrastructures.
Provisioning - Match-up database
for MODIS L2 and SeaWiFS L2 case
1 & case 2 products
Commissioning - MODIS L2 and
SeaWiFS L2 data streams for
primary productivity products.
Commissioning - Match-up
database for MODIS L2 and
SeaWiFS L2 case 1 & case 2
products and primary productivity
products.
Commissioning - Bio-optical data
base of Australian Waters.
Commissioning - SOOPRadiometers data stream.
Provisioning - Re-establishment of
LJCO data-streams
CSIRO
CSIRO
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Activity/ Deployment/ Location
Responsible
Organisation(s)
Responsible
Person(s)
Start
CMAR Coastal
Moorings Team
N White
Ongoing with a 6
month visit cycle
Provisioning - Deploy / retrieve
GPS equipped buoys
Commissioning - Generate bias
drift data stream
UTAS
C Watson
UTAS / CMAR
C Watson /
N White / J
Church
Ongoing episodic
deployments
Ongoing with release
of data stream by 30
Sep 2011
Commissioning - Generate
absolute bias data stream
UTAS
C Watson
Commissioning - Update SRS 11e
Sat Altim Website
Commissioning - Attend annual
OSTST meeting and disseminate
data streams
UTAS
C Watson
UTAS / CMAR
C Watson /
N White
11e Satellite Altimetry
Provisioning - Cycle Bass Strait and
Storm Bay moorings on a 6 month
visit cycle
Finish
Ongoing with each
update to follow
mooring retrieval, with
annual release of data
stream to be complete
by 31 Dec 2011
Ongoing
October 2011
Progress during
2011-12
Progress is as
expected, The 6
month visit cycle has
bedded down well.
Progress is as
expected.
Provisional bias drift
estimates were
generated. As
expected, refinement
of the algorithms was
required. Our major
contribution of this
data stream will be at
the 2012 OSTST
meeting to be
followed by
publication in an
international peer
reviewed journal.
Progress as expected.
The next major
release will be at the
2012 OSTST meeting
in late September.
Progress as expected.
Progress as expected.
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Providing research infrastructure
Details of new infrastructure
11c Upgrade of Townsville Ground Station:
Radome purchased from AIMS capital as an in-kind contribution.
Replacement workstation purchased to improve data through put.
11d Satellite Ocean Colour:
A second DALEC spectroradiometer was purchased in June 2012 for the SOOP-Radiometers data
stream.
The rebuilding of LJCO infrastructure was carried out during FY11/12, but the installation on site is
currently planned for early September, pending the finalization by QSL of the repairs work.
11e Satellite Altimetry Calibration and Validation:
This was the second year of operation for this sub-facility - hence new equipment purchases were
limited to the provision of some additional coastal mooring instrumentation and new tracking units
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for GPS buoys. Our sub-facility draws equipment from, and contributes new equipment to, the
CSIRO CMAR pool of mooring equipment (SBE26 pressure sensors, Microcat temperature and
pressure sensors, current meters, CART acoustic releases and associated mooring array hardware).
In 2011/12 our sub-facility contributed a number of new sensors to ensure our moorings arrays at
Bass Strait and Storm Bay can be serviced and updated appropriately on our established 6-month
visit cycle. Other minor procurements included minor hardware enhancements and power systems
for our GPS buoys which are deployed regularly over the coastal moorings.
Outline the continuity of one key time series of data to be assessed against an appropriate
benchmark for this facility.
11a Australian Satellite SST L2P Products –The AVHRR L2P SST data set is routinely validated against
in- situ data (drifting buoys and IMOS ships) and has been compared with SST analyses (RAMSSA)
and BLUElink Ocean Model analysis fields (OceanMAPS). The Bureau’s Legacy AVHRR L3 files cover a
continuous period from 1 Jan 2001 and CSIRO’s AVHRR L3 files from 1993. The U.S.'s Pathfinder v5.2
4 km x 1 km AVHRR L3C SST products cover a period 1981 to 2010
(http://data.nodc.noaa.gov/thredds/catalog/pathfinder/Version5.2/). None of these L3 products
contain error estimates for each SST value, unlike the IMOS 1 km x 1 km AVHRR L2P, L3U, L3C and
L3S products. By June 2013 we expect to have produced L2P, L3U, L3C and L3S files from AVHRR
sensors on all operational NOAA satellites back to 1992 (currently 1998).
11b Australian Oceans Data Access and Archive Centre –The serving of the IMOS SST and ocean
colour data sets have been supported. In particular the NCI storage and data system have been
brought fully online and the ocean colour data set is now being indexed by the AODAAC V1 system.
11c Upgrade of Townsville Ground Station – Supply of MODIS and NOAA/AVHRR to support ocean
colour and SST production has continued with only minor interruptions throughout the year.
11d Satellite Ocean Colour - The DALEC radiometer data series from the Southern Surveyor is a
wholly new data set for 2011/12. This provides continuous underway in-situ observations of water
leaving radiance and incident irradiance, enabling validation of atmospheric correction and inherent
optical property retrieval algorithms. This is a unique data set in the Southern Ocean.
11e Satellite Altimetry Calibration and Validation –
In situ data from GPS buoys and moored oceanographic instruments are compared against the
Jason-2/OSTM satellite altimeter. The result is an absolute bias time series – the stability of this time
series, and our ability to explain any variability within it is a fundamental benchmark for this subfacility. Our contribution is one of only two internationally that is able to provide this time series
over the now 20-year record of precision satellite altimetry. An associated time series, also
fundamental to this sub-facility, is the record of altimeter bias drift which is computed through
comparison of the altimeter record with the global tide gauge dataset. As with the absolute bias
time, our contribution here spans the complete 20-year record of altimetry (TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason1 and OSTM/Jason-2 satellite missions).
Quality of research infrastructure
Benchmark against other similar overseas infrastructure
11a Australian Satellite SST L2P Products –Various overseas agencies produce real-time GHRSST L2P
files from HRPT AVHRR data but not from Australian ground stations, eg. NAVOCEANO. The new
IMOS HRPT AVHRR SST data has smaller error at quality level 5 than the global errors (against
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drifting buoys) of the world’s best AVHRR SST products from the same sensors/satellites (eg.
Pathfinder v5.2 and NAVOCEANO GAC AVHRR L2P SST). Although the new IMOS MTSAT-1R SST data
have similar errors to the MTSAT-1R L2P products produced by NOAA/STAR, the IMOS data set goes
back to June 2006 whereas the NOAA data set only extends back to Jan 2008.
11b Australian Oceans Data Access and Archive Centre –The AODAAC compares favourably with
similar sites developed by NASA. The AODAAC allows a user to select the area for which they want
data and delivers the data in near real time. The user can select data as HDF, netCDF, text or a list of
URL’s. There appears to be a similar system under design within NOAA. The V1 AODAAC system
imposes many constraints upon data sets, the revised V2 system is much more general allowing
greater flexibility. The AODAAC is the mechanism by which raster data will be served through the
IMOS portal, thereby giving it pre-eminence within the marine domain within Australia.
TERN/AusCover is deploying a version for terrestrial gridded data sets.
11c Upgrade of Townsville Ground Station – The receiving station is the same make and model as
purchased by BoM. Similar if not better levels of reliability are occurring with the IMOS funded
station. NOAA & NASA, and now ESA CLS recognise us as a part of their formal receiving station
network.
11d Satellite Ocean Colour – In April 2010 Dr Stan Hooker (Director of NASA's Calibration and
Validation office) after his visit to LJCO commented:
“The field campaign we did together at the LJCO site firmly convinced me that you have assembled a
first-rate team of scientists and engineers, and I look forward to seeing the substantial contributions
you make in ocean colour research. You have established a state-of-the-art observational capability
in a very short time, and it is clear that you paid attention to the literature and learned from it. The
most significant accomplishment I witnessed, however, was the people you recruited or have
included from other CSIRO institutes (e.g., Lesley Clementson from Hobart). It was a real pleasure to
meet everyone and see how each person is making unique and substantial contributions to the
overall effort—this is an elusive aspect of many group activities.”
The Bio-Optical Data Base compares favourably with the NASA’s and ESA’s calibration and validation
databases (SEABASS and MERMAID). The structure of the database was explicitly designed to be able
to provide data from the Australian sector to the international ocean colour community.
11e Satellite Altimetry Calibration and Validation – The contributions made by this sub-facility are
highly valued by the international altimetry community. Absolute bias and bias drift data streams
pertaining to the TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason-1 and OSTM/Jason-2 satellite missions contribute directly
to the NASA/CNES Ocean Surface Topography Science Team (OSTST). Of particular relevance, our
site contributes the only absolute bias calibration and validation data from the southern
hemisphere, and our absolute bias record is only one of two internationally that extends to the full
20-year duration of the precision era of satellite altimetry. The value of this contribution is reflected
by independent review comments of our OSTST contributions, as well as in regular invitation to
participate in international collaborations (e.g. successful EU FP7 International Research Staff
Exchange Scheme proposal) and contributions to keynote/plenary presentations at international
conferences (e.g. ‘The Challenges in Long-term Altimetry Calibration for Addressing the Problem of
Global Sea Level Change’ to be presented at the 20-years of Progress in Radar Altimetry symposium,
Italy, 2012).
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Fostering Collaborative development of infrastructure
Participation in international programs collecting similar data streams
11a Australian Satellite SST L2P Products –The Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature
(GHRSST) coordinates the production and dissemination of L2P/L3 files from satellite SST data
streams to a common international format and standard. The Bureau plans to send the real-time
and reprocessed IMOS AVHRR SST L2P, L3U, L3C and L3S files to both the GHRSST Global Data
Assembly Centre (PO.DAAC) and GHRSST Long Term Archive Centre (NCDC) by December 2012.
11b Australian Oceans Data Access and Archive Centre – Not applicable. As a distributor rather
than producer of data the AODAAC is not a data stream creator. It serves as a local Australian
distribution point for the GHRSST data stream produced by the SST sub-facility (11a).
11c Upgrade of Townsville Ground Station – NOAA Coastwatch – they ingest our 1km LAC data,
NASA SeaWiFS ocean colour – we provide entire archive to them. ESA CLS are now accessing near
real time TIP HRPT data. NASA GSFC relied on us for the SeaWiFS data acquisition for their global
archive, although the mission has now terminated. Data sent through the AODAAC is utilised by
GBRMPA for ReefTeemp product, e-Atlas, OceanCurrent, BLUElink and eReefs model of the GBR.
11d Satellite Ocean Colour –
• Several space agencies and earth observation programs have shown significant interest to work
on the LJCO data stream for the calibration and validation of current and upcoming sensors. The
European Space Agency issued a formal letter of support and image acquisition. They also
invited our group to join their CoastColour project. The Hyper-spectral Imager in the Coastal
Ocean team will be imaging the site for calibration and evaluation from September 2009
onwards.
• The Indian Space Research Organisation requested access to the data streams acquired at LJCO
to perform calibration/validation assessment of The Ocean Colour Monitor onboard Oceansat-2
team launched in October 2009.
• The Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite team at Northrop Grumman, NASA, and US Naval
Research Laboratory included the site as one the 12 calibration / validation sites.
• In February 2010, Dr Brando attended NASA's AERONET-OC PI meeting in Portland (USA) to
introduce the activities of Lucinda Jetty Coastal Observatory to other members of AERONET-OC.
• In April 2010 we hosted our first international measurement campaign at LJCO with Dr Stan
Hooker (Director of NASA's Calibration and Validation office) Dr John H. Morrow, (President ,
Biospherical Instruments Inc.), Prof Vanda Brotas (Univ of Lisbon and partner in the ESACoastColour project).
• In late 2011 data collected at LJCO was included into MERMAID (ESA’s calibration and validation
database) The data has been used by the MERIS Quality Working Group (MQWG) to assess
MERIS products quality. A MERIS 3rd reprocessing validation document will be issued by the
MQWG and published on the ESA/ENVISAT website.
• The data collected in the Bio-Optical Data Base is being directly contributed to SEABASS and
MERMAID (NASA’s and ESA’s calibration and validation databases )
11e Satellite Altimetry Calibration and Validation – The contributions made by this sub-facility to
the NASA/CNES Ocean Surface Topography Science Team (OSTST) involve direct collaboration with
other international teams to refine techniques, algorithms and analysis to best understand the
evolving satellite altimeter sea level record, and its calibration and validation. Members of the subfacility have published as co-authors with international teams working on the issue of altimetry
calibration and validation. A recent further example of this engagement has been in the participation
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of a European Union Framework 7 ‘people exchange’ under the International Research Staff
Exchange Scheme. This proposal was led by the calibration / validation team from Greece and
includes partners involved in the development and provision of calibration / validation infrastructure
from France, China, United States and Brazil.
Other collaborations
11a Australian Satellite SST L2P Products – The Bureau is collaborating with Chris Merchant (UoE),
Jon Mittaz (NOAA/CICS), Andy Harris (NOAA/CICS) by using their Bayesian cloud clearing code in the
IMOS MTSAT SST processing code. The MTSAT code was updated in March 2012 with assistance
from Jon Mittaz.
11b Australian Oceans Data Access and Archive Centre –TERN/AusCover is preparing to deploy test
version of the V2 system for testing with dissemination of terrestrial data.
11c Upgrade of Townsville Ground Station – Whilst there has been a focus on providing data to
AODAAC for centralised distribution, there has also been work with NOAA to produce 1km version of
their Hot Spot and Degree Heating Weeks products for the Great Barrier Reef as well as a similar
product by BoM for ReefTemp.
11d Satellite Ocean Colour – A collaboration with DSTO is looking at adding boundary layer
meteorological data streams at LJCO after the site re-establishment. The MODIS production system
developed at the NCI by IMOS is now underpinning the remote sensing component of the eReefs
project, and will soon similarly support the remote sensing component of the GBRMPA Marine
Monitoring Program.
11e Satellite Altimetry Calibration and Validation – An additional collaboration has been developed
with Prof Matt King (University of Newcastle, UK, and as of September 2012, University of
Tasmania). Prof King is an international leader in the determination of estimates of vertical land
motion (VLM) which are fundamentally important for this sub-facility. Our bias drift data stream now
incorporates VLM rates from Prof King. Further, the sub-facility often provides advice to various
international teams, notably those developing new calibration / validation infrastructure for new
satellites such as the French/Indian AltiKa mission. These discussions may evolve into deeper
collaborations as the sub-facility progresses.
Other performance indicators
Please refer to Appendix C – Performance Indicators
Financial and co-investment information
Please refer to Appendix F – Financial Statements
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Appendix A.12 – IMOS Office
Facility:
Facility Leader:
Contact details:
IMOS Office
Tim Moltmann, UTAS
Phone: 03 6232 2767; Email: Tim.Moltmann@imos.org.au
1. Overview of status of Facility
The IMOS office developed an Annual Plan for the 2011/12 year through which we track our
progress to meet the major milestones for the year. Tasks are grouped under seven major priorities.
a. Managing the delivery of IMOS through the Facilities and Nodes, so as to build capability and
maximise collaboration
The office organised the Annual Planning Meeting in February 2012, which was held in Brisbane,
with over 80 participants. Participants included the Chair of the IMOS Advisory Board, the IMOS
Director, the IMOS Advisory Board, and IMOS staff and stakeholders from the facilities, nodes
and operators across Australia.
The meeting is an opportunity for the whole IMOS community to share and discuss:
• the key achievements and plans for deployments and data delivery out to June 2013;
• Science and Implementation Plan highlights, strategies to promote data uptake and
stakeholder engagement from each of the science Nodes;
• data management plans and the development of the IMOS Ocean Portal through the data
management facility based at UTAS.
The office also conducted three Advisory Board meetings in September 2011, February 2012 and
May 2012.
The office also conducted three Steering Committee meetings in August 2011, February 2012
and May 2012 (see Appendix D for further detail).
b. Meeting contractual commitments to DIISRTE under NCRIS and EIF
The office managed the collation and production of the 2010-11 NCRIS/EIF Annual Progress
Report, the 2011/13 NCRIS and 2012-13 EIF Annual Business Plans, and the EIF Milestone
reports, which were all submitted ahead of time, and have been assessed by DIISRTE as meeting
the requirements of the grants and been accepted.
Over the past year the office with eMII have enhanced the IMOS Publications and Reports
database for the storage and reporting of the performance indicator data (research projects,
postgraduate students, publications and presentations) that measure the success of IMOS in
respect to the uptake and use of marine and climate data in research. The database is fully
operational and was used to produce information for this Annual Progress Report – see
Appendix C.
c. Ensuring that available IMOS data is being used by researchers, students, managers and others
The eMII facility report (Appendix A.10) and the Node Report (Appendix D) record detail of
activities toward uptake of IMOS data.
d. Communicating and engaging with all stakeholders to ensure IMOS is understood, well
publicised and supported
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The office developed a Communication Plan in 2010, which is updated annually with a plan of
activities for the relevant year. Many of the communication activities listed in the Annual Action
Plan will be overseen by the IMOS Communications Manager, with input and direction provided
by other IMOS staff members, in particular the IMOS Director. Key activities for the year
included:
IMOS Annual Highlights Document- the second IMOS Annual Highlights Document was published
in November 2011. Hard copies were distributed to over 200 stakeholders (including DIISRTE,
State Governments and co-investors), and a further 750 copies have been distributed since in
the broader marine and climate science community. The IMOS office received a letter from the
then Minister, Senator the Hon Kim Carr, expressing a high degree of satisfaction with the
Highlights Document.
IMOS Bulletin: The IMOS Communications Manager prepares and distributes a monthly email
Bulletin listing new data streams available on the IMOS Ocean Portal and any upcoming events.
This is distributed to Facility and Node leaders, other Facility and Operator contacts, Advisory
Board members and DIISRTE staff; they are in turn encouraged to distribute it further. The
readership list of the bulletin is now up to 300.
Marine Matters newsletter: the IMOS Office published two issues of the newsletter during the
year. These are published on the IMOS website and paper copies are distributed widely
amongst the IMOS Nodes and Operators.
IMOS website: The website continues to be updated as needed. This year a new front-page
button directs users directly to the IMOS OceanCurrent website.
Media: a number of media releases regarding IMOS Facilities or data streams were distributed
throughout the year through the Operators Communication offices. The IMOS office has also
distributed media releases (around events such as World Ocean Day, the Australia New Zealand
symposium, the Ocean Tracking Network launch). Tim Moltmann, and Neville Exon, the program
scientist in charge of Australia and New Zealand's involvement in IODP, co-authored an opinion
piece published in the Australian on the need for observations to understand sea level rise in
April 2012. Links to these can be found through the IMOS News on the website
http://imos.org.au/news.html.
e. Evaluating the potential of new technologies, methods and approaches to improve IMOS
During the year the IMOS Office was involved in a number of initiatives to strengthen the
engagement with the modelling community, linkages between IMOS Facilities, whole of system
approaches in marine and climate science and supporting communities of practice.
f.
Taking tangible steps towards the establishment of a sustained research and operational
ocean observing system in Australia
IMOS continues to remain appropriately engaged with DIISRTE (especially via the Strategic
Roadmap process), the Oceans Policy Science Advisory Group, and other relevant
commonwealth, state, and marine community stakeholders.
2. International, National and Regional
2.1 International Engagement
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•
Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS): The new GOOS Steering Committee which will oversee
implementation of the recently-developed Framework for Ocean Observing has now been
agreed. Australia and the IMOS community are well-represented, with John Gunn (AIMS) and
Susan Wijffels (CSIRO) filling two of the ten invited expert positions on the committee. Peter
Dexter (BOM) is an ex-officio member in his JCOMM co-president role. Zdenka Willis (US-IOOS)
is also an ex-officio member in her role as chair of the GOOS Regional Alliance, and she is very
keen for IMOS to be engaged in the GRA group. IMOS is adopting the new GOOS Framework for
Ocean Observing in revision of our National/Node Science and Implementation Plans. We are
looking to engage with the international community on this activity.
•
Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS): Tim Moltmann attended a GEOSS workshop
entitled ‘Toward Global Ocean Observations’ in Hawaii in September 2011, and gave a talk on ‘A
national perspective from Australia’. This meeting confirmed that engagement with GEOSS
should be well-targeted. To that end, we have been invited by US-IOOS to participate in a
GEOSS Global High Frequency Radar Network, and Lucy Wyatt has begun to engage with this
activity.
•
Life in a Changing Ocean (LICO, follow-on program from the Census of Marine Life): Tim
Moltmann attended the ‘Beyond 2010’ workshop at the end of the World Conference on Marine
Biodiversity in Aberdeen in September 2011. Agreed next steps were (1) Prospectus to be
updated (2) Proposals (~5 pages) developed for each theme, and (3) Writing workshops to
develop project ideas. Richard Brinkman (AIMS) is Australia’s rep on the Science Planning
Committee and Ian Poiner on the Scientific Advisory Committee.
•
Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS): The SOOS Scientific Committee held a meeting at
Ocean Sciences in Salt Lake City in February 2012. Co-location of the SOOS Executive Officer
(Louise Newman) with the IMOS Office is working well. Discussions about using the compatible
IMOS and AAD information infrastructure to assist with data management in this region are
continuing. Kim Finney (AAD Date Centre Manager) is now working with eMII/AODN two days a
week.
•
Indian Ocean: The Indian Ocean Observing System meetings were held in Chennai, India in July
2011 and will be held again in Cape Town in Spier, South Africa, in October 2012. The IMOS
Director is Australia’s representative on the Indian Ocean Resources Forum (IRF), and the forum
is convened by Nick d’Adamo of the IOC Perth Office, and also an IMOS Advisory Board member.
•
Pacific Ocean: The 10th International Conference on Southern Hemisphere Meteorology and
Oceanography (ICSHMO) was held in New Caledonia in April 2012, and provided a good
opportunity to explore opportunities for enhanced collaboration in this region. Katy Hill
attended for IMOS. We are in discussion with the Pacific Island GOOS secretariat (Phil Wiles)
about the possibility of developing a Pacific Island Ocean Data Network. We have also
established contact with the US-IOOS node in the Pacific (PacIOOS), led by Chris Ostander out of
Hawaii. IMOS AusCPR recently supported a CPR tow to Fiji off RV Southern Surveyor in
conjunction with PIGOOS.
•
New Zealand: The IMOS Office facilitated a successful Australia and New Zealand Marine
Observation Symposium in Hobart on 5th – 6th December 2011, with Katy Hill chairing the
organising committee. The Symposium was conducted within the context of a high-level
arrangement signed by the Australian Minister and NZ High Commissioner on 6th December. The
symposium was funded by DIISRTE (and MSI, its NZ equivalent), and the final report has been
distributed to participants and next steps agreed. DIISRTE (and MSI) will now need to establish
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a Steering Committee to oversee the high-level arrangement on an ongoing basis. The Australia
and New Zealand Marine Observation Symposium project has now been wrapped up, and two
new projects seeded: (1) establishment of an NZ ODN Node, and (2) instrumenting RV Tangaroa
as a Ship of Opportunity for pCO2 (in addition to air-sea flux). Extension of the OceanCurrent
domain into the NZ region is being investigated, subject to availability of NZ satellite data. The
inaugural meeting of the Steering Committee to oversee the Australia-New Zealand Joint
Arrangement is still with DIISRTE (and NZ MSI) to organise. The 2012 AMSA conference was held
jointly with NZ-MSS and provided some opportunities to further discussions about enhanced
collaboration. NIWA (Graham Rickard) will also be represented at ACOMO 2012 (see below).
•
United States: Collaboration with US-IOOS continues to strengthen, through activities in data
management and ocean radar (noted above) and through interaction between the directorates.
Katy Hill and Tim Moltmann co-authored a White Paper with Zdenka Willis and colleagues from
the UK for the upcoming US-IOOS Summit. All White Papers can be found at
www.iooc.us/summit/cwps/
•
European Union: Tim Moltmann attended the Fifth GOOS Regional Alliance Forum in Sopot
Poland in October, alongside the sixth EuroGOOS Conference. DIISRTE has included IMOS in
planning for the Second European Union - Australia Workshop on Research Infrastructure that
was held in the first half of 2012, as well as a visit by the EU Commissioner for Research,
Innovation and Science, Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, to SIMS on 5th March 2012. At the latest
Australian-EU Research Infrastructure forum, Roger Proctor co-chaired session on Environment
and Climate Change, and a workshop on global data infrastructures, and has some DIISRTE
funding to further explore synergies.
•
Canada: In early December 2011, Tim Moltmann chaired a review committee for the Canadian
Foundation for Innovation (CFI) to evaluate the merit of operational support for the Ocean
Networks Canada cabled observatory network. This has spawned some high-level contact
between CFI and DIISRTE, and a visit by a CFI officer to Australia in February/March 2012. A
successful launch of the Ocean Tracking Network (OTN) in Australia was held at the Canadian
High Commission event in Canberra on 2nd August. Patricia Kelly (DIISRTE Deputy Secretary)
attended and spoke, and Kimberley Dripps (DSEWPAC Deputy Secretary) also attended, as did
Minister Evans’ Science Adviser (Rebecca Scouller). After chairing a review in December last
year, the IMOS Director has been appointed to the International Scientific Advisory Board of
Ocean Networks Canada.
•
Timor Leste: The IMOS Director went to Dili on 18-19th July to meet with senior Government
officials, including Lourenco Fontes (Director General of the Ministry for Agriculture and
Fisheries). The purpose of the visit was to thank the Government of Timor-Leste for their
cooperation around the ITF mooring array, with the Ombai Strait mooring being in Timor-Leste
waters, to explain what we are doing, and why it is important for the people of Timor-Leste. The
visit went well, and it will be important to ensure that we continue to communicate the benefits
of this work. We also met with the Australian Ambassador (Miles Armitage), and intend to brief
DFAT on this and other IMOS international work to ensure that they’re aware of the role marine
and climate science is playing in regional cooperation. Thanks go to Frank Tirendi of AIMS for
tremendous assistance in arranging this visit.
2.2 National Engagement
(a) National Conferences and Workshops
• Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (AMOS): The 2012 AMOS conference was
held in Sydney in early February. There was a Boundary Currents theme which provided an
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excellent showcase for IMOS, particularly for the NSWIMOS and WAIMOS Nodes. It was
particularly pleasing to see multiple facilities being showcased (moorings, gliders, radars, remote
sensing). The Southern Ocean Processes theme included a talk on recently-available data from
SOFS.
•
Australian Marine Sciences Association (AMSA): IMOS was very well-represented at the AMSA
conference in Hobart in July 2012. Benefits being derived from the multi-year time series we are
building were evident in a number of talks. It was very pleasing to see David Griffin of CSIRO,
and leader of IMOS OceanCurrent, acknowledged through the Silver Jubilee Award.
(b) National Committees and Commonwealth Departments
• Ocean Policy Science Advisory Group (OPSAG): OPSAG’s current focus is on redeveloping the
National Framework for Marine Research and Innovation (‘A Marine Nation’). Tim Moltmann
participated in a two-day writing workshop in Canberra on 30th – 31st January, and has worked
with the current consultant (Vicki Nelson) on Section 3, ‘Responding to National Challenges’. Tim
Moltmann has also arranged for Rhys Francis from the Australian eResearch Infrastructure
Council (AeRIC) to brief OPSAG at the meeting on 1st March.
•
Australian Ocean Data Centre Joint Facility (AODC-JF): At its last meeting, the AODC-JF Board
decided to suspend operation, and align its effort through the six Commonwealth Agency
partners to assist IMOS in leading AODN development. The AODC-JF Technical Committee will
morph into an AODN Technical Committee to maintain the strong links established at the
technical level. The decision to suspend (rather than wind up) reflects uncertainty about the
long term future of IMOS/AODN.
•
National Plan for Environmental Information (NPEI): IMOS is engaged at two levels. eMII is
engaging with Andrew Woolf, NPEI’s (Information) Architecture Section Manager, on the
national environmental information infrastructure. Through QIMOS and the mooring, glider and
remote sensing Facilities, we are also engaging with the eReefs ‘marine’ pilot project.
•
National Climate Change Science Framework (NCCSF): IMOS is supporting implementation of
the National Climate Change Science Framework, by providing observations and data used by
the Australian Climate Change Science Program (ACCSP), the Antarctic and Climate Ecosystems
(ACE) CRC, and other related programs.
•
National Adaptation Research Plan (NARP): The IMOS Director is a member of the Climate
Change Adaptation National Coordinating Committee for Marine Biodiversity Resources and
Fisheries (NCCMBRF).
•
National Environment Research Program (NERP): Constructive discussions with the Marine
Biodiversity Hub are ongoing, with a view to use of IMOS data and observations, and of the
AODN information infrastructure. Specific attention is also being paid to ensuring that data sets
from the previous (CERF) Hub are discoverable and accessible through AODN. eMII is engaging at
the data policy and information infrastructure level. Through Katy Hill, we are also heavily
involved with work on KEF’s and indicators.
•
Marine and Coastal Carbon Biogeochemistry Cluster: CSIRO’s Wealth from Oceans Flagship is in
the process of establishing a new collaboration cluster in Marine and Coastal Carbon
Biogeochemistry, with an emphasis on ‘blue carbon’, primary productivity, and ocean
acidification. Clusters are a mechanism for enhancing collaboration between CSIRO and (mainly)
the University sector, with funding at ~$1M pa for three years. The guidelines state that use of
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existing research infrastructure, including IMOS (and TERN), is highly desirable. We have
developed position statements on IMOS capability relevant to the cluster, and distributed these
with good response. It is hoped that the cluster will provide another significant pathway for
uptake and use of IMOS observations and data streams.
•
Marine Climate Change Report Card: The 2012 Report Card was released in August. IMOS made
a strong contribution through Katy Hill, Anthony Richardson and others in the community, and
the important role of IMOS in observing change was well-represented in the report.
•
Bureau of Meteorology Marine Strategy: The Bureau is developing a Marine Strategy, led by
Boris Kelly-Gerreyn and overseen by a committee chaired by Warwick McDonald. IMOS is seen
as an eternal stakeholder of this process and we’ve had the opportunity to comment on a highlevel, one-page summary, and will have the opportunity to comment on the more detailed
strategy as it is developed. It’s great to see this happening, and IMOS will reciprocate by
ensuring the Bureau is well-engaged in development of IMOS forward strategy.
(c) DIISRTE and other NCRIS/EIF Capabilities
• Australian Research Committee (ARCom): This committee, led by the Chief Scientist, is
contributing to the development of a National Research Investment Plan (NRIP). The intention is
for the already developed Strategic Roadmap for Australian Research Infrastructure to be picked
up as the infrastructure component of the NRIP. This would be positive for IMOS as it is wellrepresented in the Roadmap. The IMOS Director has just been invited onto a new Research Data
Infrastructure Committee established by DIISRTE to inform ARCom. The first of six scheduled
meetings is to be held in Canberra on 31st August, with the final meeting in late February 2013.
•
Terrestrial Ecosystems Research Network (TERN): Collaborations proceeding in the areas of
satellite remote sensing processing and products (at NCI) and information infrastructure
(through AODN).
•
Atlas of Living Australia (ALA): Collaboration is being reinvigorated from an information
infrastructure/data availability perspective. John La Salle (CSIRO) is now the ALA Director, with
Donald Hobern going to GBIF.
•
eResearch: There continues to be a significant amount of activity in this domain:
o Research Data Storage Infrastructure (RDSI): RDSI is important because IMOS/AODN data is
currently stored on the ARCS Data Fabric, which is no longer supported by DIISRTE, and we
need to be engaged with the next version of national research data storage infrastructure. It
also helps to position IMOS/AODN as the focal point for marine data within the national
research data landscape. UTAS (in collaboration with CSIRO, AAD and Tasmanian State
Government) is establishing a Tasmanian Node of the national storage network funded at
$0.6M (for a one petabyte store), with potential to grow this by perhaps a further $1.5M.
Other Nodes are been established in Sydney (Intersect), Brisbane (QCIF), Canberra
(ANU/NCI), and Adelaide (eRSA). We would expect iVEC to establish a Node in Perth, and
that there will be an additional Node in Townsville (at JCU, under the QCIF banner). When
this national network is operational, IMOS will be well-placed to make good use of it through
our distributed, multi-institutional approach to data management.
o National eResearch Collaboration Tools and Resources (NeCTAR): NeCTAR is important as it
provides an opportunity to build new software tools and collaboration resources that will
enable better uptake and use of IMOS/AODN data, particularly through modelling. As noted
above, we have established a $0.7M ‘early activity’ MARine Virtual Laboratory (MARVL) and
have just been advised that our $1.5M ‘Stage 2’ proposal to take this fully national has been
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successful. This is very exciting, and quite a boon in advance of the ACOMO workshop. A
Climate and Weather Virtual Laboratory (led by BOM) is also being established, and scope
for collaboration is being explored. NeCTAR has also funded development of tools for
marine imagery/video (Curtin) which involves the AUV facility, eMII and other partners. In
addition, NeCTAR is funding research cloud computing facilities and the national strategy is
to co-locate these with RDSI Storage Nodes. UTAS (supported by CSIRO and AAD) has
proposed to establish a $1M research cloud facility around the Tasmanian RDSI Node, and
again we have just been advised that it’s approved.
o Australian National Data Service (ANDS): Productive collaboration continues, and UTAS has
led a proposal (in collaboration with CSIRO and Tasmanian State Government) to develop an
information systems ‘add-on’ to MARVL (called ‘MARVLIS’), which ANDS has funded at
$225K. Using some resources unspent from a previous project, we have also negotiated
with ANDS to put some support into South Australia (through Bronwyn Gillanders at Uni of
Adelaide) to bring SA Gulfs datasets into the AODN.
2.3 Regional Engagement
A brief summary of major activities:
WAIMOS
• Deployment of WA State Government funded moorings (by AIMS), gliders (by UWA) and
acoustic receivers by (SIMS/AIMS) proceeded very smoothly. This is a good indicator of the
capability and capacity built up in the Operating Institutions through IMOS.
• Dr Agi Gedeon has been appointed as the full time Executive Officer for WAIMOS.
• The 2012-13 Annual Business Plan for WA co-invested work has been approved by State
Government.
• Minister John Day launched the WA co-investment in the UWA Glider lab on 10th July.
• The IMOS Director presented to the WAMSI Board on 24th May.
• The WA ODN was launched on 7th July by WA Chief Scientist, Lyn Beazley. The launch date
provided a good focus for progressing negotiations with various partners about availability of
data. Priority datasets are from Department of Transport (tide gauges and wave rider buoys),
SRFME, WAMSI and RPS Metocean.
• Agreement has been reached with Darwin Ports Corporation (DPC) and AIMS about plans to
upgrade the Darwin NRS with a second mooring in Beagle Gulf to provide data for modelling
studies related to development in and around Darwin Harbour. DPC and IMOS (though AIMS)
will each invest $250K cash to enable this work to proceed.
QIMOS
• Agreement has been reached with CSIRO’s Wealth from Oceans Flagship (Andy Steven) to bring
the IMOS Palm Passage moorings into near real time and to deploy a Slocum Glider from
Gladstone into the GBR lagoon, in support of hydrodynamic and biogeochemical modelling
within the eReefs project. Note that in addition to being an important project of itself, eReefs is
the ‘marine’ pilot project of NPEI. WfO and IMOS will each invest $250K cash, and with in-kind
co-investment from CSIRO and AIMS, the package is worth $0.763M.
• The IMOS Director attended a workshop on the GBR Integrated Monitoring Framework project
in Townsville on 13-14th August. This project is being led by the NERP Marine Biodiversity Hub
and involves both the Tropical Ecosystems and Environmental Decisions Hubs. This project has
the potential to provide further user pull for IMOS and AODN in the GBR region.
• Good contact has been maintained with the Queensland Chief Scientist, Geoff Garrett. At
Geoff’s urging, the IMOS Director worked with Neville Exon of IODP to write an opinion piece on
the value of sustained observing, which was published in The Australian in April. We hope to
have other, related pieces published in the future.
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NSWIMOS
• The new facilities at SIMS were officially opened by Minister Chris Evans on 17th May. The role
of IMOS in supporting SIMS’ development was very well represented in the formal proceedings.
SAIMOS
• IMOS has negotiated with ANDS to invest some residual funding from another project to bring
all existing data sets in the SA Gulfs into AODN, to assist MISA with its ‘Gulfs and GAB’ focus.
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Appendix B – List of data streams that are available for use in research
All IMOS data is discoverable and accessible via the IMOS Ocean Portal http://imos.aodn.org.au/webportal/
1. The Argo Facility deployed 82 floats during the 2011/12 period, the fleet now stands at over 384
active floats. Near real time data is updated weekly to the IMOS Ocean Portal. Delayed mode
data can take up to 3 months to become available.
2. Ships of Opportunity
aa. XBT - Near real time data is available up until May 2012 (the latest voyages). Quality
controlled delayed mode data can be delayed by up to 12 months, but is available for the
CSIRO/Astrolabe lines up until December 2011. The Scripps and BOM lines data is available
up until December 2010.
ab. BGC - Near real time data is available via the Marine National Facility. Quality controlled
delayed mode data is available from the Southern Surveyor, Astrolabe and the Aurora
Australis up until late 2011.
ac. CPR - Quality controlled delayed mode zooplankton and phytoplankton data is available for
the AusCPR lines up until April 2012 (this includes the Southern Ocean phytoplankton data).
The Southern Ocean zooplankton data is available up until March 2010.
b. Tropical Research Vessels - Quality controlled delayed mode data from the two Research
Vessels Cape Ferguson and Solander, are available up to May/June 2012 (which were the
latest voyages).
c. SST - Near real time data is available up until June 2012 (which were the latest voyages).
d. Flux - Near real time data is available up until May/June 2012 (which were the latest
voyages).
e. BioAcoustic - Quality controlled delayed mode data is available from five vessels up until
March 2012.
f.
Temperate Merchant Vessels - Data from the Spirit of Tasmania 1 is available up until June
2010. Once approval has been granted the data up to January 2012 will be available also.
There are a few minor calibration issues, and expect to have all data to August 2012
available by end September 2012.
3. Australian Bluewater Observing System
a. Air-Sea Flux Stations - Near real time data for observations from the Southern Ocean Flux
station are available up until July 2012. Quality controlled delayed mode data for air-sea flux
products is available to July 2012, with a short lag for processing.
b. Southern Ocean Time Series - Raw data for Pulse 6 and 7 are available in the staging area,
and processed data will be available once final adjustments are made to the netCDF files.
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c. Deepwater Arrays – As none of the deep water moorings have been retrieved yet (the ITF
array is the first scheduled retrieval in September/October this year) and these moorings are
all operating in delayed mode only there is no data yet to make available.
4. Australian National Facility for Ocean Gliders
Near real time data is available for Seaglider missions on the IMOS Ocean Portal. Quality
controlled delayed mode data for 11 Slocum missions and 9 Seaglider missions were made
available to the IMOS Ocean Portal.
5. Autonomous Underwater Vehicle
Three new AUV campaigns (comprised of multiple dives) were added to the IMOS Ocean Portal.
6. Australian National Mooring Network
a. Queensland and Northern Australia Moorings - Quality controlled delayed mode data is
available for five moorings in the Southern Great Barrier Reef (GBR) up until March 2012,
four moorings in the Northern GBR up until November 2011, and four moorings in the
Indonesian Through Flow shelf mooring array up until May 2011.
b. NSW Moorings - Quality controlled delayed mode data is available for seven moorings in
NSW up until June 2012.
c. SA Moorings - No new data has been made available. There is quality controlled delayed
mode data for four moorings in SA up until April 2011.
d. WA Moorings - Quality controlled delayed mode data is available for seven moorings in WA
up until November 2011.
e. Acoustic Observations - No data is available yet via the IMOS Ocean Portal.
f.
National Reference Stations – Quality controlled delayed mode sensor and physical sampling
data is available for the nine NRS:
Mooring site
Sensor data
Physical sampling data
Yongala
October 2011
April 2012
Rottnest
January 2012
May 2012
Maria Island
April 2012
May 2012
Kangaroo Island
July 2011
April 2012
Esperance
May 2011
February 2012
Ningaloo
November 2011 February 2012
Port Hacking
February 2012
May 2012
Darwin
June 2011
April 2012
North Stradbroke Island
March 2012
June 2012
g. Acidification Moorings - Quality controlled delayed mode data is available for the Maria
Island acidification mooring up until November 2011.
7. Australian Coastal Ocean Radar Network
Near real time data is available for all of the radar stations, quality controlled delayed mode data
is available for three of the four WERA sites (GBR, Perth Canyon and SA Gulfs).
115
8. Australian Animal Tagging and Monitoring System
The AATAMS database is now available through the IMOS Ocean Portal and has 2,093,858
detections. Near real time satellite tagging data is available for the elephant seals, Weddell seals
and sea lions up until the end of 2011.
9. Facility for Automated Intelligent Monitoring of Marine Systems
Near real time data is available from each of the wireless sensor networks (Heron Island, One
Tree Island, Orpheus Island, Rib Reef, Myrmidon Reef, Davies Reef, and Lizard Island).
10. Satellite Remote Sensing
a. SST - The reprocessed and real-time single swath GHRSST L2P and L3U (back to 1998), multiswath L3C (back to 2008) and multi-sensor L3S files (back to 2002) have been released.
Multi-sensor L3S files from NOAA-15, NOAA-17, NOAA-18 and NOAA-19 satellites for 1, 3
and 6 day periods comprising day-only and night-only skin SST data are now being produced
to cover the Australian region.
b. Satellite Ocean Colour - The BioOptical Database is being populated with historical data sets
from around the country.
c. Satellite Altimetry Calibration and Validation - Quality controlled delayed mode data is
available from the Storm Bay and Bass Strait moorings up until February 2012, which was
the last deployment.
116
Appendix C – Performance indicator reports
On the IMOS website at http://imos.org.au/reports1.html we have provided the full Performance
Indicator report, showing IMOS performance in the following areas:
•
•
•
•
Research projects – ongoing and new research projects using IMOS data
Postgraduate research projects – using IMOS data
Publications using IMOS data:
o Journals
o In press
o Book chapters
o Conference proceedings
o Community white papers / technical papers
o Reports
o Thesis
Details of participation by IMOS in:
o Conferences, symposia or workshops
o Public seminars
A graph summarising achievement as at June 2011 verses June 2012 is below:
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
June 2011
June 2012
IMOS has also agreed on a number of other PI which we track. These are as follows, and are
recorded in the individual Facility Reports in Appendix A:
•
•
•
Providing research infrastructure
o Details of new infrastructure
o Continuity of one key time series of data
Quality of research infrastructure
o Benchmark against similar overseas infrastructure
Fostering collaborative development of infrastructure
o Participation in international programs collecting similar data streams
o Other collaborations
117
Appendix D – Node and Steering Committee report
1. Summary
This year has seen a strong focus on the uptake and use of IMOS data; as IMOS data-streams
continue to grow, the impact is being seen in terms of projects, publications and visibility at key
conferences such as the Australian Marine Sciences Association. All nodes continue to ensure
IMOS data is taken up and used to address the science questions identified, and showcase IMOS
results at conferences and workshops.
The Node meetings have now become robust scientific discussions about the progress against
science questions, use of data-streams and building collaborations, attracting participants from
universities, Federal Agencies and State Government. It is pleasing to see an increasing number
of PhD’s and Post Docs attending these meetings, and giving talks. In addition, it is an
opportunity to provide feedback on how the data are packaged and delivered, to ensure that the
data-streams meet the needs of the users; this is particularly important as the volume of data
being delivered by IMOS grows.
IMOS has been a specific focus in 2 postgraduate units this year:
• The Sydney Institute of Marine Sciences coordinated a “Topics in Marine Sciences” masters
unit, based on IMOS data-streams. The course draws on students from the University of New
South Wales, the University of Technology Sydney, Macquarie University and the University
of Sydney. 24 students enrolled in the inaugural year. Many NSW based facility leaders were
involved in teaching the course; The IMOS office and eMII were involved in supporting the
development of course material; and gave an IMOS data workshop to the students on the
31st May 2012.
•
An IMOS data workshop was also held for 17 students on the 16th May 2012 by the IMOS
office/eMII for the Southern Ocean Zooplankton course as part of the Masters in Marine and
Antarctic Studies, coordinated by the TasIMOS deputy Node Leader, Kerrie Swadling through
the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) at the University of Tasmania.
2. Key Activities
2.1. Steering Committee Meetings
16th August 2011, Melbourne Airport - Agenda Items:
- DIISRTE Strategic Roadmap
- Finalising draft Decadal Strategy and National Science and Implementation Plan in
response to the Roadmap
- Documenting progress and achievements
- Node governance
- Effort to promote data uptake and use – experiences and lessons learnt
- QA/QC of data-streams
- Investing funding flexibility
- Observing system evaluation project
7th February 2012, Teleconference - Agenda items:
- Update on agenda items above
- Caucus on Node activities/issues ahead of IMOS Annual Planning Meeting
21st May 2012, Teleconference - Agenda Items:
- Update post May Budget, implications for IMOS and next steps
118
IMOS III Planning Process
Science plans: status and process for updating
-
2.2. Node activities
•
Queensland’s IMOS:
Two QIMOS meetings were held (4th August 2011, Brisbane; 5th August 2011, Townsville)
and attended by around 40 people in total, and were particularly successful in attracting
interest from state government agencies DERM and DEEDI, as well as GBRMPA.
Observations during this year’s floods and Cyclone Yasi were the focus of discussion, and
planned and potential papers on these topics were discussed.
•
Southern Australian IMOS:
The SAIMOS meeting held 21st September 2011 attracted ~50 attendees from Flinders
and Adelaide Universities, SARDI, as well as strong representation from the state
government agencies (SA Dept. Environment and Natural Resources, Environmental
Protection Agency). The opportunities presented by a combination of the IMOS datastreams and the Marine Innovation South Australia (MISA) plan were discussed.
•
Tasmanian IMOS:
Around 60 participants from the University of Tasmania, CSIRO and the Australian
Antarctic Division attended the TasIMOS meeting on 9th December 2011. The main focus
of the meeting was around the role of the node in promoting the use of data-streams,
discussion on the delivery of data and user requirements, and how the node can shape
how the observing system develops. Future meetings will include invites to the state
agency representatives.
•
New South Wales IMOS
The NSW-IMOS meeting on 30th May 2012 was attended by around 35 representatives
from the 4 partner universities in SIMS (from PhD students to Professors), as well as
representatives from the Royal Australian Navy and NSW Dept Primary Industries. Talks
were focussed on the use of IMOS data-streams to address node science questions, with
many talks being given by PhD students. The Node has held monthly Scientific Steering
Committee meetings to build and maintain momentum within the community.
• Western Australian IMOS
The WAIMOS AGM on 10th November 2011 was well-attended, and the scientific
steering committee had interacted though the year. New activities funded by the
Western Australian government co-investment have been successfully deployed.
WAIMOS have also appointed Dr Agi Gedeon as a full time Manager through the WA
Government funding. Agi will be working with the Node leadership and IMOS office to
promote the use and applications of data in the WAIMOS region.
• Bluewater and Climate Node
The Bluewater Node represents IMOS at a range of international meetings, to ensure
IMOS connects to international ocean observing initiatives. Publications and conference
activities are listed under the facility reports. An all-Node meeting is scheduled for
November 2012.
119
Appendix E – Milestone reports
Appendix E.1 – NCRIS milestone report
Facility
Operator
NCRIS Milestone
Due Date
02 SOOP
Subfacility
02ab BGC
Jun12
Status
In
progress
CSIRO
Complete laboratory van and make real time data
available from l’Astrolabe
Mar-11
03 ABOS
03a ASFS
BOM
Jun-11
Achieved
03 ABOS
03b SOTS
CSIRO/
UTAS
SOFS quality controlled data sets updated to eMII
portal
Protocols for delivery of Pulse and profiler data to
eMII finalized.
Jun-10
Achieved
03 ABOS
03b SOTS
CSIRO/
UTAS
Pulse, Profiler, SAZ quality controlled data sets
updated to eMII portal
Jun-11
Achieved
04 ANFOG
04 ANFOG
UWA
Slocum glider off Western Australia for 80% of time.
Jun-10
Deleted
04 ANFOG
04 ANFOG
UWA
Assessment of the national capability to use gliders
Dec-09
05 AUV
05 AUV
SIMS
Upload of remaining data sets
Jun-10
In
progress
Achieved
05 AUV
05 AUV
SIMS
Imaging System Upgrade
Dec-10
Achieved
Comments
Some delays experienced due to getting other IMOS
work (early deployment of KAI mooring). No data will
be lost. Expect to have the orders in by 15 August,
with a planned delivery by 1 December 2102.
Trial data for Pulse-6 and 7 delivered to eMII in netCDF
format. Minor changes required by eMII for final data
set, awaiting eMII comments. The dataset includes all
sensor data, except RAS water bag analysis.
Pulse-7 O2-optode post-recovery calibrations are now
complete and good to better than 1.5 umol/kg. This
data is now finalised and ready for transfer to eMII.
Now achieving 65% continuity, but agreed this
milestone is not necessary going forward.
Report to be completed by September 2012
We have uploaded a number of additional datasets
and are now working through the historical archives to
ensure that all previous datasets are available through
the eMII interface.
We have completed the integration of the gigE
cameras and have used recent deployments to test
and validate the performance of the cameras. We
have also begun experimenting with forward looking
cameras to determine appropriate camera placement
and lighting requirements.
120
Facility
Subfacility
05 AUV
Operator
NCRIS Milestone
Due Date
SIMS
Start of vehicle redesign
Mar-11
Jun12
Status
Achieved
Curtin
Data from PCA-3 submitted to eMII
Mar-11
Achieved
07 ACORN
06e
Acoustic
07 ACORN
JCU
Dec-11
Deleted
07 ACORN
07 ACORN
07 ACORN
07 ACORN
JCU
JCU
Sep-11
Jun-10
Achieved
Achieved
08
AATAMS
09
FAIMMS
08
AATAMS
09
FAIMMS
SIMS
Install Coffs Harbour radar or determine alternate use
for these funds
Complete upload of WERA data
2x WERA Stations in NSW Coffs Harbour with near
real-time data flowing to archive
Complete OTN installations
Dec-10
Deleted
Mar-11
Achieved
10 eMII
10 eMII
UTAS
Jun-10
Achieved
10 eMII
10 eMII
UTAS
Jun-10
Achieved
10 eMII
10 eMII
UTAS
Installation of second generation equipment, including
additional sensors, at southern sites. Delivery of data
from all sensor networks to eMII.
Integrate RAMADDA with IMOS Data System and
rollout
IMOS Data System release (v3) including findings of
feedback survey
Release 3D data visualisation and analysis tool (v1)
Sep-10
Deleted
10 eMII
10 eMII
UTAS
Dec-10
Achieved
10 eMII
10 eMII
10b AODN
10b AODN
UTAS
UTAS
Sep-11
Dec-11
Achieved
Achieved
10 eMII
10b AODN
UTAS
Release of IMOS Data System (v4) including
implementation of OGC SOS
Ocean Current visible
Plan and milestones for AODN to be agreed with
AODCJF at 18Oct11 meeting
Finalise Bluenet records and website
Dec-10
Achieved
05 AUV
06 ANMN
AIMS
Comments
We have been in touch with manufacturers
concerning our requirements for propulsion,
navigation and communication systems. The detailed
design of the vehicle has been started. The new
software systems have been developed and will be
tested on the existing vehicle in up-coming
deployments.
No longer required as Coffs radar installed March 2012
Deleted as now shown as an EIF milestone
CSIRO taken over lead development, project now
called TrikeND, and eMII contribution delayed and
effort significantly reduced.
150 more Bluenet records added - the coastalcoms
and Jervis Bay datasets. 650 now public, thus 82%
complete.
121
Facility
Operator
NCRIS Milestone
Due Date
10 eMII
Subfacility
10b AODN
UTAS
Jun-12
10 eMII
10 eMII
10 eMII
10 eMII
10b AODN
10b AODN
10b AODN
10b AODN
UTAS
UTAS
UTAS
UTAS
30Apr12 Aus-EU RI report on interoperability
experiment
31May12 Aus-EU RI final report
New Portal functions
Roadshows (6) completed
Tas, Qld AODN visible
Jun12
Status
Achieved
Jun-12
Jun-12
Jun-12
Jun-12
Achieved
Achieved
Achieved
Achieved
10 eMII
10 eMII
10b AODN
10b AODN
UTAS
UTAS
Dec-11
Jun-11
Achieved
Achieved
10 eMII
10 eMII
10 eMII
10b AODN
10b AODN
10c Ocean
Current
10c Ocean
Current
UTAS
UTAS
CSIRO
15Dec11 New Portal functions
Final report, including requirements for sustained
AODN
15Oct11 Monthly AODN data reporting started
31Jan11 WA-AODN visible
IMOS Chl-a data shown on website
Dec-11
Mar-12
Mar-12
Achieved
Achieved
Achieved
CSIRO
Switchover to new version of sea-level analysis system
Jun-12
Achieved
10c Ocean
Current
10c Ocean
Current
CSIRO
IMOS-branded website and feed of GSLA to eMII
established
IMOS SST data products shown on website
Sep-11
Achieved
Dec-11
Achieved
10 eMII
10 eMII
10 eMII
CSIRO
Comments
3 more roadshows completed in 2011-12
Pending successful release of WA AODN portal in
August. However, more Qld and Tas data available
Launch of full WA-AODN portal planned for 7 August
The new system is being used for production of the
near-real-time maps, and has been used for a 19922012 reanalysis, but is not yet declared finished.
Changes made so far are: sourcing raw input data
from the NOAA RADS system, improved error
detection and reporting, cleaning-up of software
source files, use of new BLUElink reference sea level,
and redefinition of the covariance structure
underpinning the mapping software. But some desired
improvements have not yet been made.
122
Facility
Subfacility
11a SST
L2P
Operator
NCRIS Milestone
Due Date
BOM
Reprocessed AVHRR SST data for the Australian region
back to 1992, full 1 km resolution, calibrated and
validated and with estimated errors, available to the
AO-DAAC and eMII
Jun-11
Jun12
Status
Achieved
11b
AODAAC
11b
AODAAC
CSIRO
Dec-10
Achieved
Mar-11
In
progress
11 SRS
11b
AODAAC
CSIRO
Jun-11
In
progress
11 SRS
11b
AODAAC
CSIRO
Dec-10
Achieved
11 SRS
11d Colour
CSIRO
Dec-10
Delayed
This will be done by September 2012 as schedule for
re-establishment of LJCO was delayed by the jetty
operators
11 SRS
11d Colour
CSIRO
Prototype interface to operational AODAAC visible in
development IMOS portal.
AODAAC live with SRS-sourced data (existing 11a SST
and 11d Ocean colour) in operational IMOS Portal.
Aggregator-output netCDF files to conform to eMII
promulgated standard.
User documentation, in the form of downloadable
tutorials and a reference manual, available from IMOS
portal.
Harvester administration interface completed;
including documentation for operation and
maintenance of harvester.
Full automation of the instrument control: •An
autonomous switching filtering system installed to
measure also the dissolved absorption spectral
coefficients. •Automated winch control implemented
to maintain the instruments at a nominal depth of 2
meters below the water surface and enabling
automatic profiling of the water column
Near-real-time data distributed to the community via
the IMOS Ocean Portal
Dec-10
Delayed
12 Office
12 Office
UTAS
Reposition Moorings - (31Oct11) IMOS Office to agree
on process to review structure of the mooring facilities
Dec-11
Achieved
This will be done by September 2012 as schedule for
re-establishment of LJCO was delayed by late
completion of engineering works
11 SRS
11 SRS
11 SRS
CSIRO
Comments
Due to IMOS Scientific Programmer, George Paltoglou,
leaving BoM in April 2012 there has been a 3 month
delay in the reprocessing while his replacement, Chris
Griffin, rewrote the processing scripts to make more
reliable. Expect to commence reprocessing NOAA-11
and NOAA-12 starting from 1992 in July 2012. IMOS
data (ie the post 1998 data) is complete, and we
expect to complete the full re-processing of all data
from 1992 onwards by June 2013
eMII are making progress on this following the launch
of the new portal. Achieved July 2012
The harvesting of the data is achieved. Exposure is
contingent upon eMII delivering the portal integration.
Expect completion December 2012
To be led by eMII, for review by CSIRO October 2012,
completion December 2012
123
Facility
Operator
NCRIS Milestone
Due Date
12 Office
Subfacility
12 Office
UTAS
Dec-11
12 Office
12 Office
UTAS
Sep-11
Achieved
12 Office
12 Office
UTAS
Dec-11
Achieved
12 Office
12 Office
UTAS
Mar-12
12 Office
12 Office
UTAS
In
progress
In
progress
Opportunities are being progressed with Board
endorsement expected by Dec12
Opportunities are being progressed with Board
endorsement expected by Dec12
12 Office
12 Office
UTAS
In
progress
Opportunities are being progressed with Board
endorsement expected by Dec12
12 Office
12 Office
12 Office
12 Office
UTAS
UTAS
12 Office
12 Office
UTAS
12 Office
12 Office
UTAS
Reposition Moorings - Hold a meeting to agree on key
initiatives to be undertaken
Progress Report 5 and Business Plan 5 (to cover the
period July 2011 to June 2013)
(31Oct11) All payments due for work to June 2011
paid to Operators, and final acquittals received
Reposition Moorings - Agree on how funding will be
used to reposition the mooring facilities
Leveraging State Government co-investments ongoing consultation with the Nodes to take
advantage of upcoming State Government coinvestment opportunities
Contingency - IMOS Director to assess problems
arising and make decisions on the best use of
unallocated funding
NZ Symposium - Project proposal and budget
NZ Symposium - Visits to New Zealand by IMOS
personnel to identify collaborative opportunities and
develop agenda and invitee list for marine observation
symposium
NZ Symposium - Australian and New Zealand marine
observation symposium to explore and develop
collaborative opportunities
Completion of marine observation work program to
progress agreed outcomes of symposium (due three
months after symposium)
Jun12
Status
Achieved
Jun-12
Jun-12
Jun-11
Aug-11
Achieved
Achieved
Sep-11
Achieved
Mar-12
Achieved
Comments
124
Appendix E.2 – EIF milestone report
Facility
Operator
EIF Milestone
01 Argo
Subfacility
01 Argo
CSIRO
01 Argo
01 Argo
CSIRO
01 Argo
01 Argo
CSIRO
01 Argo
01 Argo
CSIRO
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02aa XBT
02aa XBT
CSIRO
CSIRO
02 SOOP
02aa XBT
CSIRO
02 SOOP
02ab BGC
CSIRO
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02ab BGC
02ab BGC
CSIRO
CSIRO
02 SOOP
02ac CPR
CSIRO
02 SOOP
02ac CPR
CSIRO
02 SOOP
02ac CPR
CSIRO
Maintain an array of 240 active Argo floats and deliver
their data in realtime to eMII the global Argo data
system
Maintain an array of 240 active Argo floats and deliver
their data in realtime to eMII the global Argo data
system
Maintain an array of 240 active Argo floats and deliver
their data in realtime to eMII the global Argo data
system
Maintain an array of 240 active Argo floats and deliver
their data in realtime to eMII the global Argo data
system
New XBT systems purchased and installed
All XBT data for 2011 processed, QCd and delivered to
eMII, NODC, BOM and RAN
Maintain data stream and deliver near real-time QC
data products to IMOS
Delayed mode pCO 2 data for 2010-2011 season
complete for l’Astrolabe, Southern Surveyor and
Aurora Australis
Real-time data available from Aurora Australis
Complete 2011-2012 field season for Aurora Australis
and l’Astrolabe
Initiate Quarterly Great Barrier Reef route (Cairns to
Gladstone)
Initiate quarterly Tasman Sea route (from Brisbane);
Data delivered to eMII
Continuation of AusCPR routes; Initiate south-west
Western Australia route; Initiate north-west Western
Australian route
Due Date
Sep-11
Jun12
Status
Achieved
Dec-11
Achieved
Mar-12
Achieved
Jun-12
Achieved
Dec-11
Mar-12
Achieved
Achieved
Jun-12
Achieved
Sep-11
Achieved
Dec-11
Mar-12
Achieved
Achieved
Dec-10
Achieved
Jun-11
Achieved
Sep-11
Achieved
Comments
125
Facility
Operator
EIF Milestone
02 SOOP
Subfacility
02ac CPR
CSIRO
02 SOOP
02ac CPR
CSIRO
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02ac CPR
02ac CPR
CSIRO
CSIRO
02 SOOP
AIMS
02 SOOP
02b
Tropical
02b
Tropical
02c SST
02 SOOP
02c SST
BOM
02 SOOP
02c SST
BOM
02 SOOP
02d Flux
BOM
02 SOOP
02e BioAcoustic
02e BioAcoustic
02e BioAcoustic
02e BioAcoustic
02e BioAcoustic
02e BioAcoustic
CSIRO
Initiate south-west Western Australia route; Initiate
north-west Western Australian route
Continuation of AusCPR routes; Annual evaluation of
strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for the
AusCPR survey
Continuation of AusCPR routes
Continuation of AusCPR routes and deliver data to
eMII.
All new data processed and lodged in AIMS Data
Centre for transfer to eMII
All new data processed and lodged in AIMS Data
Centre for transfer to eMII
Data stream quality maintained by recalibrating all
pre-existing IMOS hull-contact temperature sensors
4 additional hull-contact temperature sensors
purchased
Near real-time, QC’d, SST provided to GTS and Ocean
Portal from 13 vessels for access by users
Real-time data stream maintained (including
instrument calibration and Meta-data) and provided
to eMII over last 12 months to enable user access
Posting of quality controlled data from several vessels
in eMII.
New instrument installed on a selected vessel and
calibrated with data streaming to eMII
Summary report of data holdings summary statistics
and uptake of users
Installation of new instrument completed for Tasman
Sea
Posting of quality controlled data from all vessels –
with feedback of requirements from users.
Vessels calibrated and quality controlled data posted
to eMII web page.
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
AIMS
BOM
CSIRO
CSIRO
CSIRO
CSIRO
CSIRO
Due Date
Sep-11
Jun12
Status
Achieved
Dec-11
Achieved
Mar-12
Jun-12
Achieved
Achieved
Dec-11
Achieved
Jun-12
Achieved
Dec-11
Achieved
Mar-12
Achieved
Jun-12
Achieved
Jun-12
Achieved
Mar-11
Achieved
Jun-11
Achieved
Sep-11
Achieved
Dec-11
Achieved
Mar-12
Achieved
Jun-12
Achieved
Comments
126
Facility
Operator
EIF Milestone
03 ABOS
Subfacility
03a ASFS
BOM
03 ABOS
03a ASFS
BOM
03 ABOS
03a ASFS
BOM
Subject to successful deployment and recovery of
SOFS-A1 and board approval, ensure WHOI contract in
place to construct SOFS-B1 mooring
Deploy SOFS-A2 mooring to ensure real-time datastream resumes reliably ASAP
Delayed-mode SOFS meteorological and current meter
data streams delivered to eMII to assist user access
03 ABOS
03b SOTS
03 ABOS
03b SOTS
CSIRO/
UTAS
CSIRO/U
TAS
03 ABOS
03b SOTS
03 ABOS
03 ABOS
03 ABOS
Due Date
Jun-11
Jun12
Status
Achieved
Sep-11
Achieved
Mar-12
In
progress
Recover SAZ13 redeploy as SAZ14; Deploy Pulse8
Sep-11
Achieved
Deploy Profilers 4 and 5
Dec-11
Delayed
CSIRO/
UTAS
Pulse7, SAZ12, Profiler 4 and 5 data delivered to eMII
Jun-12
Achieved
03c DA
03c DA
03c DA
CSIRO
CSIRO
CSIRO
Jun-11
Sep-11
Dec-11
Achieved
Achieved
Achieved
03 ABOS
03c DA
CSIRO
Mar-12
Achieved
03 ABOS
04 ANFOG
03c DA
04 ANFOG
CSIRO
UWA
Finalize design of EAC mooring array.
Acquisition of instruments for EAC mooring array;
Final EAC mooring array design and begin
construction;
Construction of EAC mooring array completed;
Assessment of construction of Polynya and ITF
moorings - structural and deployment procedures
Deployment of EAC mooring array
First deployment of slocum gliders in Tasmania
Jun-12
Jun-10
Achieved
Achieved
Comments
The primary dataset (Meteorology) has been quality
controlled and corrected for instrument and clock
drift. This dataset has been delivered to eMII. The
current meter dataset will be delivered by August
2012.
Alec PAR sensors not available - so this potential
improvement has been cancelled. First testing of
these 2 floats by Teledyne revealed no leaks, but we
have argued that the testing was insufficient in
duration and in terms of pressure cycling and have
asked for longer tests. Deployment of these floats
delayed until this is resolved. Earliest possible
deployment is now Sept 2012 from Aurora.
SAZ Current meter data delivered to eMII. SAZ
sediment trap delivered to eMII. The Profiler 4 and 5
data is Delayed and will be tracked by the separate
Milestone ‘Deploy Profilers 4 and 5’
127
Facility
Operator
EIF Milestone
04 ANFOG
Subfacility
04 ANFOG
UWA
04 ANFOG
04 ANFOG
UWA
All ocean gliders in the ANFOG fleet (6 Slocums and 11
Seagliders) deployed on missions at least once.
Successful deployment of a Seaglider, south of
Tasmania, traverse to SOTS site and return.
04 ANFOG
04 ANFOG
UWA
04 ANFOG
04 ANFOG
UWA
04 ANFOG
04 ANFOG
UWA
04 ANFOG
04 ANFOG
UWA
04 ANFOG
04 ANFOG
UWA
04 ANFOG
04 ANFOG
UWA
04 ANFOG
04 ANFOG
UWA
04 ANFOG
04 ANFOG
UWA
Calibration procedures for biogeochemical data from
gliders finalized. Advice on removal of salinity spiking
from Slocum data.
Advice on removal of salinity spiking from Slocum
data.
Order Slocum glider for Kimberley (from IMOS
funding); Recruitment of ANFOG personnel.
Annual total deployments of 24 gliders at all sites
(Coral Sea, NSW, Tasmania, SOTS, SA and WA)
Delivery of Slocum glider. Order 2 slocum glider for
Pilbara line and interchange (from WA Government
funding). First deployment of Slocum glider along the
Kimberley line completed.
Second deployment of Slocum glider along the
Kimberley line completed. First deployment of Slocum
glider along the Pilbara line completed. Data for
deployments in previous quarter available through
eMII
All glider deployments producing real-time data via
eMII and GTS
All glider deployments producing real-time data via
eMII and GTS
Due Date
Comments
Mar-11
Jun12
Status
Achieved
Jun-11
Deleted
Glider transects to the Southern Ocean Time Series
site will be been paused during 2012-13, in part due to
excessive bio-fouling and concerns about integrity of
bio-optical data. Data streams collected to date will
be analysed and anti-fouling options investigated
before any further transects are undertaken
Sep-11
Achieved
Sep-11
Achieved
Sep-11
Achieved
Dec-11
Achieved
Dec-11
Achieved
Mar-12
Achieved
Mar-12
Achieved
Jun-12
Achieved
128
Facility
Operator
EIF Milestone
04 ANFOG
Subfacility
04 ANFOG
UWA
05 AUV
05 AUV
05 AUV
05 AUV
05 AUV
05 AUV
SIMS
SIMS
SIMS
Third deployment of Slocum glider along the
Kimberley line completed. Second deployment of
Slocum glider along the Pilbara line completed. Data
for deployments in previous quarter available through
eMII
Repeat of reference sites in tropical WA
Repeat of reference sites in NSW & Qld
New vehicle coming online
05 AUV
05 AUV
SIMS
06 ANMN
06a
Qld&NA
06a
Qld&NA
06a
Qld&NA
06a
Qld&NA
06a
Qld&NA
06a
Qld&NA
06a
Qld&NA
06b NSW
AIMS
06 ANMN
06 ANMN
06 ANMN
06 ANMN
06 ANMN
06 ANMN
06 ANMN
AIMS
AIMS
AIMS
AIMS
AIMS
AIMS
SIMS
Jun-12
Jun12
Status
Achieved
Sep-11
Dec-11
Mar-12
Achieved
Achieved
Deleted
Jun-12
Achieved
Sep-11
Achieved
Sep-11
Achieved
Service NGBR array and Yongala, Ningaloo and Darwin
NRS; Submit QA SGBR and ITF datastreams to eMII;
Dec11 Instrumentation received in Townsville
Dec-11
Achieved
Dec-11
Achieved
Feb12 Initial deployment of Kimberley and Pilbara
transects
Service SGBR array and ITF transect. Submit QA NGBR,
Yongala, Darwin, Ningaloo datastreams to eMII
Service NGBR array and Yongala, Ningaloo and Darwin
NRS; Submit QA SGBR and ITF datastreams to eMII;
Appoint a Mooring Technician (0.25FTE)to develop
NSW shelf mooring infrastructure.
Mar-12
Achieved
Mar-12
Achieved
Jun-12
Achieved
Sep-11
Achieved
Repeat of reference sites in Tasmania and temperate
WA; Data delivered to eMII
Service SGBR array and ITF transect. Submit QA NGBR,
Yongala, Darwin, Ningaloo datastreams to eMII
Aug11 Design moorings and order instrumentation
Due Date
Comments
With the AUV Sirius back online and continuing to fulfil
its role of collecting repeat survey data for the benthic
observing program, our team of engineers have now
started on the detailed design of the new vehicle.
Milestone Deleted as a new vehicle is not a
requirement of the agreed Project Plan, rather it is
envisaged (via co-investment funds) if IMOS is
extended past June 2013
129
Facility
Operator
EIF Milestone
06 ANMN
Subfacility
06b NSW
SIMS
06 ANMN
06b NSW
SIMS
06 ANMN
06b NSW
SIMS
06 ANMN
06b NSW
SIMS
Development of mooring research infrastructure at 8
mooring sites and 4 stations at Port Hacking to
produce data streams
Development of mooring research infrastructure at 8
mooring sites and 4 stations at Port Hacking to
produce data streams
Development of mooring research infrastructure at 8
mooring sites and 4 stations at Port Hacking to
produce data streams
Development of mooring research infrastructure at 8
mooring sites and 4 stations at Port Hacking to
produce data streams
06 ANMN
06c SA
SARDI
06 ANMN
06c SA
SARDI
06 ANMN
06c SA
SARDI
06 ANMN
06c SA
SARDI
06 ANMN
06d WA
CSIRO
06 ANMN
06d WA
CSIRO
06 ANMN
06d WA
CSIRO
06 ANMN
06d WA
CSIRO
06 ANMN
06e
Acoustic
Curtin
Development of mooring research infrastructure at 4
sites to produce data streams
Development of mooring research infrastructure at 6
sites to produce data streams
Development of mooring research infrastructure at 6
sites to produce data streams
Development of mooring research infrastructure at 3
sites to produce data streams
Development of mooring research infrastructure at 10
sites to produce data streams
Development of mooring research infrastructure at 9
sites to produce data streams
Development of mooring research infrastructure at 9
sites to produce data streams
Development of mooring research infrastructure at 9
sites to produce data streams
Turnaround Perth Canyon moorings (recover PCA-4,
deploy PCA-5)
Due Date
Sep-11
Jun12
Status
Achieved
Dec-11
Achieved
Mar-12
Achieved
Jun-12
Achieved
Sep-11
Achieved
Dec-11
Achieved
Mar-12
Achieved
Jun-12
Achieved
Sep-11
Achieved
Dec-11
Achieved
Mar-12
Achieved
Jun-12
Achieved
Sep-11
Achieved
Comments
Loss of PH100 mooring in May 2012 resulted in
permanent data losses for that mooring for that
quarter. The PH100 mooring has been reinstated and
we are awaiting outcome of the insurance claim (will
advise further in the 2011-12 Progress Report). All
data collected from the remaining NSW moorings has
been delivered to the Portal.
130
Facility
Operator
EIF Milestone
Curtin
Curtin
Turnaround NSW & Portland moorings (recover NSW2 deploy NSW-3, recover PORT-3, deploy PORT-4)
Data from PCA-4 submitted to eMII
Curtin
06 ANMN
06 ANMN
Subfacility
06e
Acoustic
06e
Acoustic
06e
Acoustic
06e
Acoustic
06f NRS
06f NRS
06 ANMN
06f NRS
CSIRO
06 ANMN
06f NRS
CSIRO
06 ANMN
06f NRS
CSIRO
06 ANMN
06 ANMN
06g pCO2
06g pCO2
CSIRO
CSIRO
06 ANMN
06g pCO2
CSIRO
07 ACORN
07 ACORN
JCU
07 ACORN
07 ACORN
JCU
07 ACORN
07 ACORN
JCU
06 ANMN
06 ANMN
06 ANMN
06 ANMN
Dec-11
Jun12
Status
Achieved
Mar-12
Achieved
Data from NSW-2 & PORT-3 submitted to eMII
Jun-12
Achieved
Curtin
Contract commencement and hardware purchased
Jun-12
Achieved
CSIRO
CSIRO
Deploy Bio-optic sensors on 4 NRS
Deploy MAR ADCP. Delivery of data from all stations in
the network to eMII.
Delivery of data from all stations in the network to
eMII.
Deploy ADCP ESP and ROT. Delivery of data from all
stations in the network to eMII. Deploy South-East
Queensland shelf array
Delivery of data from all stations in the network to
eMII.
Finalise Design pCO2 KAI
Deploy pCO2 MAR. Delivery of data from all pCO2
stations in the network to eMII.
Deploy pCO2 KAI. Delivery of data from all pCO2
stations in the network to eMII.
Maintain and operate 6 radar sites. Provide near realtime, raw and delayed mode data to eMII to enable
eMII to deliver radar data and products to the Nodes.
Maintain and operate 6 radar sites. Provide near realtime, raw and delayed mode data to eMII to enable
eMII to deliver radar data and products to the Nodes.
Jun-11
Sep-11
Achieved
Achieved
Dec-11
Achieved
Mar-12
Achieved
Jun-12
Achieved
Mar-11
Sep-11
Achieved
Achieved
Jun-12
Achieved
Sep-11
Deleted
See similar milestone in December 2011 quarter
Dec-11
Deleted
Mar-12
Deleted
5 dual radar sites operational providing required data.
Coffs Harbour now installed, data to flow to eMII
within one month of installation. [Deleted as identical
to the March 2012 Milestone]
Replaced by the June 2012 milestone
Maintain and operate 6 radar sites. Provide near realtime, raw and delayed mode data to eMII to enable
eMII to deliver radar data and products to the Nodes.
Due Date
Comments
131
Facility
Operator
EIF Milestone
07 ACORN
Subfacility
07 ACORN
JCU
Jun-12
08
AATAMS
08
AATAMS
08
AATAMS
08
AATAMS
08
AATAMS
08
AATAMS
SIMS
Maintain and operate 6 radar sites. Provide near realtime, raw and delayed mode data to eMII to enable
eMII to deliver radar data and products to the Nodes.
Tas OTN - Order equipment
Jun12
Status
Achieved
Jun-11
Achieved
Sep-11
Achieved
Sep-11
Achieved
08
AATAMS
08
AATAMS
08
AATAMS
08
AATAMS
SIMS
Servicing and redeployment of AATAMS curtains,
provide delayed mode data to eMII .
Jul11 Design following outline in WA science plan;
Aug11 Purchase 50 Vemco units, 100 V16 tags and
begin mooring construction
AATAMS Data Workshop
Dec-11
Achieved
SIMS
Tas OTN - Construct moorings and deploy lines
Dec-11
In
progress
08
AATAMS
08
AATAMS
08
AATAMS
08
AATAMS
08
AATAMS
08
AATAMS
09
FAIMMS
08
AATAMS
08
AATAMS
08
AATAMS
08
AATAMS
08
AATAMS
08
AATAMS
09
FAIMMS
SIMS
Nov11 deployments of units around Rowley Shoals
and tagging of 50 animals.
Tas OTN - Logistic preparations for line service
Dec-11
Achieved
Mar-12
Achieved
Mar12 deployments of units around Scott Reef and
tagging of 50 animals.
SOSS and MAPSO: Biologgers deployed, provide
delayed mode data to eMII.
Servicing and redeployment of AATAMS curtains,
provide delayed mode data to eMII .
Tas OTN - Data retrieval and line service
Mar-12
Achieved
Mar-12
Achieved
Jun-12
Achieved
Jun-12
Achieved
Sep-11
Achieved
09
FAIMMS
09
FAIMMS
AIMS
Updating of sensor equipment and installation of
additional sensors on the central sites. Delivery of data
from all sensor networks to eMII.
Pre-summer servicing of equipment and updating of
sensors to support monitoring of summer conditions.
Delivery of data from all sensor networks to eMII.
Dec-11
Achieved
SIMS
SIMS
SIMS
SIMS
SIMS
SIMS
SIMS
AIMS
Due Date
Comments
Last line scheduled for July 2012, but due to logistical
issues and vessel time, this deployment has been
delayed until later this year.
132
Facility
Operator
EIF Milestone
09
FAIMMS
09
FAIMMS
Subfacility
09
FAIMMS
09
FAIMMS
AIMS
Delivery of data from all sensor networks to eMII.
AIMS
10 eMII
10 eMII
UTAS
10 eMII
10 eMII
UTAS
10 eMII
10 eMII
UTAS
10 eMII
10 eMII
UTAS
11 SRS
11a SST
L2P
BOM
11 SRS
11a SST
L2P
BOM
Updating of sensor equipment and installation of
additional sensors at the northern sites. Delivery of
data from all sensor networks to eMII.
First EIF data products available. All IMOS data
discoverable and accessible through the IMOS Ocean
Portal.
Portal v5 released. All IMOS data discoverable and
accessible through the IMOS Ocean Portal.
EIF data products available – for education. All IMOS
data discoverable and accessible through the IMOS
Ocean Portal.
Review of portal functionality. All IMOS data
discoverable and accessible through the IMOS Ocean
Portal.
All available, archived, raw AVHRR data from Casey
and Davis (Antarctica) stitched with Australian data
using IMOS/CMAR code
New IMOS AVHRR SST processing code ported to
Casey and Davis Stations in Antarctica
11 SRS
11b
AODAAC
11b
AODAAC
11b
AODAAC
CSIRO
11b
AODAAC
CSIRO
11 SRS
11 SRS
11 SRS
CSIRO
CSIRO
Prototype crawler populating database with metadata
from non-rectangular gridded granules
Initial Ocean Colour L2 Case 1 products (MODIS,
possibly SeaWiFS) becoming visible via AODAAC
System documentation included with eMII portal
documentation
Interface capable of returning granules that match
spatio-temporal search parameters
Due Date
Mar-12
Jun12
Status
Achieved
Jun-12
Achieved
Sep-11
Achieved
Dec-11
Achieved
Mar-12
Achieved
Jun-12
Achieved
Dec-11
Achieved
Jun-12
In
progress
Sep-11
Achieved
Dec-11
Achieved
Mar-12
In
progress
Jun-12
Achieved
Comments
Processing code has been copied to Casey computer.
Testing underway. Minor mods need to be made for
producing L3U files from Casey and Davis. Expect to
complete in July 2012.
Depends on final implementation within portal and
eMII standards for documentation. To be led by CSIRO
for review by eMII October 2012, completion
December 2012
133
Facility
Operator
EIF Milestone
AIMS
11 SRS
Subfacility
11c T'ville
GS
11c T'ville
GS
11d Colour
11 SRS
11d Colour
CSIRO
11 SRS
11d Colour
CSIRO
11 SRS
11 SRS
11d Colour
11d Colour
CSIRO
CSIRO
11 SRS
11d Colour
CSIRO
11 SRS
11d Colour
CSIRO
11 SRS
11 SRS
11d Colour
11d Colour
CSIRO
CSIRO
11 SRS
11d Colour
CSIRO
11 SRS
11d Colour
CSIRO
Routine reception and delivery of L+X band satellite
data streams to AODAAC and eMII
Routine reception and delivery of L+X band satellite
data streams to AODAAC and eMII
Provisioning of MODIS AQUA and MODIS TERRA L1A
data stream and archives from NASA to ARCS
infrastructures
Provisioning of MODIS L2 data streams for primary
productivity products.
Provisioning of bio-optical data base of Australian
Waters
Provisioning of SOOP-Radiometers data stream
Provisioning of SeaWiFS L1A data Archives from CMAR
and AIMS to ARCS infrastructures
Provisioning of SeaWiFS L1A data Archives from CMAR
and AIMS to ARCS infrastructures.
Commissioning of bio-optical data base of Australian
Waters.
Commissioning of SOOP-Radiometers data stream.
Provisioning of Match-up database for MODIS L2 and
SeaWiFS L2 case 1 & case 2 products.
Commissioning of bio-optical data base of Australian
Waters
Commissioning of MODIS L2 and SeaWiFS L2 data
streams for primary productivity products.
11 SRS
11d Colour
CSIRO
11 SRS
11e
SatAltim
11e
SatAltim
UTAS
11 SRS
11 SRS
11 SRS
AIMS
CSIRO
UTAS
Commissioning of Match-up database for MODIS L2
and SeaWiFS L2 case 1 & case 2 products and primary
productivity products.
Generate the bias drift data stream.
Cycle Bass Strait and Storm Bay oceanographic
instrument moorings.
Due Date
Dec-11
Jun12
Status
Achieved
Jun-12
Achieved
Dec-10
Achieved
Mar-11
Achieved
Mar-11
Achieved
Jun-11
Jun-11
Achieved
Achieved
Sep-11
Achieved
Sep-11
Achieved
Sep-11
Dec-11
Achieved
In
progress
Achieved
Mar-12
Mar-12
In
progress
Jun-12
In
progress
Sep-11
Achieved
Sep-11
Achieved
Comments
Expect completion in September 2012. We have
added staff to this task.
Codes have been written and tested. Production
contingent on resolution of data formatting of L2
products. Expect completion in September 2012
Expect completion in September 2012, due to delays
in provisioning
134
Facility
11 SRS
11 SRS
11 SRS
12 Office
12 Office
12 Office
12 Office
12 Office
WAIMOS
WAIMOS
WAIMOS
WAIMOS
Subfacility
11e
SatAltim
11e
SatAltim
11e
SatAltim
12 Office
12 Office
12 Office
12 Office
12 Office
WAIMOS
WAIMOS
WAIMOS
WAIMOS
Operator
EIF Milestone
UTAS
Generate the absolute bias data stream and
disseminate data to the international community.
Complete GPS buoy deployments at Bass Strait and
Storm Bay sites.
Update estimates of land motion at global sites for
bias drift computation.
Annual Report 2; Milestone Report 9
Milestone Report 10
Annual Business Plan 3; Milestone Report 11
WA-IMOS Business Plan 2012-13
Milestone Report 12
Recruitment of Executive officer
Completion of December 2011 reporting requirements
Completion of March 2012 reporting requirements
Completion of June 2012 reporting requirements
UTAS
UTAS
UTAS
UTAS
UTAS
UTAS
UTAS
UWA
UWA
UWA
UWA
Due Date
Dec-11
Jun12
Status
Achieved
Mar-12
Achieved
Jun-12
Achieved
Sep-11
Dec-11
Mar-12
Apr-12
Jun-12
Sep-11
Dec-11
Mar-12
Jun-12
Achieved
Achieved
Achieved
Achieved
Achieved
Achieved
Achieved
Achieved
Achieved
Comments
135
University of Tasmania
Department of Industry, Innovation, Scie nce, Research and Tertiary Education
Integrated Marine
Observing System
Na ti onal Collaborative Re search Infrast ru ct ure Strategy
Capabilit y 5.12 - " Integrated Marine Observing System"
Statement of Income and Expenditure for the year ended 30 June 2012
Notes
Balance at UTAS at beginning of reporting period
Operators - ba lance of fu nds advanced to end of prior year
Balance at beginning of period
Income
Depart ment of Ind ustry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education
AODN Development (ex BlueNet)
Interest earnings
Sub-to tal 01/SR plus interest
University ofTasmania (IMOS Office)
Department of Economic Deve lopment and Tourism (IMOS Office)
CSIRO Space Science & Techn o logy (upgrade TERSS ant enna in SRS)
Monash University (E IF023 & NCR IS010 AODN ARDC agreements)
Tasma nian Partnerships of Advan ced Computing (MACDAAP)
Miscelleaneous (travel support from AIMS CSIRO SIMS)
DIISR Int ernat ional - European and New Zea land Symposiums
Austra lian National Network in Marine Science - GBR ana lysis
Sub-total cash co-investment received at UTAS
Total Income
Expend it ure
Capital I Equ ipment
Person nel
Operating
Total Expenditure
Operators- balance of funds advanced at end of cu rre nt year
Ba lance at UTAS at end of report ing period
2006/ 07 ($)
2007/08 ($)
2008/09 ($)
0
0
0
15,394,465
0
15,394,465
15,826,498
1,957,062
17,783,560
15,682;000
0
61,850
8,295,000
0
1,056,643
15,743,850
2009/10 ($)
14,621,330
2010/11 ($)
11,756,717
2011/12 ($)
7,513,601
-1,225,247
6,288,354
Total ($)
446,392
15,067,722
150,905
11,907,622
9,656,000
1,335,678
827,199
8,478,000
8,479,000
0
562,914
0
431,377
0
0
274,312
50,590,000
1,335,678
3,214,295
9,351,643
11,818,877
9,040,914
8,910,377
274,312
55,139,973
125,000
73,000
0
0
0
0
125,000
138,000
0
0
0
0
125,000
138,000
500,000
0
0
0
125,000
138,000
250,000
81,250
80,000
15,000
125,000
138,000
0
0
0
0
333,750
70,000
0
0
625,000
625,000
750,000
415,000
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
120,100
23,000
0
0
0
150,000
15,000
120,100
23,000
198,000
263,000
763,000
689,250
809,850
0
2,723, 100
15,941,850
9,614,643
12,581,877
9,730,164
9,720,227
274,312
57,863,073
173,975
278,975
94,435
547,385
3,771,650
1,951,049
1,502,849
7,225,548
8,133,002
4,301,716
2,862,997
15,297,715
3,835,633
5,611,211
3,443,420
12,890,264
3,912,484
6,638,538
4,788,473
493,214
1,019,129
341,390
15,339,495
1,853,734
20,319,958
19,800,618
13,033,564
53,154,141
0
15,394,465
1,957,062
15,826,498
446,392
14,621,330
150,905
11,756,717
-1,225,247
36,290
4,672,642
36,290
4,672,642
7,513,601
The St atement of Income and Exp enditure is to be read in conjunction with t he accompanying Note A - 2011-12 Detailed Income and Expenditure
In referenc e to clause 12.6 of the IMOS Funding Agreement dated 22 May 2007, th e University of Tasmania is audited by the Tasman ian Auditor-General and the income and expenditure of
IMOS is su bject to these audits. Therefore, instead of the certificates and audit referred to in clause 12.2 of_t he IMOS Fundi~ Agreement, t h.e Chief Execut ive Officer and the Senio r Executive
Officer employed to manage the au dit function, certify t hat:
t ure of DIISR fund ing for the year ended 30 June
1 These fin ancial statements present a true and fa ir view of the finan cia l position o f IMOS as at 30 June 2
2012; and b) the receipt and utilisat ion of cash and in-kind co-investments by UTAS and Operators.
2 That th e OIISR fu nding was expended on the Project as defined in the IMOS Funding Agreement, and i
Vice-Chancellor, University of Tasma nia
Chief Operating Officer, University of Ta smania
136
NOTE A: 2011-12 Detailed Income and Expenditure
Opening Balances at 1 July 2011
Facility
01 Argo
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
03 ABOS
03 ABOS
03 ABOS
04 Gliders
06 Moorings
06 Moorings
06 Moorings
06 Moorings
06 Moorings
06 Moorings
07 ACORN
07 ACORN
09 FAIMMS
10 eMII
10 eMII
10 eMII
11 SRS
11 SRS
11 SRS
11 SRS
11 SRS
12 Office
Contingency
Contingency
Contingency
Sub-Facility
01 Argo
2a Underway Network
2b Tropical Research Vessels
2c SST Sensors
2d Real-time Air-sea Fluxes
3a Air-Sea Flux Stations
3b Southern Ocean Time Series
3b Southern Ocean Time Series
04 Gliders
6a Queensland & Nthn Aust
6b New South Wales
6c Southern Australia
6d Western Australia
6e Acoustic Observatories
6f National Reference Stations
07 ACORN
07 ACORN
09 FAIMMS
10a eMII
10b AODN
10c Ocean Current
11a SST L2P Products
11b AODAAC
11c.2 Townsville Ground Station
11d Satellite Ocean Colour
11f Upgrade TERSS
12 Office
Leverage State co-investment
Reposition Moorings
Unallocated
Totals
2011-12 interest earnings
Balance at UTAS at end of year
In-kind co-investment
Facility
Sub-facility
10 eMII
10b AODN
10 eMII
10c Ocean Current
Operator
CSIRO
CSIRO
AIMS
BOM
BOM
BOM
CSIRO
UTAS
UWA
AIMS
SIMS
SARDI
CSIRO
Curtin
CSIRO
JCU
SARDI
AIMS
UTAS
UTAS
CSIRO
BOM
CSIRO
AIMS
CSIRO
CSIRO
UTAS
n/a
n/a
n/a
Leader
Wijffels
Ridgway
Furnas
Beggs
Schulz
Schulz
Trull
Trull
Pattiaratchi
Steinberg
Roughan
Middleton
Feng
McCauley
Lynch
Heron
Middleton
Bainbridge
Proctor
Proctor
Griffin
Beggs
King
Steinberg
Brando
Bantock
Moltmann
Board
Board
Board
Operator Leader
UTAS
Proctor
CSIRO
Griffin
Held by
Operators
-684,639
-50,739
4,349
-3,373
-7,741
-6,091
-73,209
0
252,937
287,983
-10,856
25,867
-21,903
-887
-16,390
-873,355
-2,459
5,244
0
0
0
6,092
-26,509
20,961
-50,531
0
0
0
0
2
-1,225,247
Held at
UTAS
708,252
0
0
3,373
0
7,740
0
263,200
0
0
10,816
-25,867
25,524
0
60,765
1,016,000
0
0
378,905
1,302,461
500,000
0
26,509
0
0
739,200
179,000
1,000,000
1,000,000
317,723
7,513,601
Opening
Balance
23,613
-50,739
4,349
0
-7,741
1,649
-73,209
263,200
252,937
287,983
-40
0
3,621
-887
44,375
142,645
-2,459
5,244
378,905
1,302,461
500,000
6,092
0
20,961
-50,531
739,200
179,000
1,000,000
1,000,000
317,725
6,288,354
Expenditure during the reporting period
Capital
0
4,600
0
Personnel Operating
3,053
20,560
0
-55,339
0
4,349
-89,255
107,050
124,006
282,075
4,492
54,639
76,661
0
0
2,868
30,356
13,433
5,562
0
0
0
0
0
0
668,588
203,266
0
20,949
0
0
-7,741
1,649
11,554
101,510
52,270
5,908
-40
753
-887
8,457
129,212
-2,459
5,244
0
72,160
10,444
6,092
0
12
-50,531
28,213
493,214
1,019,129
341,390
Expenses
2011/12
23,613
-50,739
4,349
0
-7,741
1,649
-73,209
263,200
252,937
287,983
-40
0
3,621
-887
44,375
142,645
-2,459
5,244
0
740,748
213,710
6,092
0
20,961
-50,531
0
28,213
0
0
0
1,853,734
Reconciliation of
Operator funds
Payments Operator
Balance at
during
June 2012
period
708,252
0
0
0
0
0
3,373
0
0
0
7,740
0
0
0
0
0
10,816
-25,867
25,524
0
60,765
1,016,000
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
250,000
0
26,509
0
0
0
36,290
0
0
0
0
0
2,083,112
36,290
Balance at
UTAS at end
of period
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
378,905
561,713
250,000
0
0
0
0
739,200
150,787
1,000,000
1,000,000
317,725
4,398,330
274,312
4,672,642
Operating
615,101
187,647
802,748
137
University of Tasmania
Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Educat ion
Integrated Marine
Observing System
Education Investment Fund - Super Science lnititative
Marine and Climate - "Integrated Marine Observing System"
Statement of Income and Expenditure for the year ended 30 June 2012
Notes
Balance at UTAS at beginning of reporting period
Operators - ba lance of fu nds advanced to end of prior year
2008/09($)
2009/10($)
2010/11($)
2011/12($)
Total ($)
0
8,000,000
8,291,430
3,622,073
0
0
2,453,089
2,698,437
8,000,000
0
8,000,000
291,430
0
338,135
18,000,000
490,042
34,000,000
1,119,607
8,000,000
8,291,430
338,135
18,490,042
35,119,607
125,000
125,000
125,000
2,000,000
42,421
Income
Department of Industry, Innovation , Science, Research and Tertiary Education
Interest earnings
Sub-total- DI/SRTE plus interest
University of Ta smania (IMOS Off ice)
Department of Economic Development and Tourism (IMOS Office)
Weste rn Austra lian Departmen t of Commerce
DI ISRTE International - European Symposium
Sub-total cash co-investment received at UTAS
125,000
2,000,000
42,421
2,292,421
2,292,421
338,135
20,782,463
37,412,028
16,291,430
11,082,654
27,102,973
37,412,028
0
0
0
3,892,081
563,885
1,090,945
1,966,791
1,637,186
1,158,167
6,146,451
8,836,723
5,770,599
12,005,323
11,037,794
8,019,711
0
5,546,911
4,762,144
20,753,773
31,062,828
0
0
0
Total Income
8,000,000
8,291,430
Funds available
8,000,000
Expenditure
Capital I Equipme nt
Personnel
Ope rati ng
Total Expenditure
Operato rs - balance of fund s advanced at end of curre nt year
Balance at UTAS at end of reporting period
0
2,453,089
2,698,437
2,492,843
2,492,843
8,000,000
8,291,430
3,622,073
3,856,357
3,856,357
The Statement of Income and Expenditure is to be read in co njunction with the accompanying Note A - 2011-12 Detailed Income and Expenditure
In reference t o cla use 12.6 of the Fun ding Agreement for the Edu cation Investment Fund dated 24th June 2009, the University of Tasman ia is aud ited by the Tasmanian
Auditor-Genera l and the income and expenditu re of IMOS is subject to these aud its. Therefore, instead of t he ce rtificates and audit referred t o in clause 12.2 of the
Funding Agreement, the Vice Chancellor and the Senior Executive Officer emp loyed to manage the audit function, certify that :
1 These financia l state ments present a true and fair view of the financial position of IM OS as at 30 June 2012 and a) the
receipt and expend iture of DIISRTE fundi ng for t he yea r ended 30 June 2012; and b) the receipt and uti lisation of cash
and in-kind co-investments by UTAS and Operators.
2 That the DIISRTE fund ing was expended on t he Project as defined in th
that Agreement.
Professor i>"e ter Rathjen,
Vice-Chancellor, University of Tasmania
rdance with
r+,
Chief Operating Officer, University of Tasmania
138
NOTES TO THE IMOS-EIF STATEMENT OF INCOME AND EXPENDITURE FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2012
NOTE A: EXPENDITURE
A.1 DIISRTE EIF Funding
Facility
01 Argo
01 Argo
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
03 ABOS
03 ABOS
03 ABOS
03 ABOS
04 Gliders
04 Gliders
05 AUV
06 Moorings
06 Moorings
06 Moorings
06 Moorings
06 Moorings
06 Moorings
06 Moorings
06 Moorings
07 ACORN
08 AATAMS
09 FAIMMS
10 eMII
11 SRS
11 SRS
11 SRS
11 SRS
11 SRS
12 Office
Sub-Facility
01 Argo (2009-10 enhancement)
01 Argo (2011-13 extension)
2aa Expendable Bathythermograph
2ab Biogeochemical
2ac Continuous Plankton Recorders
2b Tropical Research Vessels
2c SST Sensors
2d Real-time Air-sea Fluxes
2e Bio-Acoustics
3a Air-Sea Flux Stations
3b Southern Ocean Time Series
3b Southern Ocean Time Series
3c Deepwater Arrays
04 Gliders
04 Gliders (WA extn)
05 AUV
6a Queensland & Nthn Aust
6a Queensland & Nthn Aust (WA extn)
6b New South Wales
6c Southern Australia
6d Western Australia
6e Acoustic Observatories
6f National Reference Stations
6g Acidification Moorings
07 ACORN
08 AATAMS
09 FAIMMS
10 eMII
11a SST L2P Products
11b AODAAC
11c Townsville Ground Station
11d Satellite Ocean Colour
11e Satellite Altimetry
12 Office
Total - DIISRTE EIF Funding Total
Operator
Facility Leader
CSIRO
CSIRO
CSIRO
CSIRO
CSIRO
AIMS
BOM
BOM
CSIRO
BOM
CSIRO
UTAS
CSIRO
UWA
UWA
SIMS
AIMS
AIMS
SIMS
SARDI
CSIRO
Curtin
CSIRO
CSIRO
JCU
SIMS
AIMS
UTAS
BOM
CSIRO
AIMS
CSIRO
UTAS
UTAS
Wijffels
Wijffels
Thresher
Tilbrook
Richardson
Furnas
Beggs
Schulz
Kloser
Schulz
Trull
Trull
Sloyan
Pattiaratchi
Pattiaratchi
Williams
Steinberg
Steinberg
Roughan
Middleton
Feng
McCauley
Lynch
Tilbrook
Wyatt
Harcourt
Bainbridge
Proctor
Beggs
King
Steinberg
Brando
Watson
Moltmann
30Jun11
Operator
Balance
684,215
0
0
41,094
339,752
0
0
0
-40,363
0
0
0
528,627
267,277
0
-9,565
-70,405
0
0
4,858
0
0
119,871
84,195
0
596,975
0
0
0
0
0
151,906
0
0
2,698,437
2011-12 Funds Available
2011-12
Operator
Payments
2011-12 UTAS 2011-12 Funds
Other Funds Available
Capital
Operating
397,931
775,000
3,351,831
0
582,160
0
23,900
194,418
1,773
57,825
0
102,171
619,586
0
0
1,279,643
358,133
245,000
0
30,427
630,596
57,098
21,317
19,135
14,720
315,316
31,300
0
501,438
5,884
22,408
0
0
2,996
151,053
244,692
0
5,512,989
0
581,687
35,904
199,106
515,884
40,675
132,778
66,803
167,200
73,138
209,820
129,791
198,982
530,427
0
154,167
378,895
0
218,000
290,980
304,156
80,000
1,073,495
71,590
461,092
173,857
196,192
1,072,515
132,799
67,225
24,253
235,521
98,987
673,096
8,589,015
0
289,229
30,626
39,638
138,523
5,844
37,187
22,375
55,849
37,802
169,691
5,682
307,603
476,274
0
172,035
571,207
0
507,800
181,720
250,138
43,821
782,062
76,928
230,205
266,000
99,209
94,248
58,658
10,842
2,020
110,013
23,462
101,904
5,198,595
0
1,453,076
66,530
262,644
848,825
48,292
227,790
89,178
325,220
730,526
379,511
135,473
1,786,228
1,364,834
245,000
326,202
980,529
630,596
782,898
494,017
573,429
138,541
2,170,873
179,818
691,297
941,295
301,285
1,189,171
191,457
78,067
29,269
496,587
367,141
775,000
19,300,599
42,421
125,000
125,000
292,421
2,812,685
6,456,937
446,000
1,364,000
40,000
150,000
42,421
125,000
125,000
2,292,421
2,812,685
27,102,973
205,000
316,287
112,175
0
0
0
0
633,462
0
6,146,451
54,000
163,768
0
29,940
0
0
0
247,708
0
8,836,723
68,000
354,943
15,141
125
0
125,000
8,795
572,004
0
5,770,599
327,000
834,998
127,316
30,065
0
125,000
8,795
1,453,174
0
20,753,773
578,900
1,142,751
1,294,003
245,000
281,666
1,245,550
833,000
637,956
631,653
518,997
146,564
2,201,982
170,816
707,655
325,412
291,126
1,600,000
215,305
115,000
38,484
324,408
A.2 Cash coinvestment received at UTAS
04 Gliders
04 Gliders (WA extn)
UWA
WA Govt
0
446,000
06 Moorings
6a Queensland & Nthn Aust (WA extn)
AIMS
WA Govt
0
1,364,000
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS (WA extn)
SIMS
WA Govt
0
40,000
WAIMOS
WAIMOS Manager (WA extn)
UWA
WA Govt
0
150,000
10 eMII
10 eMII
UTAS
DIISRTE
0
12 Office
12 Office
UTAS
DEDTA, Tas
0
12 Office
12 Office
UTAS
UTAS
0
Total - Cash co-investment received at UTAS
0
2,000,000
Fully committed balance remaining - cfwd to 2012-13 (mainly timing of Operator payments)
Total EIF-related funds managed at UTAS
Totals
2,698,437 17,947,599
Personnel
2011/12
Expenses
0
1,664,414
85,652
335,010
1,110,279
46,310
155,133
102,018
343,556
1,401,437
361,160
578,900
1,671,378
1,561,280
245,000
272,101
1,175,145
833,000
637,956
636,511
518,997
146,564
2,321,853
255,011
707,655
922,387
291,126
1,600,000
215,305
115,000
38,484
476,314
397,931
775,000
21,997,867
-684,215
1,664,414
85,652
293,916
770,527
46,310
155,133
102,018
383,919
1,401,437
361,160
15,947,599
Expenditure during the reporting period
Operator
Balance at
30Jun12
UTAS Balance
at 30Jun12
0
211,338
19,122
72,366
261,454
-1,982
-72,657
12,840
18,336
670,911
-18,351
443,427
-114,850
196,446
0
-54,101
194,616
202,404
-144,942
142,494
-54,432
8,023
150,980
75,193
16,358
-18,908
-10,159
410,829
23,848
36,933
9,215
-20,273
1,812,222
30,790
0
885,046
119,000
529,002
-87,316
119,935
680,621
0
2,492,843
42,421
0
116,205
158,626
2,812,685
3,856,357
139
A.3 Cash Co-investment received by Operators
Facility
01 Argo
01 Argo
01 Argo
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
03 ABOS
03 ABOS
04 ANFOG
05 AUV
05 AUV
05 AUV
06 Moorings
06 Moorings
06 Moorings
06 Moorings
06 Moorings
06 Moorings
07 ACORN
07 ACORN
07 ACORN
07 ACORN
07 ACORN
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
09 FAIMMS
11 SRS
Sub-Facility
01 Argo
01 Argo
01 Argo
2aa Expendable Bathythermograph
2aa Expendable Bathythermograph
2aa Expendable Bathythermograph
2c SST Sensors
3b Southern Ocean Time Series
3c Deepwater Arrays
04 ANFOG
05 AUV
05 AUV
05 AUV
6a Queensland & Nthn Aust
6b New South Wales
6b New South Wales
6c Southern Australia
6c Southern Australia
6e Acoustic Observatories
07 ACORN
07 ACORN
07 ACORN
07 ACORN
07 ACORN
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
09 FAIMMS
11d Satellite Ocean Colour
Operator Co-investing Organisation
CSIRO
CSIRO
CSIRO
CSIRO
CSIRO
CSIRO
BOM
CSIRO
CSIRO
SIMS
SIMS
SIMS
SIMS
AIMS
SIMS
SIMS
SARDI
SARDI
Curtin
SIMS
JCU
JCU
JCU
JCU
SIMS
SIMS
SIMS
SIMS
SIMS
SIMS
SIMS
SIMS
AIMS
SIMS
Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems CRC
Bureau of Meteorology
CSIRO
Bureau of Meteorology
Royal Australian Navy
Scripps Institution of Oceanography (USA)
Bureau of Meteorology
Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems CRC
CSIRO
Dept Trade & Investment (NSW)
Dept Trade & Investment (NSW)
Sydney Institute of Marine Science
University of Sydney
Dept Employment, Economic Development & Innovation (QLD)
Dept Trade & Investment (NSW)
Sydney Institute of Marine Science
Flinders University
South Australian Research & Development Institute
Curtin University
Dept Trade & Investment (NSW)
Australian Institute of Marine Science
Flinders University
James Cook University
South Australian Research & Development Institute
Australian Institute of Marine Science
CSIRO
Macquarie University
Dept Trade & Investment (NSW)
Ocean Tracking Network (Canada)
Sydney Institute of Marine Science
Dept of Environment & Heritage (SA)
University of Tasmania
Dept Employment, Economic Development & Innovation (QLD)
Dept Trade & Investment (NSW)
Sub-total
Received at University of Tasmania per Note A.2
Cash Co-investment total
A.4 In-kind Co-investment
Facility
01 Argo
01 Argo
01 Argo
01 Argo
02 SOOP
Sub-Facility
01 Argo
01 Argo
01 Argo
01 Argo
2aa Expendable Bathythermograph
Operator Co-investing Organisation
CSIRO
CSIRO
CSIRO
CSIRO
CSIRO
Australian Climate Change Science Programme
Bureau of Meteorology
CSIRO
Royal Australian Navy
Australian Climate Change Science Programme
2011/12
Budget
280,000
200,000
265,057
64,896
514,842
248,640
0
539,000
375,000
33,000
50,000
17,500
0
701,760
50,000
187,500
2,500
2,500
156,000
33,000
70,500
10,000
70,500
10,000
180,000
0
10,000
34,000
716,000
17,500
65,000
0
291,126
0
5,195,821
2,292,421
7,488,242
2011/12
Budget
499,910
145,709
483,037
0
166,637
Capital
280,000
0
321,000
64,896
395,000
248,640
0
620,530
645,000
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
6,789
0
34,000
500,000
0
65,000
0
5,884
0
3,186,739
633,462
3,820,201
Capital
Personnel
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3,423
50,000
17,500
135,000
309,286
95,461
0
0
0
111,700
0
70,500
0
70,500
0
0
0
167,116
0
0
17,500
0
0
196,192
17,116
1,261,294
247,708
1,509,002
Personnel
0
0
0
0
150,922
145,709
0
0
50,307
Operating
0
0
0
0
0
0
7,680
0
0
0
0
329,174
0
45,000
2,500
2,500
0
0
0
0
0
0
180,000
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
99,209
0
666,063
572,004
1,238,067
Operating
269,885
0
480,745
70,000
89,962
2011/12
Received
2011/12
Balance
2011/12
Received
2011/12
Balance
280,000
0
321,000
64,896
395,000
248,640
7,680
620,530
645,000
3,423
50,000
17,500
135,000
638,460
95,461
45,000
2,500
2,500
111,700
0
70,500
0
70,500
0
180,000
6,789
167,116
34,000
500,000
17,500
65,000
0
301,285
17,116
5,114,096
1,453,174
6,567,270
420,807
145,709
480,745
70,000
140,269
0
200,000
-55,943
0
119,842
0
-7,680
-81,530
-270,000
29,577
0
0
-135,000
63,300
-45,461
142,500
0
0
44,300
33,000
0
10,000
0
10,000
0
-6,789
-157,116
0
216,000
0
0
0
-10,159
-17,116
81,725
839,247
920,972
% R'cvd
100%
0%
121%
100%
77%
100%
0%
115%
172%
10%
100%
100%
0%
91%
191%
24%
100%
100%
72%
0%
100%
0%
100%
0%
100%
0%
1671%
100%
70%
100%
100%
0%
103%
0%
98%
63%
88%
% R'cvd
79,103 84%
0 100%
2,292 100%
-70,000 0%
26,368 84%
140
Facility
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
02 SOOP
03 ABOS
03 ABOS
03 ABOS
03 ABOS
03 ABOS
03 ABOS
03 ABOS
03 ABOS
03 ABOS
03 ABOS
03 ABOS
04 Gliders
04 Gliders
05 AUV
05 AUV
05 AUV
05 AUV
05 AUV
05 AUV
05 AUV
05 AUV
06 Moorings
06 Moorings
Sub-Facility
2aa Expendable Bathythermograph
2aa Expendable Bathythermograph
2ab Biogeochemical
2ab Biogeochemical
2ab Biogeochemical
2ac Continuous Plankton Recorders
2ac Continuous Plankton Recorders
2b Tropical Research Vessels
2c SST Sensors
2c SST Sensors
2d Real-time Air-sea Fluxes
2d Real-time Air-sea Fluxes
2d Real-time Air-sea Fluxes
2d Real-time Air-sea Fluxes
2e Bio-Acoustics
2e Bio-Acoustics
2e Bio-Acoustics
2e Bio-Acoustics
2e Bio-Acoustics
2e Bio-Acoustics
2f Tropical Merchant Vessels
2f Tropical Merchant Vessels
2f Tropical Merchant Vessels
2f Tropical Merchant Vessels
3a Air-Sea Flux Stations
3b Southern Ocean Time Series
3b Southern Ocean Time Series
3b Southern Ocean Time Series
3b Southern Ocean Time Series
3b Southern Ocean Time Series
3c Deepwater Arrays
3c Deepwater Arrays
3c Deepwater Arrays
3c Deepwater Arrays
3c Deepwater Arrays
04 Gliders
04 Gliders
05 AUV
05 AUV
05 AUV
05 AUV
05 AUV
05 AUV
05 AUV
05 AUV
6a Queensland & Nthn Aust
6a Queensland & Nthn Aust (WA extn)
Operator Co-investing Organisation
CSIRO
CSIRO
CSIRO
CSIRO
CSIRO
CSIRO
CSIRO
AIMS
BOM
BOM
BOM
BOM
BOM
BOM
CSIRO
CSIRO
CSIRO
CSIRO
CSIRO
CSIRO
EPA, Vic
EPA, Vic
EPA, Vic
EPA, Vic
BOM
UTAS
UTAS
CSIRO
CSIRO
UTAS
CSIRO
CSIRO
CSIRO
CSIRO
CSIRO
UWA
UWA
SIMS
SIMS
SIMS
SIMS
SIMS
SIMS
SIMS
SIMS
AIMS
AIMS
Bureau of Meteorology
CSIRO
CSIRO
l'Astrolabe
Marine National Facility
Australian Antarctic Division
CSIRO
Australian Institute of Marine Science
Australian Institute of Marine Science
Bureau of Meteorology
Bureau of Meteorology
Marine National Facility
Australian Antarctic Division
National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research (NZ)
Astral Fisheries
Australian Antarctic Division
CSIRO
l'Astrolabe
Marine National Facility
Petuna Sealord
Environmental Protection Authority (Vic)
Dept Primary Industries (Vic)
CSIRO
University of Melbourne
Bureau of Meteorology
Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems CRC
Australian Antarctic Division
CSIRO
Marine National Facility
University of Tasmania
Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems CRC
CSIRO
Korea Ocean Research & Development Institute, South Korea
Marine National Facility
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (USA)
University of Western Australia
CSIRO
Australian Institute of Marine Science
Dept Environment, Climate Change & Water (NSW)
CSIRO
University of Sydney
University of Tasmania
University of Western Australia
Parks Victoria
Dept of Fisheries (WA)
Australian Institute of Marine Science
Australian Institute of Marine Science
2011/12
Budget
167,324
13,423
179,744
50,000
50,000
156,450
389,547
65,346
28,000
29,211
29,993
0
0
0
35,000
110,000
503,830
0
42,000
35,000
0
0
0
0
123,113
220,882
425,000
223,255
850,000
76,379
70,668
624,151
306,000
0
0
0
0
280,000
25,000
30,000
180,000
64,200
0
10,000
26,400
1,877,280
0
Capital
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2,507
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Personnel
88,065
0
16,424
0
0
74,500
0
57,540
0
42,568
31,195
0
0
0
0
0
206,556
0
0
0
6,000
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
32,397
220,882
0
0
0
76,379
0
9,975
0
0
0
19,000
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
17,728
169,742
0
0
0
0
21,625
7,125
0
0
466,326
102,679
Operating
79,259
14,519
117,611
50,000
50,000
81,950
472,780
8,267
0
76,072
1,800
5,800
1,800
35,000
30,000
190,505
20,000
42,000
35,000
9,200
1,500
2,000
1,000
0
0
0
188,378
810,000
169,676
0
172,504
0
600,000
400,000
846,200
60,437
700,000
0
30,000
180,000
42,575
42,875
0
26,400
615,326
209,754
2011/12
Received
167,324
14,519
134,035
50,000
50,000
156,450
472,780
68,314
0
42,568
107,267
1,800
5,800
1,800
35,000
30,000
397,061
20,000
42,000
35,000
15,200
1,500
2,000
1,000
32,397
220,882
0
188,378
810,000
246,055
0
182,479
0
600,000
400,000
865,200
60,437
700,000
0
30,000
180,000
64,200
50,000
0
26,400
1,099,380
482,175
2011/12
Balance
0
-1,096
45,709
0
0
0
-83,233
-2,968
28,000
-13,357
-77,274
-1,800
-5,800
-1,800
0
80,000
106,769
-20,000
0
0
-15,200
-1,500
-2,000
-1,000
90,716
0
425,000
34,877
40,000
-169,676
70,668
441,672
306,000
-600,000
-400,000
-865,200
-60,437
-420,000
25,000
0
0
0
-50,000
10,000
0
777,900
-482,175
% R'cvd
100%
108%
75%
100%
100%
100%
121%
105%
0%
146%
358%
0%
0%
0%
100%
27%
79%
0%
100%
100%
0%
0%
0%
0%
26%
100%
0%
84%
95%
322%
0%
29%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
250%
0%
100%
100%
100%
0%
0%
100%
59%
0%
141
Facility
06 Moorings
06 Moorings
06 Moorings
06 Moorings
06 Moorings
06 Moorings
06 Moorings
06 Moorings
06 Moorings
07 ACORN
07 ACORN
07 ACORN
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
09 FAIMMS
09 FAIMMS
09 FAIMMS
09 FAIMMS
10 eMII
10 eMII
10 eMII
10 eMII
10 eMII
10 eMII
10 eMII
11 SRS
11 SRS
11 SRS
11 SRS
11 SRS
11 SRS
12 Office
Sub-Facility
6b New South Wales
6b New South Wales
6b New South Wales
6c Southern Australia
6c Southern Australia
6d Western Australia
6e Acoustic Observatories
6f National Reference Stations
6g Acidification Moorings
07 ACORN
07 ACORN
07 ACORN
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
08 AATAMS
09 FAIMMS
09 FAIMMS
09 FAIMMS
09 FAIMMS
10 eMII
10 eMII
10 eMII
10 eMII
10 eMII
10 eMII
10 eMII
11a SST L2P Products
11b AODAAC
11c Townsville Ground Station
11d Satellite Ocean Colour
11e Satellite Altimetry
11e Satellite Altimetry
12 Office
In-kind Co-investment Total
Grand Total (DIISRTE plus co-investment)
Operator Co-investing Organisation
SIMS
SIMS
SIMS
SARDI
SARDI
CSIRO
Curtin
CSIRO
CSIRO
JCU
JCU
JCU
SIMS
SIMS
SIMS
SIMS
SIMS
SIMS
SIMS
SIMS
SIMS
SIMS
SIMS
SIMS
AIMS
AIMS
AIMS
AIMS
UTAS
UTAS
UTAS
UTAS
UTAS
UTAS
UTAS
BOM
CSIRO
AIMS
UTAS
UTAS
UTAS
UTAS
Dept Environment, Climate Change & Water (NSW)
Sydney Institute of Marine Science
Sydney Water
Flinders University
South Australian Research & Development Institute
CSIRO
Curtin University
CSIRO
CSIRO
Flinders University
James Cook University
South Australian Research & Development Institute
Australian Antarctic Division
Australian Institute of Marine Science
James Cook University
CSIRO
Flinders University
Macquarie University
Marine Parks Authority (NSW)
Dept Environment & Resource Management (QLD)
South Australian Research & Development Institute
Sydney Institute of Marine Science
University of Tasmania
Dept of Fisheries (WA)
Australian Institute of Marine Science
Intelligent Sensors, Sensor Networks & Information Processing Network
Dept Employment, Economic Development & Innovation (QLD)
Tropical Marine Network
University of Tasmania
Tasmanian Partnership for Advanced Computing
Research Data Storage Infrastructure
iVEC (WA)
South Australian Research & Development Institute
Australian Institute of Marine Science
Sea Mammal Research Unit (UK)
Bureau of Meteorology
CSIRO
Australian Institute of Marine Science
CSIRO
CSIRO
University of Tasmania
University of Tasmania
2011/12
Budget
1,172,000
18,000
250,000
161,833
233,745
496,320
35,000
829,653
47,486
5,624
255,465
23,622
2,402,000
321,501
0
174,979
128,000
135,000
16,360
2,500
357,408
188,199
106,656
151,424
588,683
50,000
90,000
308,000
1,024,708
0
0
0
0
0
0
62,084
110,948
92,887
163,844
152,000
259,000
445,857
19,453,275
Capital
1,172,000
0
250,000
0
17,000
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
11,902
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
5,412
0
73,000
105,000
0
1,824,291
Personnel
0
17,500
0
101,210
50,915
10,893
0
0
16,424
0
0
0
0
7,414
17,794
22,242
21,649
0
0
0
0
6,456
26,691
21,649
396,845
0
0
0
0
30,000
5,000
3,000
3,000
6,000
Operating
0
0
0
10,260
106,400
208,449
73,950
893,345
65,559
0
255,465
0
2,402,000
314,087
0
82,758
106,351
135,000
16,360
2,500
357,408
181,743
30,309
129,775
200,673
50,000
90,000
308,000
986,714
2,500
66,138
0
0
81,492
43,809
3,649
0
147,285
0
69,267
65,320
71,585
0
619,249
2,766,123 15,332,913
2011/12
Received
1,172,000
17,500
250,000
111,470
174,315
219,342
73,950
893,345
81,983
0
255,465
0
2,402,000
321,501
17,794
105,000
128,000
135,000
16,360
2,500
357,408
188,199
57,000
151,424
609,420
50,000
90,000
308,000
986,714
30,000
5,000
3,000
3,000
6,000
2,500
66,138
81,492
52,870
147,285
142,267
241,905
619,249
19,923,327
48,939,384 11,157,481 12,864,140 21,769,575 45,791,196
2011/12
Balance
0
500
0
50,363
59,430
276,978
-38,950
-63,692
-34,497
5,624
0
23,622
0
0
-17,794
69,979
0
0
0
0
0
0
49,656
0
-20,737
0
0
0
37,994
-30,000
-5,000
-3,000
-3,000
-6,000
-2,500
-4,054
29,456
40,017
16,559
9,733
17,095
-173,392
-470,052
% R'cvd
100%
97%
100%
69%
75%
44%
211%
108%
173%
0%
100%
0%
100%
100%
0%
60%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
53%
100%
104%
100%
100%
100%
96%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
107%
73%
57%
90%
94%
93%
139%
102%
3,148,188
94%
142
Appendix G – List of Acronyms
Acronym
AAD
AATAMS
ABOS
ACCSP
ACECRC
ACORN
ADAPTER
ADCP
AERONET-OC
AIMS
ALA
AMOS
AMSA
ANDS
ANFOG
ANMN
AODAAC
AODN
APEX
ARC
ARCS
ASAM
ASDA
ASFS
ASTEP
ATSEA
ATSEF
AusCPR
AUV
AVHRR
AVOF
BLUElink
BGC
BoM
BURV
CART
CBIBS
CCAMLR
CFI
CICS
CLIVAR
CLIVAR SPICE
CLS
CMAR
CNES
CPR
CRC
CREON
CSIRO
CTD
DA
DECCW
Full Title
Australian Antarctic Division
Australian Animal Tagging and Monitoring System (Facility 8)
Australian Bluewater Observing System (Facility 3)
Australian Climate Change Science Programme
Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Collaborative Research Centre
Australian Coastal Ocean Radar Network (Facility 7)
AUV Data Analysis for Predictability in Time-Evolving Regimes
Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler
A Network for the Validation of Ocean Colour Primary Products
Australian Institute of Marine Science
Atlas of Living Australia
Australian Meteorology and Oceanography Society
Australian Marine Sciences Association
Australian National Data Service
Australian National Facility for Ocean Gliders (Facility 4)
Australian National Mooring Network (Facility 6)
Australian Oceans Data Access and Archive Centre
Australian Ocean Data Network
Autonomous Profiling Explorer Argo Floats
Australian Research Council
Australian Research Collaboration Service
Acoustic Survey and Analysis Methods
Australian Standard Data Archive
Air-Sea Flux Stations (Sub-Facility, ABOS)
Astrobiology Science and Technology for Exploring Planets
Arafura and Timor Seas Ecosystem Action
Arafura and Timor Seas Expert Forum
Australian Continuous Plankton Recorder
Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Facility (Facility 5)
Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer
Australian Volunteer Observing Fleet
Ocean Forecasting Australia; a project to deliver ocean forecasts for the Australian region
Biogeochemical
Bureau of Meteorology
Baited Remote Underwater Video
Coastal Acoustic Release Transponder
Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System
Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources
Canadian Foundation for Innovation
Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites
Climate Variability and Predictability (World Climate Research Programme)
CLIVAR Southwest Pacific Ocean and Climate Circulation Experiment
Collecte Localisation Satellites, France
CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research
National Centre for Space Studies, France
Continuous Plankton Recorder
Cooperative Research Centre
Coral Reef Environmental Observatory Network
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
Conductivity Temperature Depth
Deepwater Array (Sub-Facility, ABOS)
Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water (NSW)
143
Acronym
DERM
DIISRTE
DMQC
DO
DSEWPAC
DSTO
EAC
EGO
EGU
EIF
ESA
eMII
ENSO
EUMETSAT
EuroGOOS
FAIMMS
FAST
FLNTU
GA
GACS
GBR
GBRMPA
GBROOS
GDAC
GEOSS
GHRSST
GLOBEC
GLS
GOOS
GOSUD
GRA
GSFC
GTOPP
GTS
GTSPP
HRPT
IAST
ICES
ICOADS
ICON
I-CREOS
IDM
IEEE
IFREMER
ILTER
IMAS
IMBER CLITOP
MASS
IMR
IOC
IOCCP
IODE
IOOC
Full Title
Department of Environment and Resource Management (QLD)
Department of Innovation, Industry, Science, Research and Tertiary Education
Delayed Mode Quality Controlled
Dissolved Oxygen
Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities
Department of Defence (Defence Science and Technology Organisation)
Eastern Australian Current
Everyone’s Gliding Observatories (formally European Glider Observatory)
European Geosciences Union
Education Investment Fund
European Space Agency
electronic Marine Information Infrastructure (Facility 10)
El Niño-Southern Oscillation
European Organisation for the Exploration of Meteorological Satellites
European Global Ocean Observing System
Facility for Automated Intelligent Monitoring of Marine Systems (Facility 9)
Fisheries Acoustic, Science and Technology – Working Group
Fluorometer and turbidity sensor
Geoscience Australia
Global Alliance of CPR Surveys
Great Barrier Reef
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
Great Barrier Reef Ocean Observing System (Node)
Global Data Assembly Centre
Global Earth Observing System of Systems
Group for High Resolution SST
Global Ocean Ecosystem Dynamics
Global Location Sensing
Global Ocean Observing System
Global Ocean Surface Underway Data
GOOS Regional Alliance
Goddard Space Flight Centre
Global tracking of Pelagic Predators
Global Telecommunications System
Global Temperature-Salinity Profile Program
High Resolution Picture Transmission
International Argo Steering Team
International Council for the Exploration of the Sea
International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set
Integrated Coral Observing Network
International network of Coral Reef Ecosystem Observing Systems
Isolated Danger Mark
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
French National Institute of Marine Research
International Long term Ecological Research
Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies
Integrated Marine Biogeochemistry and Ecosystem Research; Climate Impacts on Ocean
Top Predators; Mid-tropic Automatic Acoustic Sampling
Institute of Marine Research, Norway
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, UNESCO (Perth Regional Office)
UNESCO/SCOR International Ocean Carbon Coordination Program
International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange
Interagency Ocean Observing Committee
144
Acronym
IRF
ITF
iVEC
JCOMM
JCU
KORDI
LICO
LIEF
LJCO
LPMA
MAPSO
MARVL
MARVLIS
MEOP
MERIS
MISA
MNF
MODIS
MPA
MQWG
MSI
MTSAT-1R
NARP
NAVOCEANO
NCDC
NCEP
NCI
NCRIS
NDSF
NERP
NIOT
NIWA
NOAA
NOCS
NODC
NPEI
NRETA
NRIP
NRS
NZMSS
OceanMAPS
OceanSITES
ODIP
OOI
OPSAG
ORS
OSTST
OTN
PAR
PIGOOS
PMEL
POC
POST
Full Title
Indian Ocean Resources Forum
Indonesian Through Flow
Interactive Virtual Environments Centre
Joint technical Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (WMO-IOC)
James Cook University
Korea Ocean Research and Development Institution
Life in a Changing Ocean
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities
Lucinda Jetty Coastal Observatory (Sub-Facility, SRS)
Land and Property Management Authority
Monitoring Apex Predators in the Southern Ocean
Marine Virtual Laboratory
Marine Virtual Laboratory and Information System
Marine Mammals Exploring the Oceans Pole to Pole
Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer
Marine Innovation SA
Marine National Facility (NSW)
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer
Marine Protected Area
MERIS Quality Working Group
Ministry of Science + Innovation, NZ
Japan’s Multi-functional Transport Satellite
National Adaptation Research Plan
Naval Oceanographic Office
National Climatic Data Centre
National Centres for Environmental Prediction
National Computational Infrastructure
National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy
National Deep Submergence Facility
National Environmental Research Program
National Institute of Ocean Technology
National Institute of Water and Atmosphere Research, New Zealand
National Oceans and Atmospheric Administration (USA)
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (UK)
National Oceanographic Data Center
National Plan for Environmental Information
Ningaloo Reef Ecosystem Tracking Array
National Research Investment Plan
National Reference Station mooring
New Zealand Marine Science Society
Ocean Modeling and Prediction System
Ocean Sustained Interdisciplinary Timeseries Environment observation System
Ocean Data Interoperability Platform
Ocean Observing Initiative’s
Oceans Policy Science Advisory Group
Ocean Reference Station
Ocean Surface Topography Science Team
Ocean Tracking Network
Photosynthetically Active Radiation
Pacific island Global Ocean Observing System
Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
Proof Of Concept
Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking project
145
Acronym
QCIF
QIMOS
RAN
RDSI
ROV
SAHFOS
SAIMOS
SAMOS
SARDI
SAZ
SCOR
SeaWiFS
SEPP
SIMS
SOCAT
SOCPR
SOFS
SOOP
SOOS
SOSS
SOTS
SPICE
SPOT
SPRFMO
SRS
TasIMOS
TC
TERN
TIP
TMV
TSG
UNCLOS
UNESCO
UNSW
UoE
UQ
URI
US-IOOS
UTAS
UTV
UWA
VOS
WAIMOS
WAMSI
WHOI
WMO
WQM
XBT
Full Title
Queensland Cyber Infrastructure Foundation
Queensland Integrated Marine Observing System (Node)
Royal Australian Navy (Directorate of Oceanography and Meteorology)
Research Data Storage Infrastructure
Remote Operated Vehicle
Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science
South Australian Integrated Marine Observing System (Node)
Shipboard Automated Meteorological and Oceanographic System
South Australian Research and Development Institute
Sub-Antarctic Zone
Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research
Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor
State Environmental Planning Policy
Sydney Institute of Marine Science
Surface Ocean Carbon Dioxide Atlas
Southern Ocean Continuous Plankton Recorder
Southern Ocean Flux Station Meteorological Mooring
Enhanced Measurement from Ships of Opportunity (Facility 2)
Southern Ocean Observing System
Seals as Oceanographic Samplers
Southern Ocean Time Series (Sub-Facility, ABOS)
Southwest Pacific ocean circulation and Climate Experiment
South Pacific Ocean Time-series
South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation
Satellite Remote Sensing (Facility 11)
Tasmanian Integrated Marine Observing System (Node)
Tropical Cyclone
Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network
TIROS-N Information Processor
Temperate Marine Vessel
Thermosalinograph
United Nation’s Convention on the Law of the Sea
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
University of New South Wales
University of Edinburgh
University of Queensland
University of Rhode Island, USA
United States – Integrated Ocean Observing System
University of Tasmania
Underwater Towed Video
University of Western Australia
Voluntary Observing Ship
Western Australia Integrated Marine Observing System (Node)
Western Australia Marine Science Institute
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
World Meteorological Organisation
Water Quality Monitor
Expendable bathy-thermograph
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