Australia’s marine jurisdiction is one of the world’s largest, but it is also one of the least explored. Marine research is vital for clim
ate prediction, ecosystem management, marine safety and harm abatement for offshore industries.
The $55.2 million the Australian Government is committing through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) will establish an Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS). In a true paradigm shift in Australian marine research, IMOS is creating an enhanced, nationally integrated capacity to collect marine data, draw it together and make it accessible to researchers and other users.
IMOS will be coordinated by the University of Tasmania, supported by CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research. It will involve a large number of universities, research agencies and government agencies around Australia. International organisations, such as the USA’s Scripps Institute of Oceanography, are also taking part.
NCRIS funds will support the provision of the wide range of instrumentation needed to observe Australia’s marine estate effectively.
Support will also be provided for the eMarine Information Infrastructure to store, analyse, retrieve and share data once it has been collected.
The Integrated Marine Observing System will put Australia in line with those countries around the world that are leading the way to informed management of resources in their Exclusive Economic Zones and underpin world class research. We are focussed on the impact of climate change, from El Nino to global warming, and I believe IMOS can make a vital contribution to long-term and seasonal climate predictions.
As a new process for developing research infrastructure in Australia NCRIS has placed a heavy demand on researchers to get their act together, literally, and work together towards common goals. Ultimately, this collaboration will provide greater benefit to Australia than working on interesting but individualistic research projects.
Professor Gary Meyers is the Director of the Integrated Marine Observing System.
The Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) comprises a distributed set of equipment, co-operative agreements and data and information services. Collectively they will contribute to meeting the needs of marine research and other uses in Australia based on data in both open oceans and coastal oceans.
The elements of IMOS are widely-distributed, coordinated and managed by the IMOS Office at the University of Tasmania (UTAS). The infrastructure is being operated by a range of institutions under agreements with the IMOS Office.
The CSIRO operates five IMOS elements: Argo Australia, which deploys autonomous floats to collect subsurface marine data; the Ships of Opportunity Project (SOOP), which enables instruments for underway data collection (CSIRO jointly operates SOOP with UTAS and the Bureau of Meteorology); Southern Ocean Automated Time Series Observations, which enables long-term time-series marine observations; the Australian National Mooring Network, which deploys and operates a network of fixed moorings around Australia, and; Satellite Remote Sensing, which produces standard ocean remote-sensing datasets, archives and provides access to these datasets, and upgrades existing satellite ground- stations in Hobart and Townsville.
The University of Western Australia is operating the Australian National Facility for Ocean Gliders, which deploys and navigates ocean gliders for subsurface marine observations.
The Sydney Harbour Institute of Marine Science (SHIMS) is operating two IMOS elements: the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Facility, which enhances and deploys autonomous underwater vehicles for marine observations, and; the Australian Acoustic Tagging and Monitoring System, to track large fauna in coastal and continental shelf ecosystems.
The Australian Institute of Marine Science operates the Facility for Automated Intelligent Monitoring of Marine Systems, which deploys advanced sensor networks to collect real-time data at the spatial and temporal scales required to understand complex marine processes, particularly those involving the interface between pelagic and benthic environments.
The James Cook University operates the Australian Coastal Ocean Radar Network, which deploys and operates radar systems to observe coastal currents and waves.
The University of Tasmania is operating the eMarine Information Infrastructure (eMII), which will provide a single integrative framework for data and information management, discovery and access for IMOS. The eMII provides the fundamental linking component to all other investments in IMOS. After data is collected, eMII will: store, analyse, retrieve and share it, together with related information; provide the tools to enable researchers to access and use it, and so support Australia’s marine science researchers and other marine data users.
For enquiries about the Integrated Marine Observing System, please contact:
Professor Gary Meyers
Director
Integrated Marine Observing System
University of Tasmania
Privage Bag 110
HOBART TAS 7001
Australia
Tel: +61 3 6226 7505
Mobile: +61 438 042 744
Email: Gary.Meyers@imos.org.au
For matters related to management of the NCRIS programme, please contact the NCRIS Team by email at ncris@dest.gov.au or by telephone on 02 6229 4223.
For further information, please see the hompage of the Integrated Marine Observing System at http://www.imos.org.au/ 