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94 million new ways to monitor the world's oceans
27 November 2006
The Australian Government today announced that the University
of Tasmania (UTAS) is to be the headquarters of a national marine
facility worth $94 million. The Australian Government will contribute
$55.2 million over 5 years.
The Integrated Marine Observing System, or IMOS, will be a nation-wide
collaborative facility designed to observe the oceans around Australia,
including the coastal oceans and the offshore blue water environment,
and to provide a data-stream that will support research on many
of the critical marine issues facing Australia.
The UTAS Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research, Professor Allan Canty,
said the IMOS Office will be run in collaboration with CSIRO, taking
advantage of the personnel strengths in both institutions.
"Together, UTAS and CSIRO will work to facilitate and manage
the deployment and use of oceans monitoring equipment in line with
strategic directions developed by the national and international
marine community."
The Tasmanian Government will provide practical and financial
support to the University in establishing the Office. Twenty-seven
separate institutions will be involved in the new facility, which
is funded under the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure
Strategy.
More information:
Related Information:
Background
Why Observe Oceans?
The Nominated Director, Dr Gary Meyers, who will join UTAS from
CSIRO, said IMOS will put Australia in line with a few other countries
around the world that are leading the way to informed management
of resources in their Exclusive Economic Zones. The system will
ensure a critical mass of oceans research at a vital time in the
earth's history.
"The ocean plays a major role in shaping climate change, and
ocean observations are critical to reducing uncertainty in future
climate scenarios, in monitoring and predicting change," he
said.
"We don't know how climate change will impact on the marine
environment, and in particular on living marine resources," Dr
Meyers said.
"Also, Australia has a responsibility to not only protect
marine biodiversity but to have inventories of what is there, in
the ocean, and its ecological role.
"Marine observations contribute indirectly to risk management
for sea operations and offshore industries, recreational pursuits,
maritime safety, hazard prediction and national security."
What is Ocean Observing?
Ocean observing requires combining satellite data with measurements
in the water to characterize the ocean-state: temperature, salinity,
currents, productivity and ecological structure. IMOS is about
the measurements in the water--the deployment of permanent and
fixed facilities such as moorings and sensor arrays, ship measurements
repeated over the same ship tracks through time, and portable equipment,
such as drifting buoys and unmanned vehicles that can be navigated.
IMOS will include High Frequency Ocean Radar equipment for deployment
on coasts or islands for ocean current measurement.
What will IMOS do?
Access to vessels and data from such equipment has to be managed
and processed according to agreed standards and made available
through a system accessible to all. IMOS will:
- Enhance the collection of oceanographic and biological
data to improve Australia's understanding of ocean variability
and regional climate change.
- Provide the capability to systematically monitor the
interaction of the oceanic currents with shelf waters around
Australia, providing large scale oceanographic details on ecosystem
health and distribution, and biological productivity.
- Provide systematic ways to collect data on ocean animal
populations.
- Provide a stream of data using up-to-date information-technology
to support a broad community of researchers.
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Last updated
27/11/06
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