Real-Time marine observing systems: Challenges, benefits and opportunities in Australian coastal waters

Abstract

The Australian Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) is funded by the Australian Government, and designed to be a fully-integrated national array of observing equipment to monitor the open oceans and coastal marine environment around Australia. IMOS delivers physical, chemical and biological data comprising of observations from a wide spectrum of platforms including weather stations, oceanographic moorings, underway ship observations, seagliders, ocean surface radar, satellite image reception and reef based sensor networks. When data from ocean observing systems can be provided in near real-time, the operational aspects are further enhanced and provide potential for a range of value added products to be developed. Here we provide three examples of co-invested partnerships that have facilitated the development of real-time moored ocean observing systems in the coastal zone, operated by the Queensland IMOS node. For each of these examples, the project is introduced, a detailed technical description of the system is provided, operational aspects are summarised, and the uptake of data from stakeholders is discussed. These examples demonstrate the benefits of having a national collaborative approach to marine observing with a clear focus on open access to data. It is also demonstrated that the benefits and opportunities offered by real-time ocean observing can outweigh the technical challenges of developing and maintaining these complex systems.