Instrumentation
- Satellite image of Chlorophyll a, August 2002.
Sensor networks, consisting potentially of a very large number of diverse sensors interconnected via a low data-rate communication network, are considered by international funding agencies such as the European Commission, DARPA, and NSF to be one of the top five emerging technologies to impact on the quality of human life over the next 20 years. The term ‘sensor network’ refers to an array of small, wirelessly interconnected sensors that collectively stream sense data to a central data aggregation point. Some sensors can be set to sample according to trigger conditions (e.g. monitoring salinity more frequently after rainfall) but since communications with the sensors will be bi-directional they can also be manipulated by central land-based control systems.
- Davies communications platform
This initial activity will deploy sensor networks on locations on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) to collect real-time data at spatial and temporal scales required to understand complex marine processes, particularly those involving the interface between pelagic and benthic environments. Data from a local network will be aggregated and streamed in real-time back to a staging data centre onshore (GBR Node Data Centre) where they will be quality assured and processed for submission to the eMII as conformal data.