Great Barrier Reef Ocean Observing System (GBROOS)
GBROOS is an observation network that seeks to understand the influence of the Coral Sea on continental shelf ecosystems in north-east Queensland including the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) Marine Park. In the next decade, GBROOS will monitor the effect of rising ocean temperatures on the incidence of coral bleaching, and on the frequency of regional upwelling that fuels productivity in sections of the GBR. In the longer term. GBROOS will monitor the impact of global climate change upon ocean chemistry that threatens the survival of calcifying organisms.
GBROOS is managed by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) on behalf of a number of consortium partners.
GBROOS is made up of five components that are directly managed within GBROOS as well as equipment from other IMOS Facilities that may be deployed in the Great Barrier Reef such as the HF Radar (ACORN Facility).
The components are:
- An up-grade to the Townsville Remote Sensing Receiving Station, located at AIMS;
- The installation of under-way sampling systems on a number of Ships of Oppertunity;
- The installtion of a Townsville and Darwin Reference Mooring as part of the Australian National Mooring Network facility under IMOS;
- The installation of a Mooring Array along the GBR to measure and monitor the movement of oceanic water onto the GBR;
- The installation of sensor networks at seven reef sites along the GBR.
The last component is a Facility under IMOS; the Facility for Automated Intelligent Monitoring of Marine Systems (FAIMMS).
(all images copyright AIMS)