Event Based Sampling

Marine heatwaves are extreme ocean climate events characterised by anomalously warm ocean temperatures that are prolonged in duration and extend over broad oceanic and coastal regions. A warming global climate and subsequent increase in ocean heat content will increase the frequency and potentially the severity of marine heatwaves, with significant ecological implications for species mortality, modification of species geographic range preferences and impacts on critical life history stages.

Marine heatwaves can be detected at the surface through remote sensing but understanding their subsurface extent in near real time is limited. There are regions in which cloud cover may be high and prevent an accurate understanding of the thermal anomalies over a broad coastal extent, or regions where the extremes temperature anomalies are restricted below the surface.

IMOS has set up a national steering committee who meet monthly to discuss a list of priority indicators, data sources, and tools for monitoring marine heatwaves through their growth, peak, and decay phases. The committee reviews and evaluates available evidence and indicators to assess the likelihood of marine heatwave events and the likely geographic regions to be impacted.

The committee develops a set of principles to aid in the prioritisation of the potential deployment locations and their timing of four IMOS Ocean glider deployments per annum. This priorisation is based on criteria including:

• predicted impacts including ecological consequences,
• scientific novelty of the marine heatwave,
• the potential consequences for aquaculture industries and the broader community,
• the availability of existing and supporting meteorological and
• oceanographic observations and models.

IMOS Event Based Sampling gliders have collected measurements during marine heatwaves in a diverse range of environments around Australia. 

Further information on the glider missions and ocean temperatures is provided at IMOS OceanCurrent’s Glider webpage.  

FY23/24

#1 Tasmania East Coast – TasEastCoast20231207

7 December – 10 December 2023

#2 Central Great Barrier Reef- MissionBeach20240120

20-25 January 2024

FY22/23

#1 Cooktown20221117

17 Nov – 06 Dec 2022

#2 West Coast Tasmania – TasWestCoast20230405

5 April – 1 May 2023

FY21/22

#1 Weipa, Gulf of Carpentaria – Weipa20211123

23 November – 29 November 2021

#2 Tasmania East Coast – TasEastCoast20220311

11 – 20 March 2022

#3 Central GBR – MissionBeach0220220126

26 January – 22 February 2022

Regular (double deployment) Central GBR – MissionBeach0120220126

26 January – 2 February 2022

#4 Tasmania East Coast – TasEastCoast20220311

11 – 20 March 2022

FY20/21

#1 Jurien Bay to Geraldton, Western Australia – JurienBay20210122

22 January – 17 February 2021

#2 East Coast Tasmania – TasEastCoast20210309

9 March – 30 March 2021

#3 Southeast Tasmania – StormBay20210415

15 April – 11 May 2021

#4 Offshore GBR – LizardSlope20210317

16 March – 11 April 2021

FY19/20

#1 Central Great Barrier Reef – GBR20200123

27 February – 27 March 2020 

#2 Southern Great Barrier Reef – CapricornBunker20200307

7 March – 20 March 2020 

#3 Kimberley/ Rowley Shoals – RowleyShoals20200506

6 May – 5 June 2020

FY18/19

#1 East Coast Tasmania – TasEastCoast20190213

13 February – 9 March 2019

#2 East Coast Tasmania – TasEastCoast20190316

16 March – 11 April 2019

This sub-Facility contributes to 9 Essential Ocean Variables and 8 Essential Climate Variables.

EOVs: Ocean surface heat flux, Oxygen, Particulate matter, Phytoplankton biomass and diversity, Sea surface salinity, Sea surface temperature, Subsurface currents, Subsurface salinity, Subsurface temperature

ECVs: Ocean surface heat flux, Oxygen, Plankton, Sea surface salinity, Sea surface temperature, Subsurface currents, Subsurface salinity, Subsurface temperature

Prof. Charitha Pattiaratchi
E: chari.pattiaratchi(at)uwa.edu.au