Sensors on Temperate Merchant Vessels Sub-Facility - Australia’s Integrated Marine Observing System
Original (non-English) name
Acronym
Sensors on Temperate Merchant Vessels Sub-Facility - IMOS
Citation
Users of IMOS data are required to clearly acknowledge the source material by including the following statement:
Australia’s Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) is enabled by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS). It is operated by a consortium of institutions as an unincorporated joint venture, with the University of Tasmania as Lead Agent.
Abstract
Sensors on Temperate Merchant Vessels, in partnership with the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) Victoria use autonomous water sampling equipment installed Spirit of Tasmania 1 to continuous monitor Port Phillip Bay and the Bass Strait. The regularity and consistency in voyage track between the two ports provides high-quality repeat sampling of marine conditions.
The system has been highly useful already, having been applied to monitoring of channel dredging and to calibrate complicated numerical models of Port Phillip Bay. The ship path includes a north-south transect through the inner bay and runs across the Sands region which is the dominant zone of mixing and flushing. It then crosses Bass Strait, supplying unprecedented open water information.