This record describes the acoustic data collected using the EM300 multibeam echosounder and the ES60 single beam echosounder during the NORFANZ voyage on the Norfolk Ridge and Lord Howe Rise in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, in May-June 2003. Fourteen seamount and slope sites were surveyed using the EM300 multibeam echosounder, 10 on the Norfolk Ridge and 4 on the Lord Howe Rise. There is a total of 4 gigabytes of raw EM300 data. Sound velocity profiles were processed to make TIFF images of backscatter (bs - grey scale), digital terrain model (dtm - sun illuminated colored bathymetry) , and elevation model (ele - very dark images) for each of the 14 sites. Each tiff file has an associated TIFF world files (.tfw) for a mercator 41 degree projection with origin at 100 degrees east. ES60 data for the voyage is stored in a local directory. There are 666 MB of data in EK5 format, made up of 134 files of 5MB each.

Scanned copies of the Bureau of Meteorology Operational Synoptic Charts covering Australia. The charts are Mean Sea Level (MSL) charts with irregular upper air charts, this collection is on 3 CD's - for the months (April-October) between 1956 and 1959 - for the months (April-October) between 1960 and 1969 - random selection between 1956 and 1959.

The overall aims were to provide data on the distribution of deep seabed habitats and fauna that are amenable to scientific hypothesis testing, can be immediately applied to marine resource management processes, and that enable strategic development of tools and techniques for understanding the processes that maintain deep sea biodiversity. This work was to support the process of NWR Estate inventory and management performance assessment by providing interpreted benthic habitat maps, faunal inventories, distribution maps and conservation values. Data will be collected at scientific reference sites from potential MPA areas that can be re-visited for monitoring purposes in the future. Sampling along environmental gradients (geographic range and depth) in this section of Australia's coast will also provide the opportunity to evaluate biogeographic hypotheses. Further refinement of predictive methods for identifying seabed habitat types, initially developed in temperate and cool-temperate environments, will be enabled by data collection from this tropical location in Australia. We intended to highlight the importance of this underlying science as a modern "Voyage of Discovery" given the likely significance of the findings in terms of Australia's biodiversity and its biogeography and evolution. (From Voyage Plan). Sediment samples were divided into two samples: an elutrition sample for macroinvertebrates that was sent to Robin Wilson at MV for analysis and a sediment sample to be analysed by Geoscience Australia.

The Wangara Experiment was a joint project between CSIRO Division of Meteorological Physics and the Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology. The experiment took place in Hay, NSW (34.5S, 144.93E) from the 15th July to the 27th August, 1967. The dataset includes hourly pilot balloon winds up to 2km. Radiosonde temperatures and mixing ratios.Micrometeorological measurements. Surface observations of pressure, dry and wet bulb temperature, "weather" cloud type and amount and surface wind direction. Geostrophic winds at the surface, thermal winds and estimates of total acceleration.The data is provided in a comprehensive technical report ( ref (1971 )above and link below). The fluxes (latent and sensible) from the Wangara dataset have been recalculated by Bruce Hicks details can be found in the (ref (1981) above and link below). The recalculated fluxes are used in the Wangara2 datasets provided.

Benthic biota samples were taken in the Great Australian Bight (GAB) and near St Helen's Hill seamount during the pilot survey for estimating the effectiveness of spatial closures for deepwater gulper sharks and associated fishery species. There are large gaps in ecological knowledge of gulper sharks which limit the effective design of area closures (e.g. optimising sizes and numbers) and assessment of their performance. The survey aimed to fill these gaps do this by characterising the habitats and ecosystem processes in 200-700 m depths that sustain key species, and commencing a process to determine the relevant aspects of species ecology. Primarily this will be (1) to measure the movement of fish within and to/ from a large closed area in the GAB with a tagging program, and (2) estimate the abundance of selected species in relation to habitat features (substructure within submarine canyons, escarpments and rocky banks, and adjacent water column features) with two independent, non-extractive photographic methods. This metadata record describes the benthic biota samples taken at during this survey. Epibenthic biota were collected using epibenthic sled (5 ops) and macro-infauna were extracted by elutriation of sediment collections taken using the Smith-MacIntyre grab (13 ops). The invertebrate specimens were distributed to Museum collections for registration and curation. Data on specimen identifications by taxonomic experts are tracked, collated and archived at the CSIRO.

This record describes the collections of benthic biota (and their derived data) from two Marine National Facility charter voyages conducted under the Benthic Characterisation Project (3.1) of the Great Australian Bight Research Program (GABRP): SS2013_C02 and IN2015_C02. The GABRP aims to describe the key elements of the GAB marine ecosystem. This understanding of the structure and function of the ecosystem will be used to inform future integrated and sustainable ocean management and assessment/mitigation of potential future impacts. An overarching objective of the voyages was to contribute to developing models of ecosystem-level structure and function for the GAB. Benthic biota samples were taken on 5 transects in the central and eastern GAB at 6 depth strata (200m, 400m, 1000m, 1500m, 2000m and 3000m). Epibenthic biota were collected primarily using the beam trawl; macro- infauna were extracted by elutriation of sediment collections taken using the ICP and the Smith-MacIntyre grab. Most beam trawl samples were taken during the IN2015_C02 voyage while most macro-infauna were collected during the earlier SS2013_C02 voyage. The invertebrate specimens were identified to OTU and photographed on board and shipped to Museum Victoria, from where selected taxa were distributed to taxonomic experts for identification. Macro-infauna samples were sorted to OTU in the lab and specimens treated the same as epifauna for further identification. Specimens were distributed to various Museum collections (including SAMA, NMV, AMS) for registration and curation. All fishes were identified to OTU on board and shipped to the Australian National Fish Collection (ANFC) where they were registered and databased. A series of workshops were held bringing together fish expert taxonomists to identify the collection and distribute representative sub-collections to various museums. Taxa targeted for detailed taxonomic identification: sponges, anemones, octocorals, polychaetes, molluscs, echinoderms, crustacea (select groups), pycnogonids and fishes.

This record describes the benthic assemblage survey data collected as part of the 1993-1996 South East Fishery Ecosystem Study undertaken by CSIRO Division of Fisheries. Benthic sled tows (c.4 per survey) were carried out at selected locations on transects across the continental shelf and in intensive survey areas in eastern Bass Strait, south-west Victoria, and south-west NSW waters. Data were collected in July 1993 (cruise SS 05/93), August 1994 (cruise SS 05/94), April 1996 (cruise SS 02/96) and November 1996 (cruise SS 06/96). Large collections of benthic invertebrates were identified and many photographed. As part of the analysis stage of the project, these assemblages wil be related to substrate characteristics on the one hand and fish faunal assemblages on the other.

Australia has gazetted an ambitious national network of Commonwealth Marine Reserves that includes the iconic Huon and Tasman Fracture reserves off Tasmania where seamounts (‘undersea mountains’) support unique deep-water coral reefs. These reefs rank among the most bio-diverse globally. Protection of deep-water coral reefs is a high-priority conservation concern nationally and internationally because deep-water corals are very fragile, easily impacted by human activities including bottom trawling, and are believed to recover very slowly. These corals may also be highly vulnerable to climate change because projected changes in water chemistry could limit the ability of corals to build calcareous skeletons. Despite these concerns, and Australia’s significant investment in marine conservation, several fundamental ecological issues remain to be evaluated. These include defining the spatial extent of deep-sea coral communities inside and outside the Tasmanian reserves, and evaluating the resilience of the communities to bottom trawling. This information is important to understanding the dynamics of deep-sea communities globally, and for developing and implementing conservation management plans. The survey aboard RV Investigator set out to determine the spatial extents of deep-sea coral communities in and adjacent to the Huon and Tasman Fracture reserves, and quantify changes in the communities by comparing samples taken in 2018 to samples taken, using similar methods, in 2007 and 1997. There was supplementary sampling on the heavily trawled St. Helens Seamount which was surveyed in 2008. This metadata record refers to the image data collected during the survey. The imagery collected for this project have been registered to the 2018 incidence of the CSIRO VARS database, where annotations have been added. The annotations collected for this project have also been linked to the Oracle data base BHIMAGE and the associated videos and still images have been archived as described in MarLIN record 14436 'Benthic Habitats Video Image Archive'.