Raw data from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) sensors on NOAA polar orbiting satellites, received at the Alice Springs station run by ACRES. These data are used later for computation of parameters such as sea surface temperature (SST). The data start from April 1986. The data provide complete coverage of continental Australia, from approx. 4000 satellite passes as at Oct. 1998. The data are stored on Exabyte tapes in Hobart.

Raw data from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) sensors on NOAA polar orbiting satellites, received at the Met Bureau's Darwin Satellite Reception Facility. These data are used later for computation of parameters such as sea surface temperature (SST). The data start from August 1992. The dataset contains approx. 4600 satellite passes as at Oct. 1998. The data are stored on Exabyte tapes in Hobart.

Raw data from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) sensors on NOAAA polar orbiting satellites, received at the Alice Springs station run by ACRES. These data are used later for computation of parameters such as sea surface temperature (SST). The data start from April 1986. The data provide complete coverage of continental Australia, from approx. 4000 satellite passes as at Oct. 1998. The data are stored on Exabyte tapes in Hobart.

Raw data from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) sensors on NOAA polar orbiting satellites, received at the Hobart Satellite Reception Facility. The dataset starts from April 1986, and represents approx. 37000 satellite passes as at Oct. 1998. The data are stored on Exabyte tapes at Hobart.

The seabed habitat, marine plant and sessile megabenthos cover of the 50,000 km² area of the Torres Strait Protected Zone and adjacent shelf seabed was observed by a 500 m transect of a Drop-Camera video system at 173 sites, representing a wide range of known physical environments, during one 1-month-long voyage on the James Cook University vessel James Kirby. Continuous underway coding during transects recorded cover of 9 substrata types, 26 biohabitat types, and occurrence of 12 faunal classes. Laboratory post-analysis of the video recorded more detail at ~30 random frames per transect, including: 20 substratum types, 92 biological types -- the dataset comprises ~28,000 site-by-type records. In addition, during most transects, digital still photographs were taken at 5-15 second intervals with strobes, and CTD data were recorded.

The seabed habitat, marine plant and sessile megabenthos cover of the 200,000 km² area of the GBR shelf seabed was observed by a 500 m transect of a Drop-Camera video system at 1210 sites, representing a full range of known physical environments, during six 1-month-long voyages on the AIMS vessel Lady Basten. Continuous underway coding during transects recorded cover of 9 substrata types, 26 biohabitat types, and occurrence of 12 faunal classes. Laboratory post-analysis of the video recorded more detail at ~30 random frames per transect, including: 11 physical topography types, 23 substratum types, 115 biological types -- the dataset comprises 176,000 records site-by-type records. In addition, during most transects, digital still photographs were taken at 5-15 second intervals with strobes, and CTD data were recorded.

The aims of this project are: (1) to identify and simulate key physical factors that have significant impacts on ecological processes on shelf and coastal areas of southwestern Western Australia (WA); and (2) to develop physical, ecological, and risk assessment models that can be used to assess impacts of multiple human use on coastal and shelf environments. The project consists of five main components: analysis of large scale climate forcing, development and application of regional and coastal circulation models, development of integrated biogeochemical/ecological models, development of coastal impact models, and risk assessment. This project will link existing field data, field observations from other SRFME projects, and output from new and existing models, with management objectives and needs defined by Western Australian stakeholders. Specific models to be developed include regional and coastal oceanographic models, biogeochemical / ecological models that links physical and ecological processes, and risk assessment models that link these models to human use of the marine environment. The project intends to build on methods and models already developed and/or used by other CMR projects such as the NWSJEMS and LWRDDC projects. These models will be adapted and extended to allow assessment of impacts of multiple use and natural forcing on nutrient cycling, production and habitat quality on shelf and coastal areas in southwestern WA. These tools will range from process-based simulation models to semi-empirical models, with a focus on making efficient use of existing data, and incorporating new data from large-scale observations such as acoustic and satellite data. The main deliverables of the project include analysis of large scale climate forcing, development and application of regional and coastal scale oceanographic, integrated biogeochemical/ecological, and coastal impact models and risk assessment methods.

The primary basis for the project was the analysis of existing plankton and larval fish samples and the collation of data sets on larval distribution that had been derived from sampling across broad areas of southern and eastern Australia over the last 17 years. Some of these samples had been archived in the CSIRO Ian Munro Fish Collection, Australian Museum or South Australian Museum as part of the FRDC funded regional larval fish archive (FRDC94/55). Other samples or data sets were resident within the collections of collaborating institutions. The project focused its analyses on southern and southeast Australia spanning the area from the Great Australian Bight (GAB) to northern NSW. This region was selected for four reasons: First, sampling had been most intensive in this region and available data sets provided excellent spatial and seasonal coverage. Second, our ability to identify larvae to species was well developed in the region. Third, the oceanography of the region had been the subject of intensive study and provided a sound basis for linking biological data to physical processes. Fourth, additional sampling during the period of this project was scheduled that further enhanced sample coverage (specifically sampling by MAFRI in Bass Strait Bass Strait and sampling by CSIRO in the GAB). The Larval Fish Database (LFD) has been created in Microsoft Access. It has been divided into two parts: a data module that houses raw data and an application module that automatically displays summaries of these data in a user-friendly fashion. By dividing the database into two parts, the user only has access to the specified data summaries, the raw data remain secure and the LFD can be updated as further data become available. The LFD incorporates an ActiveX component (MapInfo MapX) that allows the user to visualise spatial data and animations of modelled larval dispersal that are displayed using Microsoft's Media Player. The LFD has been designed to allow expa

This project has been designed to provide the Western Australian Government and its agencies with improved understanding of the coastal marine environment so that its decision making with regard to development in this zone is environmentally credible and sustainable. The project will deliver this result by the following sequence of research. First, existing data will be appraised in light of a simple system model for inshore coastal waters. This rudimentary understanding will be used to design environmental surveys for three representative coastal systems (chosen in consultation with WA departments and agencies). Whereupon, baseline data will be obtained on biodiversity, biogeochemical processes and environmental quality in these waterways. With this information, the research will then move on to consider the affects of selected stressors (localised sources and diffuse inputs) on the above ecological characteristics, and the potential for irreversible alteration. Where necessary, focussed investigations in the field or laboratory will be used to resolve key mechanisms and also the scale of response. Important outcomes for the project will be the development of validated environmental indicators for the use of coastal managers, and also other resources for them to better understand the complex interactions and inter-relations in coastal marine ecosystems (e.g. via conceptual models). This project will also work with other SRFME projects to improve capacity for prediction and scenario testing in environmental decision making via models and other tools.