In July 1985 the Division of Oceanography embarked on a wave observation program with the deployment of two "Waverider" buoys in the Southern Ocean near Cape Sorell on the west coast of Tasmania. Data were collected from moored Waverider Buoys deployed for various periods in Tasmanian coastal waters off Cape Grim, Cape Sorell (100m), Cape Sorell (50m) and Storm Bay. These observations are used to assess both typical and extreme sea states at these sites and for estimating spatial, seasonal and interannual variations in wave conditions in the Tasmanian region. The program concluded in December 1993 when the Storm Bay buoy ceased operation. There are two distinct datasets: a) Derived statistical data is available on-line for the seven locations mentioned in "Wave Climate Measurements in the Southern Ocean." b) Sample burst data for each of (possibly) nine locations. NOTES: All instruments used, and a copy of the data obtained during this program were sent to the Bureau of Meteorology. The Marine Observation Unit at the Bureau (marine_obs@bom.gov.au) may be able to provide additional information. The data files in this collection are not in a Datacente supported format and no assurances are given as to the accuracy of data, or of the locations implied by the data file names. The CSIRO Waverider program has not been continued.

BOA is the result of collecting together the majority of global high-quality buoy and shipboard deepwater hydrographic cast data. It is built on the NOAA/NODC World Ocean Database (BOA06 uses WOD01), WOCE WHP3, Argo, TAO, CSIRO and NIWA archives, and a number of other sources. The component datasets of BOA are stored separately in a range of formats since the nature of these datasets is quite varied. This approach allows easy updating of components (for example, the Argo subset is completely renewed every couple of months.) Where the same data could reside in multiple datasets, those datasets are duplicate cross-checked after any updates (scanning only on the basis of time and location, not the enormous task of searching for duplicated property profiles.). BOA is available in a packaged form of one netCDF file per property (created in July 2006.) Neutral density profiles are also computed and stored in file gamma_BOA06.nc. These files are available via an OpenDAP server and for internal use as local netCDF files.

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 aim of the project is to examine how climate forcing influences nutrient, plankton and nekton dynamics across the continental shelf off Perth, Western Australia, with application to fisheries, management of marine protected areas and coastal processes. Objectives are: - Describe onshore-offshore biophysical ocean structure, its seasonal cycle and interannual variability based on remote sensing data and monitoring of temperature, salinity, nutrients, phytoplankton (chlorophyll and other pigments) and zooplankton based on monthly sampling off Hillarys; micronekton from quarterly cruises. - Measure primary productivity and parameters related to zooplankton grazing and productivity and food web links for key zooplankton species at selected stations/productivity regimes. - Use Hillarys transect temperature and chlorophyll data for validation of satellite derived surface temperatures and ocean colour (linkage with coastal project). - Apply acoustic methods to monitor zooplankton and micronekton and assess fine-scale distributions based on Tracor Acoustic Profiling System (TAPS) (6 frequencies, 300 kHz - 3 megaHz) and underway 38 and 120kHz frequencies; assess zooplankton and micronekton scattering strength and develop multi-frequency discrimination methods; - Explore optimised long term biophysical sampling strategies using remote sensing, acoustics and associated environmental variables for moored and other long-term monitoring linking process understanding with the numerical and empirical modelling. - Measure currents at a mooring site at 80 m depth off Perth and provide the data and oceanic process understanding for the numerical models. - Assess diet and nutritional status of western rock lobster phyllosoma with lipid biomarkers. - Input data and collaborate in development of biophysical NPZ models for coastal zone and shelf (modelling project); preliminary modelling of micronecton/necton.

The QuOTA project involved NOAA-IPRC and CMAR jointly undertaking to build a very high quality ocean thermal data archive by applying methods and expertise developed through the NOAA-IPRC/CMAR IOTA (Indian Ocean Thermal Archive) collaboration which was established in 1998. The Quota Project resulted in building a high quality upper ocean temperature dataset for the Indian Ocean and the South-western Pacific (east of the dateline). QuOTA contains ocean temperature data collected since 1778 and includes XBT, CT, CU, CTD, XCDT, MBT, BT, BA, DT, SST, TE, UO, bottle, drifting and moored bouy data. Quality control of the data is done by automated processes, followed by 'hand-QC' of data that fails the automated test. This results in a data set containing very little 'bad' data and any that remains is usually subtly faulty, having little impact on most analyses.