IMOS FishSOOP collaborators
Fishing Vessels as Ships of Opportunity Program - Crowd sourcing ocean data through collaboration between the University of New South Wales and the commercial fishing industry as part of Australia’s Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS).
Improving ocean models using your observations
Thank you for participating in the FishSOOP project, an IMOS Fisheries Ships of Opportunity sub-Facility operated through the University of New South Wales and the Sydney Institute of Marine Science (SIMS; an IMOS partner). We hope that you find the data useful in your fishing operations. The data you collect will greatly assist with our understanding of how the sea temperature is changing, where marine heatwaves are occurring, and improve our abilities to provide accurate marine and land weather forecasts.
Installing the sensor
The blue Moana sensor developed by our technology partner, Zebra-Tech, attaches to your fishing gear, either with or without a yellow protective cover. It is fully automatic, and measures water depth and temperature very accurately.
The Deck Unit is attached to the vessel. It is solar charged and fully self-contained. It receives data from the Moana sensor and transmits it to our secured cloud server.
Download the detailed installation instructions, checklist and manufacturer's manual below.
Using the sensor
Once installed, the system requires minimal intervention.
Keep the deck unit solar panel clean for the unit to charge. When the sensor leaves the water, make sure it stays within direct line of sight of the deck unit for at least 30 seconds. When the sensor is due for calibration (at least every 2 years), the FishSOOP team will contact you to arrange a replacement.
What data are collected?
The only information collected and shared will be temperature, depth, time and position at regular intervals during your fishing operations. Detailed vertical temperature profile measuring every 1m depth between the surface and 200m, every 4m between 200m and 1000m on the way up and down, and data every 5 mins while at a constant depth (such as in a pot, or on a line).
How are the data offloaded?
When the Moana sensor comes out of the water, it automatically offloads its data via Bluetooth to the deck unit. You do not need to do anything during this process. Data are then automatically transferred to our secure, cloud-based servers.
Where are the measurements stored?
Data are anonymised and then sent to directly to the global telecommunications system where they can be accessed only by authorised national weather services (e.g. BoM). They use the data in their ocean models to improve tomorrow’s ocean and atmospheric forecasts, such as predicting cyclone tracks more accurately.
The temperature data are also stored on our UNSW database for processing before being publicly shared anonymously, under the Creative Commons License 4.0 through IMOS on the Australian Ocean Data Network (AODN).
Measurements collected by the sensor are emailed back to the vessel that collected them within 1 hour of reception as a plot and in spreadsheet format.
Travelling with instruments
Download a copy of the five information sheets below and keep them with you when travelling with the moana sensor and deckbox to assist in responding to questions from transit officials.
Report an issue
If you have an issue with your data flow, instruments, hardware, or any other aspect of you participation, please complete this form and we will get in touch to investigate further.