Media coverage and news
-
Prof. Moninya Roughan attending AGU 2022
December 2022
Lab leader Prof. Moninya Roughan attended the AGU Fall Meeting 2022 in Chicago last week. She presented one oral presentation on the drivers of ocean warming in southern hemisphere western boundary currents (work led by lab member Junde Li), and two posters: one on marine heat waves and their drivers in the Tasman Sea (work led by lab member Yustina Elzahaby), and one on the dynamics of eddies and their role in ocean warming in the East Australia Current.
Poster presented by Moninya on Thursday
Moninya standing in front of her poster on marine heatwaves
Moninya's kids also attending the conference
Lab end of year celebration
November 2022
Lab members were joined by school of maths colleagues to celebrate the end of a productive 2022 at Maroubra's Arthur Byrne Reserve. Activites such as painting, Slacklining, Petanque, Finska, and Saboteur were enjoyed, and there was even a little dancing.
Figure: Lab members posing at Maroubra Arthur Byrne Reserve
ARC Discovery Project Funded
November 2022
Prof. Moninya Roughan, Dr. Amandine Schaeffer, Dr. Shane Keating, and Dr. Colette Kerry were successful in receiving $693,000 in the latest round of ARC Discovery grants for 'Understanding multi-scale dynamics of eddies in the East Australian Current'. This project aims to provide the first rigorous quantification of the dynamics of rotating eddies (the weather systems of the ocean) and fronts on scales ranging from metres to hundreds of kilometres and hours to weeks in the East Australian Current System. This project will improve ocean forecasting and the sustainable management of Australian marine industries and the seafood sector.
See here for more details.
Planned 2023 cruise track underneath the SWOT swath
Professor Moninya Roughan interview for The Sydney Morning Herald
November 2022
Group leader professor Moninya Roughan was interviewed by The Sydney Morning Herald to give some thoughts on ocean temperature change, particularly why the ocean was colder at this time of the year.
Long term sea temperatures have been increasing over the last 80 years and the oceans off south-east Australia are warming at the fastest rate on the planet, Moninya stated.
But this month the ocean is one degree colder than average as response of a cold core eddy from Forster to Jervis Bay, controlling the ocean circulation and temperature.
Figure: SST anomaly showing a cold core cyclone pushing cold water to the north
Dr. Colette Kerry interview for the 60 Minutes
October 2022
Dr. Colette Kerry, a postdoctoral research associate member of the Coastal and Regional Oceanography Lab gave an interview for The 60 minutes program to draw on her knowledge and expertise in physical oceanography, to analyse the currents at the moment of the missing of the Belgian backpacker Theo Hayez.
You can watch the full video on The 60 Minutes website. And you can find her interview in part five, minute 1:41, explaining that there was a notorious rip current next to the headland and the East Australian Current (EAC) was unusually close to the shore on the night Theo disappeared.
EAC workshop 6 in Lennox Head - The 6th East Australian Current workshop and writing retreat was held in Lennox Head
Tuesday 18 - Friday 21 October 2022
The Coastal and Regional Oceanography Lab were joined by CSIRO colleagues Dr. Peter Oke, Dr. Tatiana Rykova, and Dr. David Griffin, and visiting colleague Dr. Taku Wagawa from the Japan Sea National Research Institute in Lennox Head to discuss research into the EAC and its eddies.
Presentations were given, literature were discussed, writing was commenced, and even a few card games were played. This was also a great opportunity for lab members to meet in person at a beautiful location on the NSW coast.
New Research: Moving easterlies driving WBCs further south
October 2022
Research published in Nature Climate Change led by Junde Li and including team members Moninya Roughan and Colette Kerry has revealed the link between poleward shifting southern hemisphere WBCs and changes in mid-latitude easterly winds. They show that the WBCs have penetrated poleward but have not strengthened, and are now transporting more heat into their extensions.
A writeup of this study was published in The Conversation and was featured in another Nature article.
The team have a research cruise planned for September next year aboard RV Investigator, Australia's research vessel, to explore eddies further. This will shed new light on eddy processes in the warming ocean.
Figure: Time series of zonal mean latitudes of the zero wind stress (solid orange line) and SAM index (solid blue line). The dashed orange line and blue line indicate the linear trends of zonal mean latitudes of zero wind stress and SAM index, respectively. (Li et al., 2022)
AMSA Conference in Cairns
August 2022
Prof. Moninya Roughan, and team members Michael Hemming and Daniel Lee presented their work this month at the Australian Marine Society Association (AMSA) 2022 conference in Cairns, Australia.
Moninya gave an oral presentation on the spatial and temporal variability of marine heatwaves in key fishing grounds around New Zealand, and presented a poster on the impacts of marine stingers on the Australian community. Daniel Lee presented the drifting dynamics of Bluebottles, as well as introducing a new Bluebottle python module. Michael presented glider data collected during a marine heatwave, and the development and usage of FAIR temperature data products at the national reference stations.
.cropimg.width=335.crop=basic.jpg)
.cropimg.width=335.crop=basic.jpg)
.cropimg.width=335.crop=basic.jpg)
.cropimg.width=335.crop=basic.jpg)
.cropimg.width=335.crop=basic.jpg)
.cropimg.width=335.crop=basic.jpg)
RV Investigator Cruise
July 2022
Principle Investigator Dr Amandine Schaeffer has completed another successful voyage on the RV Investigator. The main aim of the voyage was to retrieve the deep East Australian Current mooring array, but time was also spent chasing frontal processes and investigating an unobserved submerged canyon.
Welcome Connor and Fernando!
June 2022
Two new PhD students start their EAC research journeys at the lab this month.
Connor Henderson will be investigating the mechanisms behind eddy tilting and how they interact with the EAC and the shelf, while Fernando Sobral will be investigating the heat transport driven by eddies along the EAC system from observational data and modelling outputs.
Dr. Neil Malan
MHW off NSW coast (Ocean Currents)
10 Years at UNSW
May 2022
Surfing and sailing legend Tim Austin this year celebrates 10 years working at the Coastal and Regional Oceanography lab. Tim joined the lab in March 2012 and has been a valuable part of the Moorings team.
His continued dedication to the team and sustained data collection over the years has enabled a vast range of studies on the EAC and its impact on coastal waters off NSW. Thank you Tim!
Youstina profiled by the Moana Project
28 March 2022
PhD student Youstina Elzahaby's work, and professional journey from actuary to marine heatwave expert was recently profiled by the Moana project. Her latest work on the effect of surface mixed layer depth on marine heatwave classification has just been published in Frontiers of Marine Science, and can be found here.
Severe Rainfall Affecting NSW Coast
9 March 2022
Anomalous rainfall over NSW and QLD coastal areas has caused severe flooding and led to increased river plume discharge as seen by satellite. This increased rainfall coincides with a La Nina, and warmer than average western Pacific ocean surface temperatures.
Team members Dr Junde Li, Prof Moninya Roughan, and Dr Colette Kerry have recently published a study on how mesoscale circulation impacts the structure of river plumes during intense rainfall events.
Above: River plumes between Lennox Head and Port Macquarie NSW on March 7 2022 taken by the Sentinel-3 satellite (accessed from: https://ovl.oceandatalab.com.)
Marine Heatwave
4 Jan 2022
A Marine Heatwave (MHW) off Sydney has generated media interest in Oceanography with Professor Roughan being interviewed by several mastheads including SMH and The Guardian.
The Guardian - Extreme marine heatwave: waters off Sydney set to break January temperature records
SMH - Sea temperatures inch towards record high but marine ecosystems could suffer
The Independent - Sydney faces extreme marine heatwave
9 News - Marine heatwave sends NSW ocean temperatures soaring to levels not seen in decades
ABC - Extreme marine heatwave sees east coast water temperatures rise
Update - 3 Feb 2022
UNSW Oceanography deployed a Slocum research glider to observe the MHW and a picture of the data is shown below. Note the extremely warm pool of surface water shown after 02/02. A CTD cast taken on 3/2/22 shows how the Temperature and Salinity change with depth and the ranges are remarkable.This deployment was carried out in cooperation with Australian National Facility for Ocean Gliders (ANFOG) and supported by Australia's Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS).
-
RV Investigator Cruise
1 June 2021
Dr Schaeffer and Dr Hemming recently took part in a productive 3-week research cruise deploying a deep water mooring array and studying eddy interactions in the East Australian Current (EAC).
IMOS OceanCurrent - Contrasting_East_Australian_Current_eddy_interactions
Surfboard lost off Tasmanian Coast turns up in North Queensland.
22 April 2021
Dr Shane Keating was interviewed as part of a BBC News Item on a surfboard which had travelled over 2500km before being reunited with its owner nearly 2 years later.
UNSW Ocean Warming Research in the Media
3 April 2021
Dr Neil Malan's research published in GRL was featured on a number of news sites. This study looked at ocean warming throughout the EAC based on 10 years of Australia's Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) Mooring Data. 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.
UNSW Newsroom - Narooma's hot spot of ocean warming is more than three times the global average
ABC News - Narooma on NSW south coast revealed as a hot spot for global ocean warming
AboutRegional.com - Narooma's coastal waters a beacon of climate change
UNSW Oceanography Drifter and Model Studies in the News
8 March 2021
Several news sites picked up on UNSW Oceanography research in relation to the disappearance of Dover Heights woman, Melissa Caddick.
The Australian - why-sydney-conwoman-melissa-caddicks-remains-could-be-anywhere
News.com.au - Why Sydney conwoman Melissa Caddick's remains could be anywhere
Doritos, duckies and disembodied feet: how tragedy and luck reveals the ocean's hidden highways
-
Three new datasets: UNSW Oceanography publishes high-resolution data of the EAC region
25 May 2020
As part of it's commitment to open research and data, three new datasets of model and reanalysis output of the EAC region off the coast of Eastern Australia have been published by UNSW Oceanography. These include a 22-year, free-running, hydrodynamic simulation of the East Australia Current System using the Regional Ocean Modelling System with a horizontal resolution of 2.5-6 km in the cross-shore direction and 5 km in the alongshore direction, and 30 vertical s-levels. The second dataset is a high-resolution reanalysis of the East Australian Current System assimilating an unprecedented observational data set using 4D-Var data assimilation over a 2012-2013. Finally, a high-resolution (750m) free-running hydrodynamic simulation of the Hawkesbury Shelf region off Southeastern Australia using the Regional Ocean Modeling System over 2012-2013 is also available. Further information about all three datasets including download links, license and how-to-cite can be found via the links below.
- Kerry, C. G. and M. Roughan, (2020). A high-resolution, 22-year, free-running, hydrodynamic simulation of the East Australia Current System using the Regional Ocean Modeling System. UNSW.dataset. DOI: 10.26190/5e683944e1369. Data access and more information.
- Kerry, C. G. and M. Roughan, Powell, Brian, Oke, Peter (2020). A high-resolution reanalysis of the East Australian Current System assimilating an unprecedented observational data set using 4D-Var data assimilation over a two-year period (2012-2013). Version 2017. UNSW.dataset. DOI: 10.26190/5ebe1f389dd87. Data access and more information.
- Ribbat N., M. Roughan, B. Powell, C. Kerry, S. Rao, (2020). A high-resolution (750m) free-running hydrodynamic simulation of the Hawkesbury Shelf region off Southeastern Australia (2012-2013) using the Regional Ocean Modeling System. UNSW.dataset. DOI: 10.26190/5ec35ca34752e. Data access and more information.
Publication: Dipole eddies in the EAC separation zone are both ubiquitous and important
3 April 2020
The recurrent dipole eddies seen associated with the EAC separation is something that's been on our mind for some time, and in Autumn 2017 members of our lab on a research cruise aboard the RV/Investigator made a quick dash across one of these eddy dipole structures, taking measurements between the two eddy centres. In a paper led by Neil Malan, and recently published in JGR Oceans, we combined these detailed shipboard measurements with data from satellite altimetry, drifting buoys, and our 10 years of sustained glider observations.
What did we find?
Well, these dipoles occur a lot more often than we thought (like 50% of time), and they squirt a lot (like an amount half of the average transport of the EAC) of offshore water at high speed onto the shelf, with this water being detected near the coast by our gliders in water as shallow as 50m. Itseems that this jet of water, dubbed the 'larval superhighway', provides a good explanation for why lobster larvae settle along the coast where they do (work by Paulina). We believe it may be important for other species too, watch this space!
For more info see:
Malan, N., Archer, M., Roughan, M., Cetina-Heredia, P., Hemming, M., Rocha, C., Schaeffer, A., Suthers, I., & Queiroz, E. (2020). Eddy-Driven Cross-Shelf Transport in the East Australian Current Separation Zone. Journal of Geophysical Research (Vol. 125, Issue 2). pdf
-
Meet The Professors - Prof Moninya Roughan
3 December 2019
Prof Moninya Roughan and Prof Katrin Meissner were honoured at UNSW's last Meet The Professors ceremony for 2019. During her talk Prof Moninya Roughan gave us an insight into her personal and research achievements. She is within the group of first female professors in the history of School of Mathematics and Statistics at UNSW. The ceremony was attended by her entire research group, family members, senior academics such as Prof. Emma Johnston and head of school Prof. Bruce Henry, and even Moninya's PhD supervisor and mentor Emeritus Professor Jason Middleton.
Oceanobs'19
16-20 September 2019
There was a strong representation of the UNSW oceanography group at Oceanobs'19. Oceanobs is the largest ocean observing systems planning conference that takes place every ten years and brings together the global ocean observing community to decide on what will be measured over the coming decade. This was the 3rd and the largest Oceanobs' since its inception in 1999 which hosted as many participants as the number of posters in Oceanobs'19. This was also the first Oceanobs' to officially acknowledge the indigenous ocean observation practices around the globe and invited 52 indigenous delegates.
Members of UNSW Oceanography contributed to four white papers (see publications) and presented four posters. Furthermore, Prof. Roughan was a member of the organising committee and led key discussions throughout the conference.
Below are some highlights.
Above: Alumni Dr. Matt Archer (left) catches up with Prof. Roughan (centre) and Dr. Niel Malan (right).
Above: Dr S. Contractor (left) and Dr. N. Malan (centre) deep in discussion in front of a poster created by Dr. M. Hemming.
Carlos Rocha PhD submission
28 June 2019
Congratulations to Carlos for submitting his PhD titled "Simulated nutrient and phytoplankton dynamics in the East Australian Current system".
Oceanography group leader cited by Peter Hannam in Sydney Morning Herald
3 March 2019
Prof. Moninya Roughan was cited by SMH environmental editor Peter Hannam in his article about impacts of Tasman Sea warmth on fisheries.
Moninya Roughan, a professor at the University of NSW specialising in ocean circulation around Australia, said last year's more extreme event meant New Zealand's fisheries suffered, including a voluntary cut in quotas at the Hoki deepwater fishery that affected supplies to Australian markets.
UNSW Oceanography rated 5 by ARC ERA 2018-19
28 March 2019
The Australian Research Council's, Excellence in Research for Australia 2018-19 report has rated UNSW a 5/5 in Oceanography. Only 4 facilities received this highest possible rating, being UNSW, UTas, UWA and Curtin Universities. This is high recognition for UNSW Oceanography which continues to produce world class research.
The full report can be viewed here
-
The first female Professors in School of Maths recognised today!
20 November 2018
Moninya Roughan, Catherine Greenhill and Frances Kuo have jointly become the first female academic members of staff to be promoted to full Professor through the UNSW School of Mathematics and Statistics. This historic occasion was recognised today with the Dean of Science and Head of School. Promotion to Professor at UNSW is dependent on making outstanding leadership contributions and being recognised at an international level in areas of research, and/or teaching, and/or engagement.
UNSW Oceanography Team - Louise Castro, Paulina Cetina-Herida, Amandine Schaeffer, Moninya Roughan, Jason Everett, Tim Austin, Michael Hemming, Neil Malan, Emma Johnston, Carlos Rocha.
Professor's Frances Kuo, Catherine GreenHill, Emma Johnston (Dean), Moninya Roughan, Bruce Henry (HOS).
Ruoying He visit
17 November 2018
Prof. Ruoying He (North Carolina State University) who leads a similar Boundary Current Research Group to ours, visited UNSW Oceanography today and gave a talk on The Effects of the Gulf Stream and Storms on Coastal Ocean Dynamics. Thanks Ruoying.
Michael Hemming, Neil Malan, Tim Austin, Paulina Cetina-Herida, Amandine Schaeffer, Eduardo Queiroz, Ruoying He.
ACOMO 2018
9-11 October 2018
The biennial Australian Coastal and Oceans Modelling and Observations Workshop (ACOMO) 2018 was held this year in Canberra bringing together the fields of Ocean Observing and Ocean Modelling. Moninya was part of the organising committee and chaired the Observation and Models session. Carlos spoke on Biogeochemical dynamics on the East Australian Current System. Eduarda presented a poster on Ocean observations show cyclonic fronts intensify internal tides off eastern Australia. Collette spoke on Forecasting from the Deep Ocean to the Coast: Predictability of shelf circulation impacted by a Western Boundary Current.
Link to event on IMOS website - http://imos.org.au/calendar/events/acomo/acomo2018/
Dr Moninya Roughan with Australia's Chief Scientist Dr Alan Finkel
Earth and Space Science News highlights recent EAC paper
1 August 2018
Archer et al (2018) received a editors highlight in EOS. Well done to Matt and the coauthors!
Full citation:
Archer, M. R., Keating, S. R., Roughan, M., Johns, W. E., Lumpkin, R., Beron, Vera, F. J., & Shay, L. K. [2018]. The kinematic similarity of two western boundary currents revealed by sustained high resolution observations. Geophysical Research Letters, 45. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL078429
AMSA 2018
5 July 2018
Congratulations to Carlos Rocha on winning the Holloway Prize in Physical Oceanography at Australian Marine Science Associations Conference 2018. An abstract of Carlos' work is below:
"Understanding phytoplankton dynamics is critical across a range of topics, spanning from fisheries management to climate change mitigation. It is particularly interesting in the East Australian Current (EAC) System, as the region’s eddy field strongly conditions nutrient availability and, therefore, phytoplankton biomass. We coupled a model of the pelagic nitrogen cycle to our EAC high-resolution (2.5 - 5 km horizontal) three-dimensional ocean model (described in Kerry et al., 2016 - available on the Publications section). To make sure that we were getting our model results right, we compared them to available data using several statistical metrics. This showed that the model can reproduce the timing and the spatial structure of the main patterns of chlorophyll variability and is also able to correctly simulate the vertical distribution of nutrients."
Prizewinners at AMSA 2018
Nina's Thesis submission
20 April 2018
Congratulations to Nina Ribbat who today submitted her Doctoral Thesis entitled "High Resolution Circulation of the Hawkesbury Shelf Region (31.5S-34.5S), SE Australia: Mean, Variability and Transport Pathways." This is a significant contribution to understanding the physical oceanography of the Hawkesbury Shelf Region.
Carlos Rocha, Matt Archer, Moninya Roughan, Nina Ribbat, Tim Austin & Paulia Cetina-Heredia
Newcastle HF Radar installation live
7 March 2018
The HF RADAR system installed off Newcastle late last year is now working well, as demonstrated by this map for 3 March 2018, in which the radar currents are overlain on a Sea Surface Temperature image as well as geostrophic currents from altimetry. All three ocean observing systems reveal the main flow of the East Australian Current separating from the shelf and heading off towards New Zealand. Only the radar and the SST imagery, however, can resolve the details of the submesoscale eddies between the EAC and the continental shelf. The radar system was installed by SIMS and IMOS and supported by the NSW Government.
-
GODEAE OV Summer School - Operational Oceanography
2 October 2017
Prof. Roughan was invited to attend the 2017 Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment Summer School and gave 2 lectures on observing the ocean: global and coastal in-situ observations.
The GODAE Ocean View Summer School brings together world leading oceanographers to teach 70 students from around the world who are the next generation of leading oceanographers. Operational oceanography is an integrated approach (satellite data, in-situ observations, numerical models), science-based and user-driven to describe and forecast the ocean in support of societal needs.
Australia is represented in the International GODAE Ocean View Programme through the efforts of the operational Bluelink ocean forecasting team.
2017 GODAE Summer School Group Photo @GOVMallorca2017 #GOVSchoolMallorca2017
More information:
Oceanographic Research Cruise on R/V Investigator
31 August 2017 - 5 October 2017
Members of the Coastal and Regional Oceanography Lab recently participated in the research voyage. The whole enchilada: from production to predation in Tasman Sea ecosystems which focused on the relationship between open ocean production and coastal fisheries off the eastern coast of Australia. They lead the Blue Team onboard the R/V Investigator, identifying different water masses to sample in, and tracking ocean circulation features, from fronts to eddies. During the cruise, several interesting physical features were observed, including: a frontal convergence of two water masses, a train of frontal eddies along the inshore edge of the EAC, and internal waves hundreds of meters below the surface, with waveheights over 50 m!
Voyage Schematic
Langrangian Drifter Experiment
Eduardo Quieroz, Carlos Vieirarocha & Matt Archer do the science
UNSW Oceanography featured in IMOS Marine Matters
30 June 2017
The June 2017 edition of IMOS Marine Matters features 3 interesting stories on UNSW Oceanography:
Marine heatwaves: surface temperature doesn't tell the whole story.
Ocean radar: Radar observations prove to be a useful tool for examining frontal eddies along the East Australian Current
Satellite Remote Sensing: A tale of two eddies in the EAC: introducing Murphy and Freddy.
For more detailed information see our publications page.
World Oceans Day
8 June 2017
Spare a thought for your oceans on World Oceans Day!
Over 8 Million Tons of plastic enter the ocean every year. Plastic bags and packaging strangle and suffocate turtles, seals and seabirds such as the Australian Albatross who become entangled or mistake them for food.
Plastics break down over time into smaller pieces which are eaten by fish and other marine organisms.
Very small plastic pieces (microplastics) may not be visible to the naked eye but are still ingested by zooplankton and small fish harming the entire marine food web through bioaccumalation of toxic substances which are passed onto larger predators (including humans).
How can you help?
REDUCE.. REUSE.. RECYCLE.. RECOVER.. REDESIGN
It is critical we reduce the amount of plastics entering our oceans through dumping or entering waterways.
This starts with reducing your own individual usage and spreading the word to help friends and others reduce theirs too. Dont think your contribution is not important!
Become mindful of your plastic usage and avoid plastics you dont need.
Turn down plastic bags, straws, excessive packaging and single use items.
Avoid shampoos, soaps and cosmetics containing microbeads.
Help locally to keep your beach or environment clean.
Support a ban on single use plastic bags - Sign the #BanTheBag petition on change.org.
Ask your retailer to cut down on excessive packaging.
More Information.
World Oceans Day - Free public lecture @ Sydney Institute of Marine Science - 7pm, Thursday 8 June 2017
Coffs Harbour HF Radar featured front cover of JGR Oceans
31 May 2017
This months Journal of the Geophysical Research: Oceans edition featured the Coffs Harbour HF Coastal Radar Array front cover along with UNSW Oceanographys latest paper on frontal eddies:
Characterizing frontal eddies along the East Australian Current from HF radar observations by Amandine Schaeffer, A. Gramoulle, M. Roughan and A. Mantovanelli.
Key Points:
Cyclonic eddies occur frequently along the East Australian Current (30'S) on average every 7 days over a 12 month period
Frontal eddies with high Rossby number (0.6,1.9) and inshore radius ~10 km propagate downstream all year round at 0.3 - 0.4 m/s
Cyclonic frontal eddies influence biology through vertical uplift favoring local production or entrainment of productive water over 100s of km
Marine Heatwaves Paper featured in Sydney Morning Herald
21 May 2017
Amandine and Moninya's recently published GRL paper "Sub-surface intensification of marine heatwaves off southeastern Australia: the role of stratification and local winds" made front page news in the The Sun Herald today.
The Herald Article "Endless Summer" highlighted the threat of marine heatwaves to marine organisms and the importance of long term sub-surface temperature records.
The Port Hacking National Reference Station will turn 75 this year (data pictured) making it one of the longest sub-surface temperature records anywhere. The introduction of the Port Hacking 100m IMOS Mooring in 2009 has significantly enhanced the data resolution.
The Sun Herald - "Endless Summer" (print version)
The Sun Herald - "'Maximum damage': What's going wrong in our deep blue and warming sea" (online version)
See also a more comprehensive write-up on the national IMOS news site:
IMOS - "Marine heatwaves - surface temperature doesn't tell the whole story"
PH100 Temperature
5th CSIRO - UNSW EAC workshop
24-28 April 2017
The 5th UNSW/CSIRO East Australian Current Workshop was hosted by MetOcean solutions in New Zealand. It was an opportunity for students and scientists from UNSW to share their research and foster new collaborations. Themes of the conference included meso-scale ocean circulation and oceanic eddies, as well as operational oceanography.
-
ADCP trans-tasman voyage
1 November 2016
An Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) which is normally moored in 100m of water off Bondi Beach broke its mooring in January this year and went missing. Luckily it washed up in New Zealand last week and was found by a Foxton fisherman, Rusty Kuiti, while out fishing on Waitarere Beach, NZ.
Rusty contacted us here in Sydney via Clive at OFS and Stuart's father in New Zealand was able to collect it on the weekend. It will be shipped back to Sydney in the next week. Oceanographers here at UNSW are keen to download the data onboard to see what details we can find about its interesting voyage. We are very grateful to Rusty for finding and returning it and relieved to get our research instrument back safely. Rusty was happy with a case of beer as a small reward and said he was heading back down the beach to look for another one.
ADCP's work by sending out 4 sonar 'pings' of sound waves at a set frequency. From the return echo the speed of the water can be calculated throughout the water column. This is similar to how a police radar gun works but instead of tracking one car, an ADCP can track many water parcels in any direction. In addition, this instrument array collects temperature and pressure data and is usually paired with a thermistor string for temperature profiling and water quality or flourescence, salinity, turbidity meters at some sites. These scientific moored arrays are deployed as part of Australia's Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS).
Link to article in the NZ Herald - Fisherman's Foxton find stuns Sydney scientists
Foxton Beach, NZ near where the ADCP was found
Local fisherman Rusty Kuiti (L) hands over ADCP to Mike Milburn
ADCP Voyage (Path unknown)
Public lecture - Observing coastal circulation in a hotspot of ocean warming
1 September 2016
A public lecture to be given by A.Prof Moninya Roughan, while on academic sabbatical at the University of Auckland, will explore the physical oceanography of the Tasman Sea region, ocean observing systems, and applications to biology and larval recruitment.
Download as a full size pdf here.
Link to article in the NZ Herald - Ocean between NZ and Australia a climate change "hotspot"
Otago Daily Times article - Tasman Sea a climate change 'hotspot'
East Australian current changes may be behind unusually warm waters off Sydney
24 June 2016
Another article in The Sydney Morning Herald regarding warmer sea temperatures and the extension and warming evident in the EAC, referencing Moninya Roughan and Bernadette Sloyan.
SMH - East Australian current changes may be behind unusually warm waters off Sydney
Warm waters and long summer have climate scientists alarmed
13 May 2016
The Sydney Morning Herald quotes UNSW's Moninya Roughan and Matthew England on warmer water temperatures in the EAC and how 2016 is virtually certain to break climate records.
SMH - Sydney weather: Sunny days roll on as huge high pressure ridge keeps cold at bay
Coral Bleaching in Sydney Harbour
20 April 2016
Record sea surface temperatures have been observed during the 2015-16 El Nino. This has lead to widespread coral bleaching across Northern Australia and the Great Barrier Reef as coral cells lose their symbiotic algae to heatstress. Initial surveys suggest 93% of the Great Barrier Reef has been affected.
ARC Coral Reef Studies - Only 7% of the Great Barrier Reef has avoided coral bleaching
SMH - The Great Barrier Reef: 93% hit by coral bleaching, surveys reveal
The Age - Is this the end of the Great Barrier Reef?
Coral bleaching has even been observed in Sydney Harbour for the first time on record.
ABC - Coral bleaching found in Sydney Harbour, rising sea temperature may be cause, scientists say
SBS - Coral bleaching found in Sydney
SMH - Sydney's corals now bleaching in 'pretty shocking' sign of warming waters
9 - Coral bleaching in Sydney Harbour could lead to ecosystem collapse
With El Nino declining, it is likely that most Corals in Sydney Harbour will recover from this bleaching episode once temperatures return to normal. However, this disquieting event should reinforce calls for a marine park to be established in Sydney Harbour to protect her unique diversity as combinations of stressors such as heatstress, pollution and overfishing can cause sudden and irreversible change to an ecosystem.
The Age - Sydney needs a marine park to protect its biodiversity
Note you can observe the Sydney Harbour surface temperature and salinity from our reatime marine observatory by following this link.
4th CSIRO- UNSW EAC workshop
30-31 March 2016
The 4th CSIRO- UNSW EAC workshop was held on 30-31 March 2016. Presentations and Discussions ranged broadly. For example, talks were given on diagnosing the properties of sub meso scale eddies, understanding the vertical processes in idealised mesoscale eddies, physical and biogeochemical properties of Tasman Sea Eddies, understanding the mean and variability in the circulation in the coastal ocean and Sydney Harbour through high resolution modelling.
Invited Guest Ken Ridgway (CSIRO) gave a special seminar on our understanding of the East Australian Current gained over the past 30 years, and Prof Moninya Roughan (UNSW) presented an overview of the impact of the EAC on the shelf hydrography and circulation along the east coast of Australia.
The EAC Array
31 March 2016
The major australian western boundary current, the EAC (East Australian Current) is now better understood thanks to the EAC Array and the work of Bernadette Sloyan, Ken Ridgeway and Rebecca Cowley. Data from the first 18 month deployment (2012-13) is now available through the IMOS data portal.
Oceancurrent - The EAC Array - Revealing the Boundary Current
.cropimg.width=1920.crop=basic.jpg)
.cropimg.width=1920.crop=basic.jpg)
.cropimg.width=1920.crop=basic.jpg)
.cropimg.width=1920.crop=basic.jpg)
.cropimg.width=1920.crop=basic.jpg)
.cropimg.width=1920.crop=basic.jpg)
