Moorings

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NSW-IMOS Mooring Locations

Research Moorings

The Moorings team at UNSW operate New South Wales scientific research moorings as part of Australia's Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) at the locations shown in the map above. These Moorings provide a view of the Oceanography of the NSW east coast region which is dominated by the effects of the East Australian Current (EAC). It is a highly dynamic region with current speeds observed in excess of 3-4 knots.

A description of each moored array follows. You can click through the links on the map or the description below to see an illustration of recent data. Note velocity data is rotated from N-S/W-E axes to along-shore/cross-shelf components. Angle of rotation for each mooring is calculated from principal component analysis over the lifetime of the mooring and varies between sites primarily due to bathymetry as shown in Fig 1 below.

Coffs Moored Array

The Coffs Harbour mooring array has been in operation since 2009. It consists of three moorings to provide a cross-shelf view of the East Australian Current from the coast out to the shelf edge with the inshore mooring added in April 2014. At this latitude (30 degrees South) the EAC is generally quite well constrained. Often there is a separation zone to the north off Cape Byron or to the south near Port Macquarie.
  • Autumn 2017 Data from
    Coffs Harbour 50m Mooring
    Summer/Autumn 2017 Data from
    Coffs Harbour 50m Mooring
    2016 - 2017 Data from
    Coffs Harbour 50m Mooring

    Please click on image to view fullscreen. Note this data may not be QCed and should be considered illustrative only and used at your own risk. Moorings data is freely available from Australian Ocean Data Network. Any use should credit IMOS as such: "Data was sourced from the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) - IMOS is a national collaborative research infrastructure, supported by Australian Government."
  • Autumn/Winter 2017 Data from
    Coffs Harbour 70m Mooring
    Summer/Autumn 2017 Data from
    Coffs Harbour 70m Mooring
    2016 - 2017 Data from
    Coffs Harbour 70m Mooring
    2015 - 2016 Data from
    Coffs Harbour 70m Mooring Pair

    Please click on image to view fullscreen. Note this data may not be QCed and should be considered illustrative only and used at your own risk. Moorings data is freely available from Australian Ocean Data Network. Any use should credit IMOS as such: "Data was sourced from the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) - IMOS is a national collaborative research infrastructure, supported by Australian Government."
  • Autumn/Winter 2017 Data from
    Coffs Harbour 100m Mooring
    Summer/Autumn 2017 Data from
    Coffs Harbour 100m Mooring
    2016 - 2017 Data from
    Coffs Harbour 100m Mooring
    2015 - 2016 Data from
    Coffs Harbour 100m Mooring

    Please click on image to view fullscreen. Note this data may not be QCed and should be considered illustrative only and used at your own risk. Moorings data is freely available from Australian Ocean Data Network. Any use should credit IMOS as such: "Data was sourced from the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) - IMOS is a national collaborative research infrastructure, supported by Australian Government."

Sydney Moored Array

The Sydney Array began with the installation of Sydney Waters Ocean Reference Station to monitor current patterns around the deep water sewer outfall off Bondi. The two IMOS moorings at 100m and 140m were added in 2008 and have continued to provide valuable data abouth the oceanography of the Sydney region since then. Instruments and Moorings are maintained in collaboration between UNSW and OFS (Oceanographic Field Services).
  • Data from Sydney 65m Mooring
    (Ocean Research Station): 2 Jan 17 - 10 Feb 17
    2015 - 2016 Data from Sydney 65m Mooring
    (Ocean Research Station)

    Please click on image to view fullscreen. Note this data may not be QCed and should be considered illustrative only and used at your own risk. Moorings data is freely available from Australian Ocean Data Network. Any use should credit IMOS as such: "Data was sourced from the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) - IMOS is a national collaborative research infrastructure, supported by Australian Government."
  • 2015 - 2016 Data from Sydney 100m Mooring

    Please click on image to view fullscreen. Note this data may not be QCed and should be considered illustrative only and used at your own risk. Moorings data is freely available from Australian Ocean Data Network. Any use should credit IMOS as such: "Data was sourced from the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) - IMOS is a national collaborative research infrastructure, supported by Australian Government."
  • Data from Sydney 140m Mooring: 30 Oct 16 - 12 Feb 2017
    2015 - 2016 Data from Sydney 140m Mooring

    Please click on image to view fullscreen. Note this data may not be QCed and should be considered illustrative only and used at your own risk. Moorings data is freely available from Australian Ocean Data Network. Any use should credit IMOS as such: "Data was sourced from the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) - IMOS is a national collaborative research infrastructure, supported by Australian Government."

Port Hacking Mooring

Australias oldest ocean reference station the Port Hacking site recently celebrated 75 years of regular water sampling at an offshore site. In 2009 the IMOS mooring was added and includes water quality monitoring in addition to oceanographic data (temperature and velocity profiling).
  • 2015 - 2016 Data from Port Hacking 100m Mooring

    Please click on image to view fullscreen. Note this data may not be QCed and should be considered illustrative only and used at your own risk. Moorings data is freely available from Australian Ocean Data Network. Any use should credit IMOS as such: "Data was sourced from the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) - IMOS is a national collaborative research infrastructure, supported by Australian Government."

Batemans Marine Park Mooring Array

With three mooring sites the Batemans Marine Park site was setup to provide a downstream look at the East Australian Current offshoot and Eddy field. In recent years this array has been downsized to two moorings and operated with external funding.
  • 2016/2017 Data from
    Batemans Marine Park 70m Mooring
    2016 Data from
    Batemans Marine Park 70m Mooring
    2015 - 2016 Data from
    Batemans Marine Park 70m Mooring

    Please click on image to view fullscreen. Note this data may not be QCed and should be considered illustrative only and used at your own risk. Moorings data is freely available from Australian Ocean Data Network. Any use should credit IMOS as such: "Data was sourced from the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) - IMOS is a national collaborative research infrastructure, supported by Australian Government."
  • 2013-2014 Data from Batemans Marine Park 90m Mooring (now retired)

    Please click on image to view fullscreen. Note this data may not be QCed and should be considered illustrative only and used at your own risk. Moorings data is freely available from Australian Ocean Data Network. Any use should credit IMOS as such: "Data was sourced from the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) - IMOS is a national collaborative research infrastructure, supported by Australian Government."
  • 2016/2017 Data from
    Batemans Marine Park 120m Mooring
    2016 Data from
    Batemans Marine Park 120m Mooring
    2015 - 2016 Data from
    Batemans Marine Park 120m Mooring

    Please click on image to view fullscreen. Note this data may not be QCed and should be considered illustrative only and used at your own risk. Moorings data is freely available from Australian Ocean Data Network. Any use should credit IMOS as such: "Data was sourced from the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) - IMOS is a national collaborative research infrastructure, supported by Australian Government."