Integrating observations: an example from the Great Barrier Reef

Abstract

In the southern area, within the Capricorn and Bunker groups of islands and reefs, a range of observing equipment has been deployed. The instrumentation includes a coastal highfrequency (HF) radar that provides real-time estimates of wave height and direction and surface currents; a remote sensing receiving station that provides satellite imagery from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometerand the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on the Terra and Aqua satellites; an array of deepwater oceanographie moorings which provide information on waves, acoustic Doppler current profiles (ADCPs) and water-quality parameters. For the instrument data, this can be a sensor observation service feed; for spectral and gridded data (such as the remote sensing and radar data), Web services such as the Thematic Real-Time Environmental Distributed Data Service can be used.