The Deep Water Moorings facility (formerly known as the Australian Bluewater Observing System) provides the coordination of national efforts in the sustained observation of open ocean properties with particular emphasis on observations important to climate studies. This collection has both hourly- and daily depth-gridded products with currents, temperature and salinity (one file per mooring). The products are created from individual instrument files collected during six 18-month deployments in the East Australian Current (EAC) off Brisbane, Australia. The collection also includes a product for the National Mooring Network's North Stradbroke Island site, and the products at EAC0500 (500m mooring) also include data from the South East Queensland (SEQ) 400m coastal mooring. The data can be used for time series analysis of individual moorings in the EAC deployments. The observations were made using a range of temperature loggers, conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) instruments and acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs). The data has been interpolated to one-hourly intervals (hourly product) and daily intervals (daily product), and to a fixed set of target depths (both products) for each IMOS EAC mooring site. Only good-quality measurements (after application of quality control flags using the IMOS toolbox and as described in the quality control reports for each deployment) are included. This product is independent of the IMOS - Moorings - Gridded time-series product (https://catalogue-imos.aodn.org.au:443/geonetwork/srv/api/records/279a50e3-21a5-4590-85a0-71f963efab82), which is produced from binned data (in time), and utilises all temperature records including ADCP temperatures. The CSIRO gridded product uses only high quality temperature from the Seabird and temperature logger instruments. In addition, where current observations overlap in depth, the data is selected based on a set of criteria as specified in the product documentation.

This collection consists of observations from the deep-water moorings at the Southern Ocean Time Series (SOTS) site in the sub-Antarctic Zone (SAZ), southwest of Tasmania, near 47S, 142E. The moorings are 1) the Pulse biogeochemistry mooring (instrumentation was moved to the FluxPulse mooring in 2016, and then to the SOFS mooring); 2) the Sub-Antarctic Zone (SAZ) sediment trap mooring; and 3) the Southern Ocean Flux Station (SOFS) (the instrumentation was briefly moved to the FluxPulse mooring in 2016). All three are operated by the Australian Bluewater Observing System. Data are processed in delayed mode and available in NetCDF format. The Southern Ocean Time Series (SOTS) sub-facility provides high temporal resolution observations in sub-Antarctic waters. Observations are broad and include measurements of physical, chemical and biogeochemical parameters from multiple deep-water moorings. The emphasis is on inter-annual variations of upper ocean properties and their influence on exchange with the deep ocean. The time-series provided permit investigation into issues of ocean physics and chemistry, climate change, carbon cycling and biogeochemical controls on marine productivity. The Pulse biogeochemistry mooring is used to measure upper ocean carbon cycle and phytoplankton productivity processes. Measured parameters include temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, nitrate, clorophyll and turbidity. This mooring also collects water samples for measures of dissolved carbon and nutrients, and phytoplankton microscopic identification. The SAZ sediment trap mooring is used to collect sinking particles to quantify carbon transports, and provides current meter measurements and a deep ocean CTD to measure heat contents below the depth of Argo profiling float measurements. The SOFS mooring has dual sets of radiometers, temperature and humidity sensors, precipitation gauges and sonic anemometers, providing the measurements necessary for computing air-sea fluxes of heat, momentum and mass. Surface photosynthetically active radiation and surface UV are also measured, to help assess light available for phytoplankton production.

The National Mooring Network Facility (formerly known as the Australian National Mooring Network (ANMN)), is a series of national reference stations and regional moorings designed to monitor particular oceanographic phenomena in Australian coastal ocean waters. This collection contains wavetime-series observations from moorings deployed by the facility at the Darwin and Yongala National Reference Stations and the following regional moorings: Beagle Gulf (DARBGF), Heron Island South (GBRHIS) and One Tree East (GBROTE). The primary parameters are temperature, pressure and depth of the instrument, and many wave related parameters. The observations were made using either an acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) or an AWAC ADCP (Acoustic Wave And Current Profiler).

The Northwest Shelf (NWA) HF ocean radar system covers an area which includes the Ningaloo Peninsula and the Ningaloo Reef to the west. The Ningaloo Reef is one of the longest and most pristine reefs in the world. The reef is rich in marine biodiversity, with shark whales, turtles and fish aggregations, and high primary and secondary productions which are controlled by the physical oceanographic processes. The NWA HF ocean radar is a WERA phased array system with 12-element receive arrays located at the Jurabi Turtle Centre (21.8068 S, 114.1015 E) and Point Billie (22.5432 S, 113.690 E). These radars operate at a frequency of 5.2625 MHz, with a bandwidth of 25 KHz and a maximum range of 200 Km. Within the HF radar coverage area surface currents are measured. Data are also collected from which wind directions and significant wave height can be calculated.

Fishing Vessels as Ships of Opportunity (FishSOOP) is an IMOS Sub-Facility working with fishers to collect real-time temperature and depth data by installing equipment on a network of commercial fishing vessels using a range of common fishing gear. Every day, fishing vessels operate broadly across the productive areas of Australia’s Exclusive Economic Zone where we have few subsurface ocean measurements. The Sub-Facility is utilising this observing opportunity to cost-effectively increase the spatial and temporal resolution of subsurface temperature data in Australia’s inshore, shelf, upper-slope, and offshore waters. The data is currently returned to each fishing boat in near-real time, so skippers can relate their catches to temperature-at-depth information. The same data will also be collated to provide oceanographers with quality-controlled data for ground-truthing coastal models and to improve analysis and forecasts of oceanic conditions. The IMOS funded data collection follows on from a Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) funded pilot project (2022-007) with the University of New South Wales, Fishwell Consulting and IMOS. In the first year of the project 32 commercial fishing vessels had been equipped with sensors. They covered a range of fishing vessels, including scallop dredges, tuna longlines, shark gillnets, otter board trawlers, lobster pots, fish traps, prawn trawlers, squid jigs, and danish seines. We also had a pre-trial test with one boat the year prior, with the sensor installed on a trawler.

The Acidification Moorings sub-facility is responsible for building an ocean carbon and acidification monitoring network for Australian waters. These moorings provide key observations to help us understand and address the problem of increasing ocean acidification. Each mooring is equipped with surface CO2 systems, using proven and robust technology. Three sensors will determine surface CO2, temperature and salinity. The hydrochemistry sampling at the National Reference Stations will also provide total alkalinity data, as will future pH sensors on the moorings, allowing for a complete determination of the carbonate system and pH. Acidification moorings are co-located at three National Reference Stations: * the Yongala NRS in Queensland (replaced in September 2013 after Tropical Cyclone Yasi, and then decommissioned in August 2014), * the Maria Island NRS in Tasmania, and * the Kangaroo Island NRS in South Australia. There is also one site located adjacent to the Heron Island reef slope in the Wistari channel on the Great Barrier Reef. The Yongala, Wistari and Maria Island acidification moorings are located to characterise changes down the east coast of Australia and the influence of the East Australian Current on CO2 uptake and acidification from the Great Barrier Reef to the Southern Ocean. The Kangaroo Island mooring monitors the deeper waters upwelled on the South Australian shelf which are expected to have higher CO2 and thus could accelerate the exposure of ecosystems to acidification earlier than in other regions.

Fishing Vessels as Ships of Opportunity (FishSOOP) is an IMOS Sub-Facility working with fishers to collect real-time temperature and depth data by installing equipment on a network of commercial fishing vessels using a range of common fishing gear. Every day, fishing vessels operate broadly across the productive areas of Australia’s Exclusive Economic Zone where we have few subsurface ocean measurements. The Sub-Facility is utilising this observing opportunity to cost-effectively increase the spatial and temporal resolution of subsurface temperature data in Australia’s inshore, shelf, upper-slope, and offshore waters. The data is currently returned to each fishing boat in near-real time, so skippers can relate their catches to temperature-at-depth information. The same data will also be collated to provide oceanographers with quality-controlled data for ground-truthing coastal models and to improve analysis and forecasts of oceanic conditions. The IMOS funded data collection follows on from a Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) funded pilot project (2022-007) with the University of New South Wales, Fishwell Consulting and IMOS. In the first year of the project 32 commercial fishing vessels had been equipped with sensors. They covered a range of fishing vessels, including scallop dredges, tuna longlines, shark gillnets, otter board trawlers, lobster pots, fish traps, prawn trawlers, squid jigs, and danish seines. We also had a pre-trial test with one boat the year prior, with the sensor installed on a trawler.

The Bonney Coast (BONC) HF ocean radar system covers an area of the Bonney Coast, South Australia, which has a recurring annual upwelling feature near to the coast that significantly changes the ecosystem from one of warm water originating in Western Australia, to one dominated by cold upwelling water from off the continental shelf. The dynamics of this area and the relationship between ocean circulation, chemistry and sediments control the larval species and the higher marine species and ecosystems in which they forage. The data from this site provide linking observations between the Southern Ocean and NSW through processes that occur on weekly to El Nino time scales. The BONC HF ocean radar system consists of two SeaSonde crossed loop direction finding stations located at Nora Creina (37.329 S 139.850 E) and Blackfellows Cave (37.940 S 140.457 E). These radars operate at a frequency of 5.211 MHz, with a bandwidth of 50 KHz, a maximum range of 200 Km and a range resolution of 3 Km. Within the HF radar coverage area surface currents are measured. This site was decommissioned in March 2017.

The Victoria Moorings Sub-Facility is part of the National Mooring Network Facility. Victorian Moorings is responsible for a mooring deployed in the Bonney Coast region off Cape Bridgewater (Victoria). This region of the Victorian coastline has strong seasonal upwelling and supports one of the most productive regions of temperate Australian coastal waters. Not only does this region support large populations of migratory whales, fur seals, sharks, and bluefin tuna, it is also an important region from fisheries. Victorian Moorings fill a historical gap in the national backbone or coastal moorings, providing valuable information on the hydrodynamics of upwelling processes that underpin the productivity off the Bonney Coast.

The Southern Australia Moorings Sub-Facility is part of the National Mooring Network Facility. This sub-facility is establishing a national reference transect of moorings and measurements off South Australia, which includes all parameters measured by the IMOS National Reference Stations (NRS). The South Australia moorings sub-facility is based at the South Australian Research and Development Institute in Adelaide and is responsible for a total of five moorings. These moorings are deployed to continuously monitor the large seasonal coastal upwelling of water that occurs along the region's continental shelf during summer. This upwelling brings cold, nutrient rich waters onto the shelf which boosts primary productivity, creating one of the most productive coastal marine ecosystems in Australian waters. The five moorings measure an array of physical and biological properties and are a combination of four regional moorings and a National Reference Station (biological sampling at SAM5CB, SAM8SG, SAMGSV, SAMUSG and NRS). The regional moorings consist of one shelf mooring located on the same isobath as the NRS and in the path of the upwelled/downwelled exchange, a mooring located near the mouth of Spencer Gulf to measure possible winter outflow of saline rich water, and two moorings situated in Upper Spencer Gulf and Gulf St Vincent. The NRS is located at a convergence point of isobaths and monitors upwelling and outflow events as well as long-term variations in the strength of the coastal current. There are six discontinued moorings that were once part of this sub-facility, for which data is still available: M1 Deep Slope Mooring (SAM1DS) and M6 Investigator Strait Mooring (SAM6IS) were both discontinued in 2009, M4 Canyon Mooring (SAM4CY) and M2 Cabbage Patch Mooring (SAM2CP) were both discontinued in 2010, and M4 Mid-Slope Mooring (SAM3MS) and M7 Deep-Slope Mooring (SAM7DS) which were discontinued in 2013-2014.