Whitsundays-based Fantasea Cruises and the Australian Institute of
Marine Science (AIMS) will today launch a unique on-board radiometer
that will sample sea surface temperatures critical to coral bleaching
and climate research.
| Perched
above the bridge of Fantasea One, the automated radiometer
custom-built by AIMS enables scientists to be updated on sea
surface temperatures (SST) while they are working hundreds of
kilometres away in their laboratories at Cape Ferguson (near
Townsville).
A radiometer is a thermometer, which measures the temperature
of the ocean using the infra-red radiation (heat) emitted from the
surface.
AIMS Physical Oceanographer Craig
Steinberg said the Fantasea One has the only ship-borne
radiometer worldwide working regularly in the tropics, which makes
the readings significant for climate change scientists
internationally.
"Instead of receiving information
from a handful of temperature data loggers retrieved every six
months AIMS will now receive SST data seven days a week.
Fantasea One travels daily
between Shute Harbour and the Reefworld floating adventure
platform at the outer Hardy Reef. With the radiometer on board it
will provide SST samples over 40 kilometres in addition to
information from a full weather station permanently located on the
Reefworld pontoon. |
AIMS radiometer mounted on the
Fantasea One catamaran.
Image: Mike Mahoney
AIMS
radiometer viewed from the top deck of
Fantasea One.
Image:
Mike Mahoney
|
"This invaluable project couldn’t exist without the cooperation and
commitment from Fantasea Cruises’ founder and managing director David
Hutchen who appreciates the full value of this information and the
very real threat of warming seas," Mr Steinberg said.
Mr Hutchen is chairman of the Association of Marine Park Tourism
Operators and has been a long-time advocate of measures which will
protect the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. "We carry approximately
one million passengers a year on our eight vessels, with more than
70,000 visitors travelling to Reefworld to see the wonders of the
deep," said Mr Hutchen.
"While our reef tours give people from all over the world an
amazing and sometimes life-changing experience we have a duty to
protect the reef and preserve it for the enjoyment of future
generations."
SST holds the key to understanding many aspects of the Great
Barrier Reef (GBR). It strongly influences fish distributions and the
abundance and variety of marine species. Water temperature is a major
cause of stress in corals. During 1998, 2002 and again this year
significant proportions of the GBR were bleached due to elevated SSTs.
Corals that survived produced less spawn the following year while
disease outbreaks increased. Seagrass beds have been burned affecting
grazing herbivores such as dugongs. The information gathered from
satellite images and this radiometer will help shed light on the
impact SST has on the Great Barrier Reef.
AIMS remote sensing specialist Mike Mahoney downloads the
radiometer measurements and compares them with data from orbiting
satellite sensors to calculate the error created by "looking" through
the atmosphere. "Aerosols such as dust, cloud and water vapour can be
a source of error. This system ensures the satellite measurements
across the Great Barrier Reef are accurate."
Mike Mahoney said the device designed by AIMS electronics experts
is the most advanced yet for measuring changes in temperature across
our seas. "They have fabricated the sophisticated radiometer system
from start to finish at the AIMS workshops at Cape Ferguson."
Additional Information:
- Fantasea Cruises has achieved Advanced Eco Accreditation with
Ecotourism Australia for all of its cruise products.
- The radiometer data also contributes to an international project
gathering a high-resolution daily temperature map of the world’s
oceans.
- Daily satellite imagery of the Coral Sea and the GBR is now
available to the public via the world wide web
http://www.aims.gov.au/pages/remote-sensing.html
http://www.ghrsst-pp.org/
http://www.fantasea.com.au/
