A pilot digital monitoring network incorporating hundreds of
sensors around the world will be launched within months according to a
workshop of international scientists and engineers meeting in
Townsville today.
It is the first time that Australia has hosted the Coral Reef
Environmental Observatory Network CREON, which is a collaborating
association of specialists from around the world striving to design
and build marine sensor networks.
AIMS spatial analyst Stuart Kininmonth said it is hoped the first
stage of the much-anticipated network will be installed across an area
of 400 kilometres of the Great Barrier Reef - Davies Reef, Magnetic
Island, Heron Island and Orpheus Island.
"That is the main purpose of the workshop, to establish a universal
system that can be implemented globally."
The 60 remote sensing experts meeting this week have been trying to
solve some of the technical challenges posed by the marine environment
such as fouling and data transmission, issues that are not prevalent
on the mainland.
The network is currently trialling sensors at sites in Moorea in
French Polynesia, the Kenting coral reef group in Taiwan, the Florida
Keys and the Great Barrier Reef.
So far we have successfully transmitted data over 80 kms using
microwave transmissions trapped inside humidity ducts. This has
enabled us to link isolated reefs with broadband speeds.
The technology is housed in a canister no bigger than a 600ml drink
bottle and has the capacity to monitor salinity, humidity,
temperature, light, water flow and sediments.
The sensors set for mooring on the Great Barrier Reef are
undergoing testing at JCU and AIMS and can be programmed remotely by
scientists hundreds of kilometres away at AIMS headquarters.
"This system has the potential to monitor the extent of the marine
estate from river mouths to reefs, helping to answer many unanswered
questions.
Questions related to coral bleaching, reef wide temperature
fluctuations, impact of temperature on aquatic life, and pollution Mr
Kininmonth said.
The Centre for Marine Studies at the University of Queensland are
represented at the workshop and will collaborate with subsequent
deployments. The AIMS @ JCU program has enabled the collaboration on
the international project.
