Australian Continuous Plankton Recorder Biomass Index

Dry weight biomass measurements from plankton samples collected by the Australian Continuous Plankton Recorder survey, a joint project between CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere and the Australian Antarctic Division. This data supports long-term baselines for Australian waters and is funded by the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS). The dataset has been superseded by a newer collection as of March 2022.

Use Cases

• Document plankton biomass changes in response to climate change using dry weight measurements over time.
• Provide biomass indices for fisheries management by analyzing spatial and temporal trends in plankton data.
• Validate satellite remote sensing of ocean color by correlating in-situ plankton biomass with satellite data.
• Detect harmful algal blooms by monitoring anomalous spikes in plankton biomass index values.
• Initialize and test marine ecosystem models with baseline plankton biomass data.

Strengths

• Data collection is a joint project by two major Australian scientific organizations, CSIRO and the Australian Antarctic Division.
• Samples are processed using a standardized method: plankton washed onto a pre-weighed filter and dried at 60°C for 24-48 hours.
• Planned to be interoperable with other national and international programs through the IMOS infrastructure.

Limitations

• Dataset is superseded and was removed from the primary portal in March 2022, indicating it is not the current version.
• Specific row count, column details, and sample size are unknown.
• Temporal and geographic coverage ranges are not specified in the provided description.

Provenance

Source

Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) Ships of Opportunity facility, analyzed by CSIRO and Australian Antarctic Division staff.

Collection Method

Plankton collected by Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR), dry weight biomass analyzed from filtered samples.

Time Range

null

Freshness

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Geography

Australian waters