AusCPR: Plankton Biomass Index for Australian Waters

IMOS - AusCPR: Biomass Index (mg/m3) provides dry weight measurements of plankton communities collected by the Australian Continuous Plankton Recorder survey. The dataset supports mapping plankton biodiversity, establishing a long-term baseline for Australian waters, and documenting changes in response to climate change. It is a joint project between CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere and the Australian Antarctic Division, funded by the Integrated Marine Observing System.

Use Cases

• Developing fisheries management indices based on plankton biomass data.
• Validating satellite remote sensing of ocean color with in-situ plankton measurements.
• Initializing and testing marine ecosystem models with plankton community data.
• Detecting and monitoring harmful algal blooms in Australian coastal waters.
• Documenting long-term plankton changes in response to climate change.

Strengths

• Data is part of a long-term baseline survey for Australian waters, indicating a sustained observational effort.
• Project is a collaboration between major national research institutions (CSIRO and Australian Antarctic Division).
• Data storage and access is planned to be interoperable with other national and international programs.

Limitations

• Specific column names, row counts, and file sizes are not provided in the source metadata.
• The dataset on data.gov.au is noted as superseded by a newer collection, which may affect its current utility.
• Users are advised to contact the project contact person, suggesting potential access or usage complexities.

Provenance

Source

Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) - Australian Continuous Plankton Recorder (AusCPR) survey.

Collection Method

Plankton samples collected via Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) towed by ships of opportunity, with biomass determined by dry weight measurement after oven drying.

Freshness

2026-05-05 02:23:44.855445

Geography

Australian waters