IMOS - AusCPR: Phytoplankton Colour Index for Australian Waters

Australian ocean plankton data collected by the Continuous Plankton Recorder survey, a joint project of CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research and the Australian Antarctic Division. The dataset aims to map biodiversity, develop a long-term baseline, and document changes in response to climate change. Results are available through the Australian Ocean Data Network portal.

Use Cases

• Mapping plankton biodiversity and distribution based on survey data.
• Documenting plankton changes in response to climate change based on long-term baseline data.
• Providing indices for fisheries management based on plankton community measurements.
• Detecting harmful algal blooms based on phytoplankton colour index analysis.
• Validating satellite remote sensing data based on in-situ plankton observations.

Strengths

• Data is part of a long-term plankton baseline for Australian waters.
• Analysis follows a published methodology (Richardson et al 2006).
• Data storage and access is planned to be interoperable with other national and international programs.

Limitations

• This dataset has been superseded by a newer collection as of March 2022.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) Ships of Opportunity facility.

Collection Method

Continuous Plankton Recorder survey samples analyzed by CSIRO and Australian Antarctic Division staff.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-04 08:09:35.202495; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australian waters.