Australian Ocean Acidification Mooring Data from Four Coastal Sites

Near real-time measurements of surface CO2, water temperature, and salinity from four mooring sites in Australian waters, including three National Reference Stations and one Great Barrier Reef site. The data are automatically quality-controlled using range checks and instrument error propagation. It supports monitoring of ocean carbon uptake and acidification trends.

Use Cases

• Analyze trends in surface water CO2 concentration to assess ocean acidification rates at specific sites like Maria Island or Kangaroo Island.
• Correlate surface water temperature and salinity measurements with CO2 concentration to study environmental drivers of carbon variability.
• Use the automatically flagged quality control data to filter for reliable CO2 in air and water measurements for time-series analysis.
• Compare CO2 uptake and acidification characteristics between sites influenced by different ocean currents, such as the East Australian Current.
• Integrate total alkalinity data (where available) with CO2 measurements for a complete carbonate system determination.

Strengths

• Data is delivered in near real-time, enabling timely environmental monitoring.
• Includes measurements from four distinct geographic locations covering key Australian coastal regions.
• Implements automated quality control using range checking and instrument error propagation.

Limitations

• Historical near real-time data files prior to 2019 are not directly accessible via the primary portal.
• The dataset's temporal coverage is incomplete for some sites, such as the Yongala mooring which was decommissioned in 2014.
• Data availability for parameters like total alkalinity and pH is noted as future or partial, limiting immediate carbonate system analysis.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network (AODN), from the National Mooring Network Facility's Acidification Moorings sub-facility.

Collection Method

Measurements from surface CO2 systems on moored buoys, based on pre-deployment calibrations.

Time Range

Time series data from operational moorings; specific start dates not provided. Yongala mooring was decommissioned in August 2014.

Freshness

Updated in near real-time; metadata last updated March 2026.

Geography

Four sites in Australian waters: Yongala NRS (QLD), Maria Island NRS (TAS), Kangaroo Island NRS (SA), and a site adjacent to Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef.