IMOS - Ocean Radar - Capricorn Bunker Group HF ocean radar site (Great Barrier Reef, Queen

IMOS ocean radar data from the Capricorn Bunker Group site in the southern Great Barrier Reef measures surface currents, wind direction, and significant wave height. The WERA phased array system operated at 8.348 MHz with a maximum range of 200 km until the site was decommissioned in April 2017. The dataset is managed by the Australian Ocean Data Network and was funded by an ARC LEIF Grant with contributions from James Cook University, The University of Queensland, NOAA, and the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

Use Cases

• Tracking filaments of different water types and their impact on coral reefs and fisheries based on surface current measurements.
• Investigating the frequency and location of regional upwelling that fuels productivity based on ocean radar coverage.
• Studying connectivity between reefs and islands within the Great Barrier Reef lagoon based on current and wave data.
• Validating operational ocean models like Bluelink and the embedded Whole-of-Reef model based on observed surface current and wave parameters.

Strengths

• Data collection used a WERA phased array system with a specified range resolution of 4.5 km and a maximum range of 200 km.
• The description provides specific technical parameters, including an operating frequency of 8.348 MHz and a bandwidth of 33 KHz.
• The dataset is associated with the Heron Island Research Station, which hosts many coral reef and ecology research programs.

Limitations

• The site was decommissioned in April 2017, limiting data to a historical period.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, with funding from an ARC LEIF Grant and contributions from James Cook University, The University of Queensland, NOAA, and the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

Collection Method

Collected by a WERA phased array HF ocean radar system with 12-element receive arrays at Tannum Sands and Lady Elliot Island.

Time Range

Data collection ended in April 2017; specific start date is not provided.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-10 22:17:51.532011; freshness should be verified as the data collection ended in 2017.

Geography

Capricorn Bunker Group site in the southern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia, covering from the coast to beyond the continental shelf edge.