Marine National Facility Processed Underway Voyage Data

Australian voyages collect processed underway data at 5-second intervals. The dataset includes navigation, thermosalinograph, and atmospheric measurements from Marine National Facility research vessels. Data are quality-controlled by CSIRO National Collections and Marine Infrastructure and supplied to the Australian Ocean Data Network and other global repositories.

Use Cases

• Validate satellite sea surface temperature measurements based on quality-controlled underway SST data.
• Analyze ocean-atmosphere gas exchange based on underway pCO2 and trace gas measurements.
• Model ocean currents and ship navigation based on GPS, speed, and heading data.
• Study phytoplankton dynamics based on underway fluorescence and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) data.
• Monitor marine meteorological conditions based on wind, humidity, air temperature, and pressure readings.

Strengths

• Data are quality-controlled and supplied to global repositories like the IMOS AODN.
• Measurements are recorded at a high temporal resolution of 5-second intervals.
• Data collection covers three integrated systems: navigation, thermosalinograph, and atmospheric sensors.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Not all variables are quality controlled; users must check for existing QC flags.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network (via data_gov_au)

Collection Method

Continuously recorded from Marine National Facility research vessel voyages and processed by CSIRO National Collections and Marine Infrastructure (NCMI) Information and Data Centre (IDC).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-04 05:54:41.292515; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australian marine regions covered by Marine National Facility voyages.