IMOS Coastal Observations A National Perspective John Parslow

Outline Drivers of coastal research, and potential benefits from a marine observing system. Coastal observations in the IMOS structure Is coastal IMOS more than a set of regional nodes, stitched together by a national backbone? Ideas for a national approach to coastal observations and research. Future directions for IMOS – where are we going in the long-term?

Loving our coasts to death – population growth & coastal sprawl. More than 86% of Australians live near the coast We are witnessing continuous strip development away from major cities Coastal environmental impacts changing from concentrated to broad-scale Urban coastal settlements represent the lifestyle aspiration of most Australians

Coastal Industries Coastal industry sectors include manufacturing, shipping, petrochemicals, tourism, aquaculture, commercial fisheries How do we achieve sustainable economic development and meet the social and environmental aspirations of a coastal population?

Managing the interactions of catchment land use and water demand with coastal urban development Increasing demand for water and decreasing availability Degradation of waterways, estuaries and embayments Sediment, nutrient and pesticide loads, and changes to flow regimes How do we balance catchment and coastal uses and objectives?

Climate change impacts on the coast Climate change is expected to result in: –Sea level rise and increased storm frequency –Changes in catchment rainfall, runoff and loads –Impacts of temperature, pH on coastal ecosystems e.g. coral reefs, kelp beds How do we incorporate climate change (& variability) into coastal planning, decision-making? How do we downscale from global earth systems to the local scales relevant to coastal development? Current climate Enhanced Greenhouse Climate 2050

AusIOOS marine sectoral benefits National security – improved information for onboard tactical response, sonar, landings Improved ship routing, oil spill prediction, ballast water and marine pest management, maritime search and rescue Improved ocean forecasting, cost-effective engineering design and environmental assessment

Marine sectoral benefits (cont.) Improved environmental forecasting, site location, production efficiency for aquaculture Improved fish stock assessment and prediction, ecosystem-based fisheries management, increased fishing efficiency Improved prediction and assessment of coastal water quality, ecosystems. Support for ecotourism. Sustainable coastal development.

Adapting to climate change will require improved monitoring, assessment, prediction Spotlight: Western Tasman Sea warms faster than elsewhere in southern hemisphere in CSIRO climate change simulations Warming rate of SST (units of º C local warming per º C global warming)

Coastal drivers, research & observations Coastal drivers and issues shared nationally Opportunity to develop common approaches, tools, methods, and/or to compare and contrast coastal systems & approaches Many of the benefits of an IOOS / IMOS apply to coastal sectors and issues IMOS will focus in the next 5 years on the ocean – shelf interactions.

The IOOS / IMOS Structure

Coastal Observations in IMOS Common tools in the national backbone: –Remote sensing; –Data management & delivery; –National reference stations IMOS National Facilities Is IMOS Coastal fundamentally about a set of regional nodes, stitched together by a national backbone? Is coastal research fundamentally conducted at regional and smaller scales?

BlueLink – a national approach to “coastal” ocean forecasting

Lessons from BlueLink A national approach to ocean modelling and prediction resolving ocean-shelf interactions. BlueLink II may extend this inshore, at higher resolution (Ribbon model) There are natural scales to Australia’s boundary currents & coastal oceans (EAC, Leeuwin, tropical shelves) which exceed regional node scales, and cross state boundaries.

Other national approaches to coastal observations Fisheries acoustic networks – spawning migrations & pelagics National approaches to catchment & estuarine modelling and monitoring – National Land and Water Resources Audit AGO & ICAG: National assessment of coastal vulnerability to climate change – a Coastal Geophysical Spatial (Information) System (links to IMOS?)

Underway observations can be “coastal” & national.

Benefits from national approach Natural systems extend beyond local / regional nodes – require integration across nodes. Intercomparison across systems eg east vs west coast ecosystems Pooling effort to achieve outcomes which are beyond resources of individual nodes More efficient implementation of technologies & tools

IMOS Coastal Future – Looking beyond 5 years IMOS expected to move inshore & incorporate more biology International directions – IGOS Coastal Observing Systems span terrestrial & marine – link GOOS and GTOS Linking IMOS, TERN, WRON, …