100 + INNOVATIONS
Ocean Circulation and Marine Heatwaves
Marine heat wave predictions to secure our ocean economy
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Challenge
Knowledge of Australia’ s exposure to marine heat waves is critical for guiding industry, government and communities on optimal management strategies for our ocean environment and marine industries. The siting of marine parks, aquaculture farms and reef restoration efforts is currently limited by inadequate knowledge of these costly marine threats.
Solution
This project will build a new modelling system that smoothly connects large-scale ocean models with detailed coastal models. It will simulate how the ocean works, both its physical movements and chemical processes, starting from global models that cover vast areas at 10 kilometre resolution and zooming in to more detailed models around Australia at about 1 kilometre resolution.
This significant innovation will deliver a global-first, two-way coupled coast-to-offshore ocean prediction system, linking largescale offshore dynamics( e. g., global sea level) with processes at fine scales in the nearshore ocean, where coastal impacts occur.
Target customers / end-users
• marine-park managers( e. g., reef and coastal restoration, marine-park planning and siting)
• aquaculture industry( e. g., for planning the optimum location of aquaculture farms).
Progress
• pending application for ARC Centre of Excellence funding( EoI was shortlisted)
• national partnerships with government, industry and other stakeholders
• initial model configurations have been developed, run and tested.
Research Project
Basic research
TRL 5
Multidisciplinary team
Climate & Clean Energy
Marine heat waves and ocean circulation changes are threatening our ocean economy via mass coral bleaching events, toxic algal blooms, aquaculture failures and transformation of our fisheries. This project will deliver new high-resolution downscaled predictions of marine heat waves and ocean circulation changes around Australia’ s marine estate.
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