Summary: | Credit Australia's Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) is enabled by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS). It is operated by a consortium of institutions as an unincorporated joint venture, with the University of Tasmania as Lead Agent. Credit The University of Western Australia (UWA) Credit All ocean gliders deployed from Onslow, Western Australia between 5 February 2020 and May 2022 were funded by the Western Australian Government. The Australian National Facility for Ocean Gliders (ANFOG), with IMOS/NCRIS funding, deploys a fleet of eight gliders around Australia. The data represented by this record, are presented in delayed mode. The underwater ocean glider represents a technological revolution for oceanography. Autonomous ocean gliders can be built relatively cheaply, are controlled remotely and are reusable allowing them to make repeated subsurface ocean observations at a fraction of the cost of conventional methods. The data retrieved from the glider fleet will contribute to the study of the major boundary current systems surrounding Australia and their links to coastal ecosystems. The ANFOG glider fleet consists of two types; Slocum gliders and Seagliders. Slocum gliders (named for Joshua Slocum, the first solo global circumnavigator), manufactured by Webb Research Corp are optimised for shallow coastal waters (<200m) where high manoeuvrability is needed. ANFOG will have three Slocum gliders for deployment on the continental shelf. Seagliders, built at the University of Washington, are designed to operate more efficiently in the open ocean up to 1000m water depth. ANFOG uses their five Seagliders to monitor the boundary currents and continental shelves, which is valuable for gathering long-term environmental records of physical, chemical and biological data not widely measured to date. Whilst the Slocum gliders, due to their low cost and operational flexibility, will be of great use in intensive coastal monitoring, both types of gliders weigh only 52kg, ...
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