2.3 Oceanic Conditions at Ningaloo Reef

Description

The objective of this project was to understand and predict large scale variation and change of ocean-climate, its impact with the continental shelf and to inform decision making in WA agencies that have to address vulnerability to climate variation and change.

This project addressed these objectives by:

1. Development and interpretation of products to downscale global models of future climate change scenarios to the Ningaloo Reef Tract.
2. Validation of the performance of the downscaling model at each nested level against in-situ and remotely sensed data.
3. Assessment of impacts of projected climate change upon the Ningaloo Reef Tract using the downscaling model, with a focus on sea temperatures in the coastal zone

This work has increased our understanding of the local ocean dynamics along Ningaloo Reef, and provided an indication of how these dynamics may change in the future.

Reports

Lowe RJ, Ivey G, Brinkman RM and Jones NL (2012) Seasonal circulation and temperature variability near the North West Cape of Australia. Journal of Geophysical Research doi.org/10.1029/2011JC007653

Taebi S, Lowe RJ, Pattiaratchi C, Ivey G, Symonds G and Brinkman RM (2011) Nearshore circulation in a tropical fringing reef system. Journal of Geophysical Research 116:C02016. doi.org/10.1029/2010JC006439

Media