Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS)

IMOS is designed to be a fully-integrated, national system, observing at ocean-basin and regional scales, and covering physical, chemical and biological variables. IMOS Facilities, operated by ten different institutions within the National Innovation System, are funded to deploy equipment and deliver data streams for use by the entire Australian marine and climate science community and its international collaborators.\nThe IMOS Ocean Portal (http://imos.aodn.org.au) allows marine and climate scientists and other users to discover and explore data streams coming from all of the Facilities ¿ some in near-real time, and all as delayed-mode, quality-controlled data. These data streams, long time-series that are ¿under construction¿, represent the actual research infrastructure being created and developed by IMOS.\nIMOS observations are guided by science planning undertaken collaboratively across the Australian marine and climate science community. IMOS now has a National Science and Implementation Plan that draws on the intellectual strength of its six science Nodes ¿ a ¿Bluewater and Climate¿ Node focused on the open ocean, and five ¿Regional Nodes¿ covering the continental shelf and coastal seas of Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Southern Australia and Tasmania. Leaders of the Nodes come together to form a national steering committee that oversees the whole process, and IMOS science plans are subjected to international peer review on a rolling basis to ensure the planned science is world-class. \n\nThere are five major research themes that unify IMOS science plans and related observations:\n1. Multi-decadal ocean change,\n2. Climate variability and weather extremes\n3. Major boundary currents and interbasin flows\n4. Continental shelf processes, and\n5. Ecosystem responses (productivity, abundance and distribution).\n\nIMOS is supported by the Australian Government through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy and the Super Science Initiative. It is led by the University of Tasmania on behalf of the Australian marine and climate science community.

IMOS 旨在构建一套全集成的国家级海洋观测系统，观测覆盖洋盆与区域尺度，涵盖物理、化学与生物海洋变量。由国家创新体系内十家不同机构运维的IMOS设施，获资助部署观测设备并提供数据流，供全澳大利亚海洋与气候科学共同体及其国际合作者使用。
IMOS 海洋门户（http://imos.aodn.org.au）可帮助海洋与气候科学家及其他用户发现、探索来自所有设施的数据流——部分数据可获取近实时版本，全部数据均提供延迟质控后的数据。这些尚处于“构建中”的长时序数据流，正是IMOS 正在创建与发展的实际研究基础设施。
IMOS 的观测工作由澳大利亚海洋与气候科学共同体协同开展的科学规划统筹指导。目前IMOS 已制定《国家科学与实施计划》，依托其六个科学节点的智力资源：一个聚焦公海的“蓝水与气候”节点，以及五个覆盖西澳大利亚州、昆士兰州、新南威尔士州、南澳大利亚州与塔斯马尼亚州大陆架及近岸海域的“区域节点”。各节点负责人共同组成国家指导委员会，统筹全流程工作；IMOS 的科学计划将定期接受国际同行评议，以确保其科学内容达到世界一流水准。
有五大核心研究主题贯穿IMOS 的科学计划与相关观测工作：
1. 多十年尺度海洋变化
2. 气候变率与极端天气事件
3. 主要边界流与跨盆地环流
4. 大陆架过程
5. 生态系统响应（生产力、丰度与分布格局）
IMOS 由澳大利亚政府通过国家协同研究基础设施战略与超级科学倡议提供支持，并由塔斯马尼亚大学代表澳大利亚海洋与气候科学共同体牵头运营。