Oceanography

Scientific instrumentation is deployed
daily during marine science voyages

The circumpolar Southern Ocean plays a crucial role in global climate, ocean circulation and life systems. The properties of over half the world's oceans are determined in the Southern Ocean through interaction with the atmosphere and cryosphere, and through physical, chemical and biological interactions in the ocean surface layers. Further understanding, and improved modelling, of Southern Ocean processes and their interaction with the atmosphere and the cryosphere is critical to detecting and predicting future global and regional climate, the uptake of carbon dioxide by the oceans, sea-level rise and developing effective regional plans for protecting the health, integrity and ecological sustainability of Antarctic marine ecosystems.

The Oceanography program is based at, and part of the Cooperative Research Centre for Antarctica and the Southern Ocean (Antarctic CRC) and is divided into two main areas of research:

Metadata for Oceanography are held at the Australian Antarctic Data Centre

For further information: ocean@aad.gov.au