Summary

The WA-IMOS Node has been designed to monitor the Leeuwin Current and its influence on the continental shelf environments, ecosystems and biodiversity with a very strong integration component. The Leeuwin Current originates from the northern region of Australia extending its effect over 8000 km and influencing more than 2/3 of the continental slope and shelf regions of Australia. The inter-annual variability of the Leeuwin Current is controlled by the Indonesian Throughflow through the Pacific/Indian ocean wave guide.  Here, El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) signals spread from the western Pacific Ocean to the north of the Western Australia and are then transmitted along the west and southern coasts of Australia. 

The WA-IMOS Node aims to examine the Leeuwin Current at two major monitoring locations along its path:

• The Indonesian Throughflow line extending from Joseph Bonarparte Gulf to the Timor Trench designed monitor the Indonesian Throughflow using a combination of shelf and deep mooring (together with the Bluewater and Climate Node) which controls most of the inter-annual signal.
• The Two Rocks transect, already established, is located approximately half-way along the Leeuwin Current signal between the Arafura Sea and Tasmania and includes shelf moorings, ocean gliders and HF Radar systems.