Solar powered sensors and a video camera are deployed in the Lizard Island lagoon to monitor key air and water parameters. Real-time data is available on a dedicated touch screen at the Research Station. The system is called LIOS – the Lizard Island Observing System
For those who wish to explore links and acronyms, LIOS is part of GBROOS and FAIMMS, managed by AIMS under the umbrella of IMOS, a national collaborative research infrastructure supported by Australian Government. Historical observation data is available on the IMOS ocean portal and FAIMMS.
AIMS and IMOS have developed a dashboard that enables LIOS data to be viewed from any web browser. The dashboard also provides a live webcam view of the Lizard Island lagoon. It is designed for viewing on a touch screen, but navigation is also possible using a trackpad or mouse: click the “hand” symbol for more detail and the “home” symbol to return. LIOS data showing Current Condtions at Lizard is also displayed on lirrf.org web pages – in the right hand column on a full screen view, or at the bottom on tablets and smart phones.
GBROOS data is informing and enriching the full spectrum of research on the Great Barrier Reef. It is vitally relevant to all the important marine research topics, including coral bleaching, coral spawning (and all other biological reproduction on the reef), animal behaviour and life cycles (including the Crown of Thorns Starfish), biodiversity, the impact of severe tropical storms and changes in sea level, sea temperature and water quality.
Cyclone Ita (April 2014) and Cyclone Nathan (March 2015) were the most severe cyclones recorded at Lizard Island since the Station was established in 1973. Every person on the island evacuated to the mainland during these events, but the solar powered LIOS sensors remained in place in the lagoon and continued to record and transmit data. This graph shows the remarkable wind pattern at 6:30 pm on 11 April 2014 as the eye of Cyclone Ita passed directly overhead.
The following graphs show wind speed and barometric pressure data recorded by LIOS during Cyclone Nathan. Note the remarkable inverse correlation as the wind speed peaked at 181.5 kph on the evening of 17 March 2015.
See also GBROOS comes to Lizard Island (2010)
