Case study
CSIRO researchers have developed an online tool known as CONNIE to help understand the influence of ocean currents on the breeding success of commercial species such as sardines, tuna, lobsters and pearl oysters.
Visualising challenges to marine ecosystems
Marine ecosystems are facing increasing pressures associated with changing environmental conditions and the spread of pollutants, pathogens and invasive species. While major advances have been made in our ability to model the controlling oceanographic processes, accessing this information in a relevant form has been a major challenge for managers across many sectors. There is a strong need for innovative access and visualisation tools that support timely and cost-effective decision-making.
A Tasmanian aquaculture farm
Collaboration to model ocean movements
We have developed an open-access online modelling and visualisation tool known as CONNIE (short for CONNectivity InterfacE). The tool calculates the movement and dispersal of almost any substance or planktonic organism in the ocean. The model is capable of replicating relatively complex behaviours such as the spreading of oil slicks, the transport and sinking of sediments, or the daily vertical migration of zooplankton. Most importantly, the tool is user-friendly and can provide results within minutes.
Many agencies and industry groups have contributed to the development of CONNIE including:
CONNIE benefits many marine applications
The CONNIE tool is now being used widely in applications such as:
CONNIE is also supporting fundamental research across the broader marine science community and has already contributed to more than 30 scientific publications.
CONNIE is used to investigate an oil-spill, using ocean movements to abck-track and identify the vessel of origin after seven days
CONNIE is used to investigate an oil-spill, using ocean movements to abck-track and identify the vessel of origin after seven days
We partner with small and large companies, government and industry in Australia and around the world.