Arafura Timor Research Facility upgrade complete

A $5.6 million upgrade to the Arafura Timor Research Facility (ATRF) in Darwin has been completed.

The upgraded facility, adjacent to the Charles Darwin University, is the home of North Australia Marine Research Alliance (NAMRA), a tropical marine science partnership that includes the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), the Australian National University (ANU), Charles Darwin University and the Northern Territory Government.

Funds from the Australian Government’s Super Science Initiative of the Education Investment Fund have supported new scientific equipment, expanded laboratories and workshops, and a new Aquaria facility.

The Aquaria facility will involve the development of ecotoxicology services to assess toxic chemicals relevant to tropical marine systems. The Aquaria will be routinely available to government agencies and industry.

Projects benefiting from the upgrade include:

• computer modelling of water movements in Darwin Harbour - Darwin Harbour has extreme tidal rises and falls of up to eight metres. So the ebbing and flowing currents in the channels are strong and fast, all of which makes it difficult for pilots to berth bulk carriers or manoeuvre dredges;
• the effect of abandoned nets on sea turtle populations;
• the impact of human pollution on tropical marine environments;
• the ocean colour of Darwin Harbour;
• sawfish and coastal shark ecology;
• how tropical fish populations fit together.

The updated facility will encourage collaboration between scientists from government, academia and industry.

It will also serve as a hub for training and research in marine science, to benefit the region including Australia’s near neighbours Timor Leste, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

In 2009-10, Australia’s oceans were estimated to have contributed $42 billion to the national economy - a figure that is expected to grow.

Tropical waters host some of the nation’s most significant ecosystems, such as the Great Barrier Reef, and play a central role in the life of regional communities across northern Australia.